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 hybridizing choreography with heritage art forms like calligraphy, altering physical spaces using materiality, and honing in on a ‘sensitive intensity’ in movement dynamics, Shion’s artistic practice is an extension of their Asian-diasporic lens and queerness, investigating identity and reflecting on the complexities of the human experience.

Recent creative endeavours at festivals, theatres, and galleries include Vancouver International Dance Festival, b12 Berlin Workshop Festival (Berlin), Tangente (Montréal), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Live Art Dance (Halifax), 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 holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance (Kinesiology minor) from Simon Fraser University, and is the recipient of the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2021) and the Chrystal Dance Prize (2023).

Photo credit: Sewari Campillo