Meet Shannon | Best Artistic Direction | 2020

Meet Shannon

Best Artistic Direction

RVA Dance Awards


Finding my passion for ballet at a very young age has inspired a lifelong journey of learning, creating, performing and now directing. I am Originally from Tennessee and began training at the City Youth Ballet with Susan Pace-White. I then started training all over the country with many of the nation's most distinguished artists including David Howard, Edward Villella, Gelsey Kirdland and Alonzo King. I received a B.F.A from Radford University with a concentration in performance and choreography under the direction of Frano Jelincic and Dagmar Kessler. Upon graduation, I became a principal dancer with the San Diego Ballet. During my time with the company I had the opportunity to dance various lead roles under the direction of Robin Morgan and Javier Velasco.

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-mural by Emily Herr @herrsuite

I moved to Richmond and fell in love with this city so full of art. My love of dance led me to teach and gave me the fuel to start my own company the Stavna Ballet, a non-profit dance company in December of 2010. In 2012 I opened the doors to the Stavna Dance Academy, becoming the official training school of the Ballet. I am so honored to be nominated for Artistic Director of the Year and Collaboration of the Year for my Ballet Company, Stavna Ballet. RVA Dance Awards is such a special place to showcase all of the talented artists in our community, and I am thrilled to be a part of it.

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We are so excited to introduce our featured dancers for the upcoming 2nd annual RVA Dance Awards. The 2020 RVA Dance Awards is a live show that celebrates creativity, leadership and innovation by recognizing excellence within our Central Virginia dance community. This event will be held December 2nd virtually.

We are so excited to introduce our featured dancers for the upcoming 2nd annual RVA Dance Awards. The 2020 RVA Dance Awards is a live show that celebrates creativity, leadership and innovation by recognizing excellence within our Central Virginia dance community. This event will be held December 2nd virtually.