SHANA SIMMONS
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER/DANCER

Year started with SSD: 2009
Favorite thing about her: Her uninhibited vocabulary during rehearsals.
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Shana Simmons graduated from Point Park University with a BA in Dance in 2003. Simmons lived in New York City for four and a half years and performed with choreographers such as Noemie Lafrance "Agora", Alexandra Beller, Tomé Cousin, bigGRITS dance co, Debra Wanner/ Amy Larimer, Amanda Drozer, and was a company member of white road dance media. Whilst in New York, Simmons was chosen to present work at the HATCH Series twice, through Jennifer Muller Works. Simmons also taught for the Internationally acclaimed National Dance Institute, founded by Jacques D’Amboise, for three years.
Simmons holds an MA in Choreography from LABAN in London, England. She performed and choreographed with companies and choreographers such as Flat Feet Dance Company, Stacy Abalogun and Nadine Doran-Holder and independently presented work at the Reverie Dance Festival in Ghent, Belgium. Choreographers in London consistently asked Simmons to create movement for their pieces as part of their process, along with Simmons’ own choreographic works being shown. Simmons collaborated with the visual art company Artmongers, in two site-specific works in London and Simmons has performed her own works in New York City, Belgium, London, Chicago, Boston, and Pittsburgh. Since her return to Pittsburgh, Simmons has choreographed for festivals such as the Next Stage Residency and New Moves Festival through the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, The Three Rivers Arts Festival, and Evolve Productions.
SHANA SIMMONS DANCE(SSD), founded in 2009, is under the Artistic Direction of Shana Simmons, and has been the primary, but not only, vehicle for her choreography. SSD has a long standing collaborative relationship with The Eclectic Laboratory Chamber Orchestra, producing four immersive works to date, choreographed by Simmons and in collaboration with E.L.C.O. directors. All performances incorporated live musicians in a variety of intimate performance settings and dancers, forming the shape of each space.
Simmons has produced a variety of works in Pittsburgh since 2012: Relative Positions (2012), a multi-disciplinary building take over featuring over 12 commissioned artists, PASSENGER (2014), a full length work choreographed by Simmons and performed at the National Aviary highlighting themes of extinction and environmental concerns, Objective I (2015), a collaboration with The Moving Architects (NYC) experimenting with editing in dance, The Missing Peace (2018), a full length work featuring three choreographers and grappling with social issues such as Alzheimer’s Disease, suicide prevention, and struggles with self-identity, and ELEVATE (2019), a triple bill three-city tour featuring three female run dance companies and highlighting themes of female empowerment. SSD has received support from the Heinz Small Arts Initiative, the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater and the National Aviary for such projects. SSD has presented variations of The Missing Peace at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the Alzheimer’s Association Educational Conference. 
Simmons recently was commissioned to choreograph a 20 minute work for Texture Contemporary Ballet entitled “The Art of Conversation” (2020). SSD was commissioned by the VALEES Conference in March 2016 and Leadership Illinois Conference in 2017 to perform works from Objective I and The Missing Peace. Simmons has presented self-choreographed solo works at the SpringUP Dance Festival and PEARLpresents Dance Festival, presented SSD at APAP in NYC in Jan 2017, and has choreographed for Point Park University multiple times. SSD has collaborated with Carnegie Museum of Art facilitating movement for seniors during their Alzheimer's programming while touring the museum and Simmons has been a nominee for the Carol R Brown Award (2016), received Pittsburgh’s Best Dance award (2014, 2015, 2018) and independently teaches within the community as well as Adjunct Faculty at Point Park University.

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JAMIE ERIN MURPHY
COSTUMES/DANCER

Year started with SSD: 2012
Favorite thing about her: Her generosity and those pointy feet.
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Jamie Erin Murphy is a Pittsburgh based choreographer, dancer and educator who is passionate about exploring the human body through movement.  She graduated from Point Park University in 2007 and broke into the Pittsburgh dance scene soon after.  Jamie has worked with Attack Theatre, Staycee Pearl Dance Project, Texture Contemporary Ballet, Xpressions Contemporary Dance Company, The Pillow Project, Knot Dance, Zany Umbrella Circus, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and was co-director of Murphy/Smith Dance Collective.  Her choreography has been presented throughout Pittsburgh, as well as Ohio and New York.  In 2014 she completed a 6-month mentorship with  Doug Varone and Dancers (NYC) and presented work at the historical 92nd Street Y as part of the CHIN Project.  Jamie has an extensive teaching career and is currently a proud faculty member of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School where she teaches Modern, Jazz, Choreography, Dance for Parkinson’s, Adaptive Dance and Creative Movement through elementary school residencies.  Jamie has taught master classes at Carnegie Mellon University, Seton Hill University and Point Park University and has guest lectured about her educational programs at University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University and Carlow University.  She has had the honor of being nominated twice for The Carol R. Brown Achievement in the Arts Award and was listed in 2013’s Best of Pittsburgh Dance for her work with MSDC. On top of being an independent artist, she is currently a collaborator of Shana Simmons Dance.  Jamie is very proud to be a part of the Pittsburgh dance community and will strive to continue her mission to make art and dance accessible for everyone.

