Mary Cochran

Chair and Artistic Director of the Dept. of Dance at Barnard College of Columbia University, Mary Cochran has performed and taught on every continent except Antarctica. Ms. Cochran's professional career began at eighteen as a member of Nikolais Dance Theatre from 1981-1983 and continued as a soloist with Paul Taylor Dance Company from 1984-1996. She has been critically praised as "an interpreter of Paul Taylor's work who absorbs technique into her bones," a "blithe spirit, weaver of magic, quintessential muse," and "a star, indeed." She continued her association with Paul Taylor after leaving the company completing 22 restagings of his masterworks. In 1998 and 1999, Ms. Cochran was the Director of Taylor 2 creating and implementing innovative outreach programs around the country. Ms. Cochran has also performed in highly theatrical works by Sara Hook and creates and performs her own movement-based monologues. Prior to arriving at Barnard, Ms. Cochran taught at numerous colleges and conservatories including Mills College, Harvard, University of Michigan, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. At Barnard, Ms. Cochran has begun collaborative projects between Barnard and NYC cultural institutions such as Dance Theater Workshop (now NY Live Arts), City Center, Symphony Space, WAX, the Brooklyn Museum, and Dance New Amsterdam, and companies such as Susan Marshall & Company and Shen Wei Dance Arts, among others. She completed her M.F.A. at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in the spring of 2005.