Bill Shannon is a conceptual, inter- disciplinary dance and media artist who creates both solo and group projects. He considers his work rooted in street/club culture and informed by the fine arts. He is widely recognized in the dance/ performance world, the underground hip hop and club dance scene as well as the disabled artist community.
His performance and video work have been presented nationally and internationally over the past ten years at numerous venues, festivals and events including, The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Performance Space 122, NYC; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, OR; Central Park Summer Stage, NYC; Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia; Florida Dance Festival, Miami; Theater Artaud, San Francisco; DiverseWorks, Houston; Arizona State University, Tempe; The Athenaeum Theater, Chicago; The Exit Festival, Cretiel, France; Amman International Festival of Independent Theater, Amman, Jordan; The Holland Festival, Amsterdam; Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland; URB Festival, Helsinki, Finland; among many others.
Shannon's most recent video installation was part of a group exhibition at the Tate Liverpool Museum. He recently completed a project with Cirque du Soleil where he choreographed specific elements for their 2002 production "Varekai," which continues to tour. He has been a keynote speaker/guest lecturer at innumerable colleges, universities and conferences worldwide.
Shannon has been honored with a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2003), a Foundation for Contemporary Performance Art Award, and a Colbert Award for Excellence: The Downtown Arts Projects Emerging Arts Award. He has received support for his work from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, Jerome Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, James E. Robison Foundation, Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation, and Arts International: The Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals. Shannon holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
