recognition
- Official Selection Short Stack: Chicago’s Tiny Film Festival “ode to flora”, 2025
- Presenting artists at Jacob’s Pillow Artists of the Berkshires, 2025
- Presenting artists at Stomping Grounds Dance Festival, 2025
- Presenting artist at Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, 2025
- Official Selection River City Dance Film Festival “schema”, 2022
- Selected Choreographer for NEW Dances, hosted by Thodos Dance Chicago & Danceworks Chicago, 2019
- Recipient of Esoteric Dance Project Choreographer Mentorship Program, 2018
- Selected choreographer for Inaside Chicago Dance Company, made possible through Choreographic Sponsorship Event, 2018
portfolio sample
It takes as long as it takes, 2025
It takes as long as it takes is an attempt to challenge the performer on what it means to go through process as a means to begin again. Curious of the mental attunement one needs to make real-time decision making, the nature of this improvisational performance calls on the dancer to deeply listen to the body calling on her own personal dance history and lineages. The work requires trust, commitment, and a harnessing of attention. Stay in it. And here and here and here…
ode to flora, 2024
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” -Tao Tzu
ode to flora highlights the sacred in the mundane with lingering shots of dormant grounds and promising sprouts of green. Set amongst a backdrop of rural Western Mass and accompanied by a soundscore that features field recordings of environmental sound, the dancer tethers to the natural world with embodied movement, displaying reverence for the land.
Con petire, 2024
Con petire, follows a group of seven dancers as they explore play aesthetics and imagination on an individual and collective level. With the proscenium stage as their playground, the dancers incorporate tape as a tool, examining how it can alter one’s engagement with the present moment. “Con petire means “to search together” and it stems from the latin root of the word compete,” explains Baron. “The aim of this work is not to define play but rather highlight the inner landscape of what play can be.” Recognizing that the body can inhabit many states of being, Baron’s work pushes the boundaries of kinetic movement. –Shelley Latham
Ex/temporaneous, 2023
This improvisational solo was performed at the opening reception for Going Dutch Festival located at Side Street Studio Arts. The Going Dutch Festival is a celebration of female and nonbinary voices in the arts. Ex/temporaneous is an improvisational solo initiated by the artwork displayed in the three dimensional space. Taking note of size, texture, color, and spatiality, Baron navigates the playground, oscillating between seeing and being seen.
schema, 2021
Schema // “a mental codification of experience that includes a particular organized way of perceiving cognitively and responding to a complex situation or set of stimuli” – merriam webster definition
This project was conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic with support from Chicago dance company Still Inspired. This interdisciplinary solo work in conversation with artist Sergio Gomez utilizes charcoal as a means to archive where the physical body has been. As the dance progresses, the once white paper beneath the dancer transforms into an abstract art installation which leaves a narrative of the body’s journey through time and space.
Reverence 6, 2020
An attempt to stay connected with the community and to keep the creative action alive this dance for camera initiated collaboration with fellow dance artists living throughout the USA.
Francesca Baron 