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BRADY SANDERS
DANCER

Year started with SSD: 2014
Favorite thing about him: His adaptability in movement and the way his hair falls across his forehead.
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Brady Sanders resides in Pittsburgh, PA and has performed with Dansz Loop Chicago, Inaside Chicago Dance, Thodos Dance Chicago, Attack Theatre in the Pittsburgh Opera, the Murphy/Smith Dance Collective, Jamie Erin Murphy and Shana Simmons Dance.  He has toured nationally and internationally with Thodos Dance Chicago and The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. As founder and Artistic Director of the Pride of Cincinnati Dance Ensemble, Brady is passionate about offering students professional level performance experiences. His choreography has been performed by many artistically innovative groups including but not limited to, The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps, the Pride of Cincinnati Winter Guard and The Pride of Cincinnati Dance Ensemble. Brady’s choreography was most recently seen at the 2016 newMoves Contemporary Dance Festival in Pittsburgh, PA and the 2017 APAP conference in New York, NY. He is currently teaching, performing and choreographing extensively throughout the Pittsburgh area and across the Midwest.  Brady is passionate about teaching, entertaining, collaborating and communicating through dance.

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EMILY JAIKARAN
DANCER

Year started with SSD: 2017
Favorite thing about her: Her soft movement style and the fact she snorts when she laughs.
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Emily Jaikaran is a 23-year-old Canadian born artist currently working within the United States. After completing a competitive dance career from the age of 6 to the age of 18, Emily made the decision to continue her education at Point Park University. She graduated from Point Park University in the spring of May 2017. While at Point Park, Emily was able to be apart of several productions. She performed in the piece HELPLESS PEOPLE by MADBOOTS DANCE, a new work that was made for the students and performed at the Byham Theatre in downtown Pittsburgh. She was also a part of David Norsworthy’s piece A view from here. A new work about perception and interaction. The final production in which she performed was Missa Brevis by Jose Limon. Since graduating in May, Emily has worked with Jane Franklin Dance on a project during the summer, participating in the performance of Aflight. Emily has also joined Shana Simmons Dance for their performance of The Missing Peace which premiered in March in Pittsburgh, PA. She has also performed at Squawkfest at IUP with Shana Simmons Dance. Emily has also guest taught at several places in the Pittsburgh area. 

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JOANNA DEHLER
DANCER

Year started with SSD: 2017
Favorite thing about her: She's always positive. And inquisitive. She asks questions. Like...a lot of questions. 
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Born and raised in Pittsburgh, JoAnna Dehler is a proud University of Pittsburgh alumna, graduating in 2017 with a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Communication & Rhetoric. During her time at Pitt, JoAnna performed in David Bernabo’s The Reduction (2015) as part of the New Hazlett Theater's CSA performance series. Following graduation, JoAnna joined Shana Simmons Dance to perform in The Missing Peace, and has adored her time with the Pittsburgh based company since. She has most recently performed in SSD’s Constructed Sight (2020) and Dance & Discussion (2020).

JoAnna’s passion is bringing dance and performing arts to kids in her community. She has choreographed three commissioned works for the Pitt Dance Ensemble, and she choreographs and coaches nationally competitive dance and baton twirling teams through Tournament Indoor Association’s Exquisite Performance Ensemble. She enjoys teaching in all corners of the city and is completing her seventh residency as an Attack Theatre Teaching Artist.

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internships

Shana Simmons Dance is continuously planning events, producing a variety of works through different mediums, hosting classes, and developing this artistic endeavor. 

If you are interested in working as an Intern for Shana Simmons Dance, please contact shanasimmonsdance@gmail.com.
​We have marketing, research, management, and business development opportunities.
Please attach resumé and letter of introduction to begin the dialogue!

(Jan-Sept 2020) Erin Skiff is a dancer, singer, musician, and visual artist. She grew up in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. She trained with the Dance Conservatory of Pittsburgh from ages 4-17. After high school, she spent a year studying with Adelphi University's Dance Department in New York. She is currently studying Arts Management at Point Park University.

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members of the board

2020-2021
President, Mark Minnaugh
Secretary, Tiffany Brazile
Treasurer, Shana Simmons

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Years Prior:
2019-2020
​President, Mark Minnaugh
Secretary, Tiffany Brazile
Treasurer, Shana Simmons
Member, Dr. Yihhsing Liu
2018-2019
President, Mark Minnaugh
Interim Secretary, Kristine Schnaufer
Treasurer, Shana Simmons
2017-2018
President, Mark Minnaugh
Secretary, Tanya Moximchalk
Treasurer, Shana Simmons
2016-2017
President, Lisa Bernardo
Secretary, Tanya Moximchalk
Treasurer, Shana Simmons

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thank you for your continual support:

Attack Theatre, Bodiography, The Pilates Centre Wildwood, Cajoli, Off the Wall Productions, Square Cafe, Pittsburgh Dance Council, James Wirt & Dan Howell / Keller Williams Reality, Wally & Sue Phillips, The Heinz Small Arts Initiative

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SHANA SIMMONS DANCE