About

Jessica Baynes is a contemporary dance artist based in Salt Lake City, Utah. A former TEDx speaker and United Nations presenter, Jessica is a passionate advocate for the arts.

Baynes trained at San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts, where she was awarded Outstanding Senior in Dance. She then attended University of Utah School of Dance on talent scholarship, where she received her BFA in Modern Dance.

Jessica has performed in traditional modern dance stage works such as “Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder” by Donald McKayle (2014) and “Psalm” by Jose Limón (2015), and more contemporary works such as “SURGE” by Anouk van Dijk (2019) and “BBB” by Rebecca Webb (2020).

In 2016, Baynes founded an arts organization called Healing In Motion Dance, which offers rehabilitative ballet classes to patients with neurological conditions that impair movement such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, and Parkinson Disease. Jessica’s work in dance adaptability and diplomacy have been featured by platforms such as TED.com, National Dance Education Organization (NDEO), United Nations Civil Society, and International Association of Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS).

Additionally, Baynes has over a decade of training in Flamenco and Irish dance, and holds a 600 hour Pilates teacher certification from the United States Pilates Association and the New York Pilates Studio©️.

Jessica has guest instructed for wide variety of institutions such as National Dance School of Panamá, Barlow Arts Conservatory, Movement Exchange, Grey Matters: A Dance For Parkinson’s, Brigham Young University (BYU), and Weber State University.

Most recently, Jessica taught on faculty at the University of Utah School of Dance, teaching Authentic Pilates™ to ballet majors. Currently, Jessica is on faculty at Ballet West Academy and Repertory Dance Theatre’s Dance Center on Broadway.

Jessica is passionate about increasing the accessibility of high-quality movement education to all populations. She currently oversees communications for Movement Exchange, an organization which offers cross-cultural dance exchanges and donation based classes in North and South America.