meet the dancer & choreographer
Shannon Murphy, a graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, received her B.F.A. degree in Dance in May 2019. She currently works for the Walt Disney World company in Orlando, Florida in their Entertainment division. While attending Mason Gross, she had the opportunity to perform in works by guest artists Yin Yue, Vincent Roca, Pam Tanowitz and Cleo Mack as well as faculty members Randy James and Blair Ritchie. Murphy began her dancing career in Buffalo, New York at the American Academy of Ballet under the direction of Maris Battaglia. At the Academy, she worked with renowned dancers such as Carol Klocke, Arthur Mitchell, Joseph Cipolla, and Rebecca Guile, as she became fluent in the styles of ballet, pointe, contemporary modern, lyrical, jazz, and hip hop. She continued her training at the summer intensives of Cincinnati Ballet and Paul Klocke School of Dance. In 2018, she was awarded the University DanceWorks scholarship for excellent performance and merit. Murphy has had the opportunity to perform with the Amherst Youth Ballet, Disney World Performing Arts, Susan Marshall Dance, 78moves, and LehrerDance. She also received her 240-hour certification in Hatha Yoga in the summer of 2018. In May 2018, she founded her company: skm movement studios.
As a choreographer, I strive to stretch the boundaries of dance, creating works that challenge stereotypes. I am always focused on the authenticity and individuality of movement, and I venture to align the musicality of the sound score to the movement. I aim to create challenging movement that affiliates with my moral and social beliefs, such as women’s equality and environmental egalitarianism. By creating works that invoke feelings that I am passionate about, I can continue to create works that are gratifying for dancers, observers and choreographers alike. I believe that dance is an outlet to express not only what is happening in my own life, but to express a personal connection with the audience. The most important aspect to my choreography is the true human connection between each of my dancers.
As a dancer, I strive to stretch the boundaries of dance, whether it is performing in physically demanding pieces or blending different types of movement into one. I often explode the use of my body throughout space and how it can be manipulated based on whom I am dancing alongside. I continue to push myself as an artist to perform styles of dance that I am less familiar with and further myself in styles that I am comfortable with. I use dance as an outlet to further my human self and to create an alternate look at reality. By expressing myself to the fullest potential, my beliefs of positivity and strength shine through the lens of movement.
Photography: Jaqi Medlock