SHANNON GILLEN 
FORCE MAJEURE Artistic Director
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Called ‘mesmerizing’ by VOGUE and championed as ‘vastly gifted’ by Deborah Jowitt, Shannon Gillen has had an extensive career as a dancer and choreographer in NYC and Europe. She was a member of the Johannes Wieland company based at Staatstheater Kassel in Germany; won commissions from Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, the International Solo-Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart (3rd prize dance), the TIF theater in Kassel, and was also selected as a THINK BIG choreographer-in-residence at Staatsoper Hannover.

Upon returning to the states, Shannon founded VIM VIGOR as the home for her collaborative choreographic and educational endeavors. Her work has been commissioned across the USA, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe. Additional projects include commissions by fashion label PHELAN for NY Fashion Week, DANCEworks at the Lobero Theatre, Hubbard Street 2, Gibney Dance Company Boston Dance Theater and de Danseurs in NL; notable festivals and venues where her work has been seen include NYLA, Prisma Festival, Judson Church, PULSE Art Fair/Art Basel, Bryant Park, NYC's River to River festival, The Joyce, and Jacob’s Pillow. In 2018, Shannon was a choreographer in residence at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton and this year she has premieres at the ICA in Boston, UNCSA, Rutgers University, Gibney Dance, Over het lj in the Netherlands and will return to create new work at Springboard Danse in Montreal and at the b12 Festival in Berlin.

Dedicated to educating the next generation of artists, Gillen has created a physical dance theater education platform in NYC with VIM VIGOR, with annual winter and summer programming. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and earned her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Visit www.vimvigordance.com to learn more.

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VIM VIGOR is a physical dance theater company under the artistic direction of Shannon Gillen. Founded as a collaborative think tank, VIM VIGOR is home to innovative and profoundly gifted artists from around the world who have come together to create original, cutting edge dance theater. VIM is also dedicated to elevating and nurturing the professional lives of young dance artists through its education platform with ongoing classes, workshops and annual winter and summer intensives in NYC.