is a dance artist originally from Gifu, Japan, who lives and dedicates time to their artistic practice in Vancouver, Canada on the unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Through a movement language of sensitive intensity, hybridizing choreography with heritage art forms like calligraphy, and interweaving materiality into performance, Shion’s artistic practice peels apart layers of identity and reflects on the complexities of the human experience.

Recent creative endeavours at festivals, theatres, and galleries include Vancouver International Dance Festival (BC), Tangente (Montréal QC), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto ON), Live Art Dance (Halifax NS), b12 Berlin Workshop Festival (Berlin), and L’AiR Arts Atelier 11 Artist Residency (Paris). Their short dance films have been screened at festivals globally, International Portrait Film Festival (Bulgaria), CAPSULE by the National Arts Centre (Canada), Hibrido Brazilian Videodance Festival (Brazil), and Fashion for Bank Robbers/Maximiliansforum (Germany), among others. As a performer, they have worked with companies such as Anya Saugstad (Furious Grace Dance Theatre), Vanessa Goodman (Action at a Distance), Wen Wei Dance, plastic orchid factory, Company 605, and Ziyian Kwan (Odd Meridian Arts).

Shion's choreography has been recognized internationally through the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2021), the Chrystal Dance Prize (2023), and most recently, their solo Cobalt was shortlisted for the Rose International Dance Prize at Sadler’s Wells, London, UK (Bloom category: 2nd Edition, 2027). They hold a BFA (Hons) in Dance, minor in Kinesiology, from Simon Fraser University.

Photo credit: Sewari Campillo