Román Baca is the Artistic Director of Exit12 Dance Company, a 2024 Scholar with the George W. Bush Presidential Institute’s Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program, and a PhD Candidate at York St. John University (UK), where he is investigating the military human experience through the arts.

Leveraging the arts to bridge military and civilian divides, Mr. Baca has forged significant partnerships and led major projects with world-class institutions including the Intrepid Museum, The British Museum, the Ministry of Defence (UK), CreatiVets, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, among others.

A classically trained ballet dancer and choreographer, Mr. Baca has performed with the New Mexico Ballet Company, Connecticut Ballet, The Nutmeg Ballet, and Ballet Theatre Company, and has appeared in numerous musical theater productions including West Side Story, Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, and Guys and Dolls. His choreography and movement direction credits include several Off-Broadway productions. As an educator, he has taught ballet and movement workshops in London and New York City at Pineapple Studios, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Peridance Center, City Academy, and the United Nations, and has served as Artistic Director and General Manager for two professional dance organizations.

In 2001, driven by a profound commitment to defend the defenseless, Mr. Baca paused his dance career to enlist in the United States Marine Corps, where he served as a machine-gunner and fire team leader in Fallujah, Iraq during the US-led Iraq War.

Following his service, Mr. Baca co-founded Exit12 Dance Company to tell stories of war through dance, promoting cross-cultural understanding, healing divisions, and advancing the recovery of military veterans. His work has championed narratives exploring the veteran experience and the impact of war on civilians and families, and he has led workshops and lectures across the United States to catalyze critical conversations about military service through the arts.

Mr. Baca graduated cum laude with a BA in Performing Arts from St. Mary’s College of California and was awarded a US-UK Fulbright Postgraduate Award to study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK, where he earned his MFA with Merit in Choreography. His practice-based research produced the award-winning thesis Choreographing Soldiers’ Stories to Provoke Empathy in Audiences. In addition to his artistic work, Mr. Baca has served as a Junior Research Scientist and data manager for several military research studies.

As a consultant, Mr. Baca has contributed to art and recovery initiatives with The Drive Project, Bravo 22 Company (Royal British Legion), and pilot projects with the UK Ministry of Defence. He has collaborated with the Soldiers’ Arts Academy C.I.C., provided production support for the critically acclaimed play Soldier On during its West End run, and helped lead the inaugural UK Veterans Art Festival alongside the 2019 Invictus Trials in Sheffield.

Mr. Baca has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts (Dance Panel, 2020), the Creative Forces: NEA Military Healing Arts Network, and for US-UK Fulbright candidate review panels.

Among his many honors, 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, a 2018 HillVets Nomination, a 2015 New York State Veterans’ Hall of Fame Induction, and a 2014 Art and Healing Network Award. He has also served as a fellow with Veterans in Global Leadership, The Mission Continues, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.