Meagan O’Shea

Working across forms and borders, queer, dance+ artist, Meagan O’Shea (she|they) activates people individually and collectively. Devising “Uplifting, energetic and totally out of the ordinary” performances, Meagan examines ideas from unexpected angles. She creates content-driven, problem-finding, solo work using an array of improv techniques and performance strategies. Treating process like a science experiment, she uses her body and interaction with the audience as test site, jumping between forms as she seeks to unite disparate ideas. Meagan has performed her signature mash-up solo works across the land called Canada, in New York, Mexico, Morocco, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Finland, Hungary, Austria, Greece and North Macedonia.

O’Shea has created several ensemble, participatory and in-situ performances, including her dance like no one is watching improv project which animates/disrupts public space. Since 2007 this project has included over 200 dancers and reached over 30,000 audience.

Meagan teaches Interdisciplinary Solo Making and Ensemble Improv in art, education and social change contexts in North America, Europe and North Africa. She is a co-founder of hub14 creation and performance space in Toronto, was International Associate Artist at Dance Ireland for 3 seasons, Associate Artist at Theatre Direct Canada, Artistic Collaborator with Barcelona International Dance Exchange. Meagan is a recipient of the KM Hunter Award in Dance, was twice shortlisted for the Guggenheim Fellowship. She founded Stand Up Dance in 2007 as a platform to amplify her vision, and to support the work of other artists and communities.
An international artistic nomad for many years, Meagan is now based between Tromsø, Berlin and Barcelona.