Brandon Barker

Brandon Barker

Brandon is a dance performer, teacher, and choreographer. Although he predominantly teaches Lindy Hop, he is actively taking classes and going to socials for Hip Hop, House dance, and Chicago footwork. He began dancing at 3 years old at the Dance Theatre of Harlem doing Ballet, and progressed those skills through his time in his middle school, Ballet Tech, where he also learned modern dance and repertoire. In high school Brandon danced within the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre High School Division, and expanded his movement knowledge with styles such as West African, Horton, Graham, and Hip Hop. During this time he discovered Lindy Hop outside his dance program through a family friend, Clyde Wilder, and was later under the mentorship of Samuel Coleman, who worked at Alvin Ailey. This became his favorite style of dance, as he found a certain freedom of expression that was mostly unattainable through his Ballet classes. Brandon continued his Dance studies to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance at UMASS Amherst, where he worked to add more contextualization to his Lindy Hop movement, and participated in several annual Lindy Hop events. He also received a degree for public policy in the arts, as well as a certificate in Arts Management. He now does public policy work pertaining to the arts, as well as teaching and performing Lindy Hop in New York City where he resides.