Shaina and Bryan Baira (2023 Bessie Nominees for Outstanding Breakout Choreographer) are life partners and founders of BAIRA MVMNT PHLOSPHY, a dance-theatre company based between NYC and Detroit. The two create and share their work through live performance, dance film, immersive/virtual-reality experiences and movement training/pedagogy. Shaina received her BFA in Dance at the University of Iowa. She completed her certification as a Movement Analyst at the Laban Institute of Movement Studies, and completed studies in religion and philosophy at the New York All Faiths Seminary International where she was ordained as an Interfaith Minister, and where she began developing MVMNT PHLOSPHY; a synthesis of movement research, spirituality and philosophical inquiry.  Bryan is a dancer, choreographer and musician sharing his artistry professionally for over 15 years. He received his BFA in dance from Wayne State University and has danced with companies such as Nicholas Leichter Dance, Brian Brooks Moving Company, David Dorfman Dance, Third Rail Projects and The Feath3r Theory. His passion and expertise for sound and visual/graphic design has led to commissions by artists and companies including 10 Hairy Legs, Raja Feather Kelly and Pioneers Go East Collective among others. Bryan has performed and taught internationally in places such as South Korea, Colombia, Armenia, Turkey and Tajikistan; touring with the US State Department’s Dance Motion USA  in 2014. Shaina and Bryan were Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace Recipients in 2018 and have been featured in Dance Magazine for their van dwelling projects - through which they brought guerilla style dance performances to unsuspecting audiences at truck stops and public spaces across the USA. Shaina and Bryan were awarded ‘Creators of Culture’ in 2023 through Culture Source Detroit and are currently Artists-in-Residence at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts.