Roman Baca
Artistic Director

Román Baca, a New Mexico native, is a classically trained ballet dancer and choreographer. In 2001, recognizing his desire to defend the defenseless, he took a hiatus from dance and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving as a machine-gunner and fire-team leader in Fallujah, Iraq during the Iraq War.

After the war, Mr. Baca returned to dance and co-founded Exit12 Dance Company, which tells veterans’ stories choreographically, to increase cross-cultural understanding and heal divisions. He has choreographed and championed dance works that explore the military veteran experience and the impact of war on civilians and families. He also leads workshops and lectures at schools, universities, organizations, and veteran’s centers to inspire critical conversations about war through the power of dance.

Mr. Baca graduated from St. Mary’s College of California (BA Cum Laude Performing Arts) and was awarded a Fulbright to the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK where he completed his MFA with Merit in choreography. His thesis investigated several methodologies of choreographing soldier’s stories to provoke empathy in audiences.

Outside of his studies in London, Mr. Baca volunteered for the Soldiers’ Arts Academy C.I.C. and provided production support to the critically acclaimed play Soldier On’s UK tour including a six-week run on the West End.  Mr. Baca also served on the leadership team that delivered the first UK Veterans Art Festival alongside the 2019 UK Invictus Trials in Sheffield, UK.  He has also served as a panelist reviewing US-UK Fulbright candidates, and has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Panel 2020.

Mr. Baca co-founded and directs Exit12 Dance Company, is a PhD Candidate investigating the military human through the arts at York St. John University in the UK, an Early Career Researcher at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, a Junior Research Scientist with the USAF/USN Research Unit. 

Mr. Baca is the recipient of a 2020 scholarship to York St. John University, the 2019 Selma Jeanne Cohen Dance Lecture Award, a 2017-2018 US-UK Fulbright Postgraduate Award to the Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London, a 2018 HillVet Nominee, a 2015 New York State Veterans’ Hall of Fame Inductee, an 2014 Art and Healing Network Awardee, and has served as a fellow with Veterans in Global Leadership, The Mission Continues, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Specialties: Non-profit, dance, choreography, veterans affairs, community arts, arts programs