Shannon Volk Ludlum
Shannon was born and raised in Wading River, New York. She began her ballet training at the age of 3 at a local ballet academy. Later she had the privilege of training with renowned ballet instructor Maggie Black in NY. Shannon received many scholarships to dance at several prestigious summer programs including, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The School of American Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Boston Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. In 1997, at 16 years old, she competed at The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts held in Miami and was awarded the highest Level One award. Also that year, Shannon was invited to join American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company, where she was featured in many Principal and Soloist roles. In 1998 she was promoted to American Ballet Theatre’s Corps De Ballet where she danced in several full length classical ballets as well as contemporary works. Shannon was featured in soloist roles such as The Mother in The Nutcracker, Madame La Patronne in Offenbach in the Underworld and Lady Montague in Romeo and Juliet. Shannon is currently a certified American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum instructor in levels Primary through level 3. She has also completed the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s instructor training program. Currently, she is Adjunct Faculty for the University of South Carolina’s Department of Theatre and Dance and an instructor for the USC Dance Conservatory.