Shannon Murphy

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Shannon Murphy

Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Dance
Co-Curricular Coordinator, Body Pathways

MFA, The University of the Arts
BA, Point Park University

Contact Info

School of Dance

Terra Hall 3RD

Shannon Murphy began teaching at UArts in 2013 and now leads the Body Pathways curricular area and the Mentored Studio Practice program. She is a Philadelphia-based dance artist; one of the first English-speaking faculty members at Franklin-Methode Institute, Wetzikonn, Switzerland; and graduated with an MFA in Dance from UArts in 2019.

Biography

Murphy grew up dancing in Youngstown, Ohio, though Philadelphia has been her home since 2007. She holds a BFA from Point Park University, Pittsburgh, and earned her MFA in Dance from the University of the Arts in 2019. 

In addition to her solo work, Murphy has a long history with collaborator Jumatatu Poe. The two have been co-directors of idiosynCrazy productions since 2009. She has studied the Franklin Method with founder Eric Franklin since 2007. Now, as one of the first U.S. English–speaking faculty members, Murphy specializes in the Franklin Method for dancers. As a performer, she has worked with many dance artists and companies, including Peggy Baker, Group Motion, Jaamil Kosoko, The Naked Stark, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Jumatatu Poe, SCRAP Performance Group and Kate Watson-Wallace.

Experience 
Currently, Murphy is an artist-in-residence at the Whole Shebang, where she both teaches weekly classes and is developing her performance research. 

  • She has been awarded 
    • an Arts for Social Change Grant from the Leeway Foundation, 
    • a New Edge Residency in Dance,
    • a Live Arts (now FringeArts) LAB fellowship and 
    • a Rocky Award through Dance USA Philadelphia.
  • She has been named
    • an artist-in-residence at Mascher Space Co-Op and 
    • a New Edge Mix Artist at the Community Education Center. 
  • As adjunct assistant professor at UArts, Murphy serves as the curricular Hhad of Body Pathways and is developing programming to reduce injury and support the healing and recovery of injured dancers. 
  • She has taught as adjunct professor at both Bryn Mawr College and Drexel University, where she was assistant director of Drexel Dance Ensemble from 2015 to 2017. 
  • Murphy’s choreographic work at Drexel was chosen to be performed at American College Dance Festival, at Montclair University.
  • Currently, she is an adjunct faculty member at Stockton University, Galloway, New Jersey, where she is teaching kinesiology and jazz and setting ensemble performance work.


Explore Shannon Murphy’s website.
View Shannon Murphy’s portfolio. 

Awards & Accolades

Recent reviews

The Dance Journal, May 21, 2019

Thinking Dance, May 28, 2019  

Contact
shmurphy@uarts.edu