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ON STAGE
Frank Dilella profiles SNL/NBC Choreographers Shannon Lewis and Sarah O'Gleby
SHANNON LEWIS Q & A~
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BACKSTAGE magazine
No matter the genre, choreographers with strong points of view leave lasting impressions. “I think of myself as a writer,” Lewis says. “I’m working off my own inspiration and experience to create a world. When it comes to really linking together steps, I have to have a reason. It has to be a story or an idea that is personal to me and very vibrant.”
FOSSE NYTIMES REVIEW
"There are only a few instances in which an infectious rush in the joy of performing gets past the footlights.
You feel it in the athletic pride generated by Desmond Richardson's gymnastic ''Percussion 4'' solo in the first act; in Scott Wise's satisfaction in turning tap steps into a personal stairway to heaven in ''Sing, Sing, Sing,'' and in, of all things, the salacious, watch-me delight that a young woman named Shannon Lewis draws from a 1970's artifact called ''I Gotcha,'' choreographed for Liza Minnelli's 1973 television special."
SNL BEHIND THE SKETCH
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/behind-the-sketch-im-just-pete/NBCE950085904
The difference between this SNL music video and some of our other music videos is that this one is largely choreography based...so, we called up our secret weapon Shannon Lewis...There are even a handful of jokes that Shannon made even better-the bi-polar energy bit where she created movement that went happy/sad/happy/sad....became one of my favorite parts of the whole piece...." Mike Diva -Film Unit Director
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS REVIEW
"Look out Twyla Tharp! Watch out Kathleen Marshall! Stand aside Susan Stroman!
There's a new queen of dance in town and her name is Shannon Lewis.
Lewis, who serves as choreographer and co-director...
The dancing is absolutely gorgeous. At times, the dancers defy gravity and literally look like they are floating. You really do enter a dream-like state; Bravo Miss Lewis!"
DANCE MAGAZINE
https://www.dancemagazine.com/begin-again-auditioning-with-confidence/
“Someone will be more likely to take a chance on you if they know your work already,” she says. If you’re new to the professional dance world, a good place to start that process is the classroom. “If you really connect with a teacher, it’s great to be in that class as much as possible, because it will give you the chance to build a relationship,” Lewis says. “Loyalty and consistency are really important words in our world.”
WHERE YOU ARE REVIEW
" Marroquín IS the power of perpetual motion under control. Her discipline as a dancer meant that her abundant movement throughout the performance was essential, nay, even needed, as her body told the story she wove just as much as her voice in spoken word and song - each element a piece of the puzzle without which that tale could not be told.
The joy the lady has in the performing truly surpasses anyone of her generation and her skillful director, the equally talented triple threat+choreographer+director Shannon Lewis, has guided her beautifully, harnessing all of that ebullient Marroquín energy in perfect partnership with her star and Music Director Sean Forte at the piano..."
Joseph and the...dreamcoat review
" Shannon Lewis, who serves as associate director also choreographs. Her choreography for "Go, Go, Go Joseph" and particularly "Those Canaan Days" is nirvana, with the rhythmical ensemble in literally nonstop motion.
."..with a totally contemporary and fresh perspective, this Joseph literally leaps off the stage and jolts you to the heavens!"
"Choreographer Lewis turns virtually every one of Joseph’s songs into a a great-big uber-imaginative production number, with special snaps for the Elvis-walks-like-an-Egyptian moves of “Song Of The King (Seven Fat Cows),” the country hoedown kicks of “One More Angel In Heaven,” and a “Those Canaan Days” that has Joseph’s brothers in Violon Sur Le Toit mode. (That’s Fiddler On The Roof in French.)"
MAMMA MIA REVIEW
The real dynamos are director John Tartaglia and choreographer Shannon Lewis.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST REVIEW
https://palmbeach.floridaweekly.com/articles/theater-review-56/
"...clearly the audience has lucked out in Tartaglia choosing to work again with Shannon Lewis as a choreographer.
"Lewis’ energetic and ebullient terpsichorean design is solidly entertaining..."
"Lewis’ staging of the big production numbers has the verve, pizzazz and sheer ebullience that earned the extended applause from the audience opening night"
