Theatre Arts & Performance Studies

Shura Baryshnikov is a Teaching Associate in the Department of Theatre Arts and Performances Studies working primarily with the Brown/Trinity MFA Programs for Actors and Directors.  Instructing in contact improvisation, movement and dance, Shura embraces the performing arts through a multidisciplinary approach.  With a background in physical theatre, contemporary dance and improvisation practices, Shura seeks the creative space where these mediums overlap to inspire somatic exploration and performer versatility.  Shura has worked as a choreographer and movement consultant for Trinity Repertory Company, The Wilbury Theatre Group, Elemental Theatre Collective and on a number of Brown/Trinity MFA productions.  As a freelance dancer, she has performed in works by Heidi Henderson, Ali Kenner-Brodsky and Betsy Miller and with Aerplaye Dance, American Dance Legacy Initiative, Festival Ballet Providence and Lostwax Multimedia Dance.  Shura is on faculty at Festival Ballet Providence School and has also taught movement at Earthdance in Plainfield, MA, at MIT, Brown University, Dean College and Rhode Island College.  Shura's performance work has been presented by the RISD Museum and in the Moving Arts Lab at Earthdance in Plainfield, MA.  Shura has studied Viewpoints and Suzuki with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company and is also actively engaged in the practice of Ruth Zeporah's Action Theater.  These methods, as well as a rich contact improvisation practice, inform Shura's pursuit of embodiment and honesty in performance and in the classroom.