Bill Shannon is a conceptual, interdisciplinary dance and media artist who creates both solo and group projects. He considers his work rooted in street culture and informed by the fine arts. He is widely recognized in the dance/performance world, the underground hip-hop and club dance scene, the urban arts movement, as well as the disabled artist community.
Over the past two decades Shannon’s installations, performances, choreography and video work have been presented nationally and internationally at numerous venues, festivals and events including, Sydney Opera House, Tate Liverpool Museum, NYC Town Hall, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, The Holland Festival, Amsterdam, Temple Bar Dublin, Kiasma Museum Finland, Hirshhorn Museum and many more.
Shannon also completed a project with Cirque du Soleil where he choreographed an aerial duet and a solo on crutches for their 2002 production "Varekai," which continued to tour into 2011.
Shannon has been honored with a Newhouse Foundation Award, a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and a Foundation for Contemporary Art Award, among others. He has also 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, Arts International: The Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals PA Council on the Arts and others.
Shannon also won Mantis Battle (Solo Category) in NYC in 2000, placed second in ProAms Florida (Abstract Category) and in 2002 was awarded Most Creative Street Dancer by the LA Urban Dance Festival.
Shannon holds a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
