The CUNY Dance Initiative (CDI) will present Exit12 Dance Company’s Stories of War in Honor of Veterans Day at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College in New York on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 7 p.m. The performance brings together veteran storytelling and concert dance to explore the military experience, from war and its effects on families to homecoming, reintegration and hope for the future.
The program will include a new work created with John Jay College’s military veteran and first responder community. John Jay enrolls the most military-related students within the City University of New York system. The performance will conclude with a 15-minute audience talkback.
Exit12 Dance Company was co-founded in 2007 by Iraq War veteran and choreographer Román Baca as a way to process his military experience through dance. A ballet dancer before becoming a Marine, Baca turned to choreography as an expressive outlet for exploring the invisible wounds of war. Following the deaths by suicide of several of his platoon mates in 2011, he expanded Exit12’s work to serve veterans, service members and military families through writing and movement workshops and public dance theater performances.
The November program will draw from Exit12’s repertoire of works rooted in personal stories of military service. Baca’s first-person oral history performances include Oh Baca, about his experience as a ballet dancer turned Marine in boot camp; Woman in a Car in Fallujah, which recounts a combat patrol in Iraq; and The Absurdity of War, exploring the unexpected experiences of life in a war zone.
The program will also feature Sometimes, Silence (2013), choreographed by Angela Scimonelli and inspired by an Army mother’s experience watching her sons simultaneously deploy to Afghanistan, and Conflict(ed) (2012), choreographed by Baca and inspired by a military combat patrol in the Iraq desert. Whims of War and Romance (2024), set to songs by US Army veteran and classically trained tenor Jesús Daniel Hernández, explores the challenges of reintegration through tenderness and humor.
A selection of works created through Exit12’s collaboration with CreatiVets will also be presented. The Nashville-based nonprofit pairs singer-songwriters with military veterans to create music about the veteran experience. The selection includes Challenge Accepted, What If and We Are America, with music by country duo Johnny and Heidi.
The program will additionally include a new first-person oral history from a John Jay College participant, a new work created with the college’s military veteran and first responder students, and CreatiVets Talk, a first-person oral history performance by Baca exploring the legacy of service from one generation to the next.
Since becoming a nonprofit in 2018, Exit12 has expanded its work beyond its original company model to develop arts-based programs for the military-connected community. The organization conducts movement workshops and performance projects with veterans, service members and military families through partnerships with organizations including the New York Harbor Veterans Affairs system, the James J. Peters VA and the Intrepid Museum.
The November performance is part of Exit12’s CUNY Dance Initiative residency and is presented in collaboration with John Jay College and the Gerald W. Lynch Theater, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts.
General admission is $30, with tickets for veterans and CUNY students available for $5. For tickets and more information, visit exit12danceco.org.
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