They/Them

Visiting Assistant Professor

Theatre & Dance

GLEASON BAUER (they/them) is a somatic educator and award-winning theater artist known for creating ensemble-based, physically derived content that is both visually lush and emotionally resonant.  As the Associate Artistic Director of Square Product Theatre in Boulder, CO, GLEASON’s interdisciplinary adaptation of Selah Saterstrom's novel, Slab, received the Colorado Theatre Guild’s nomination for Best New Play in 2016 as well as the True West Award for their direction and production design.  

Their direction of Dance Nation was just nominated for two 2022 Henry Awards. In 1997, GLEASON co-founded Zoo District. Collaborating with local artists, the ensemble created site-specific work and uniquely theatrical productions throughout the Downtown Arts District of LA. Under Gleason’s collaborative leadership, the company earned an international and award-winning reputation, receiving 44 nominations and 26 Ovation, Garlands, and LA Weekly Awards. Rob Kendt, Editor in-Chief of the American Theatre Magazine, has frequently named Zoo District as one of the “great ensemble companies” of LA whose work in the late 90s/early aughts “loom(ed) as large or larger than the region’s resident theatres. ”  

As an educator, GLEASON has spent two decades developing curricula, facilitating learning, and creating intentional spaces for transformative, collaborative, and artistic processes. A member of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers and the Association of Movement Educators, GLEASON has taught for Pomona, Naropa, Marlborough, and North Carolina Governor’s School among many others. They have led professional workshops in ensemble processes and devising at Whitman, the University of the South, and other educational institutions nationwide. 

GLEASON holds a BA in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University. They have certifications in embodied social justice, mindfulness instruction, and Moment Work TM. GLEASON is an alum of Director's Lab West, a member of The Association of Theatre Movement Educators, and an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. www.gleasonbauer.com