Sharon Leahy

Sharon Leahy has spent a lifetime creating dance and theater, working with traditional forms to express/impress contemporary themes. As a choreographer she has been commissioned to create work by Jacob’s Pillow, the National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project, and many others. She was an artist in residence at the University of Dayton and has taught master classes at colleges across the country. As Artistic Director of Rhythm in Shoes, she led an ensemble of dancers and musicians, touring nationally and internationally, presenting original performance art that was both surprising and familiar. Sharon’s dance for camera work has screened at numerous dance film festivals including Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center, The International ScreenDance Festival at the American Dance Festival and the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. She has won the Blue Ribbon in the clogging contest at both the National Folk Festival at Wolftrap in Virginia and the Appalachian String Band Festival in West Virginia. “Union is the heart of my work. The rhythm of breath, the power of intention, practicing and teaching, seeking strength, flexibility, balance, the joy of connection, the authority of truth, this fuels each day of discovery and challenges me to reach for the heavens. I am thankful for the many teachers that have shared their knowledge and wisdom and the numerous students who have challenged me to keep pressing forward. I am grateful especially to the generous laughers I have known, for they remind me not to take life too seriously”.