MarisaMichelson.com
SHAWN SHAFNER
"I am so grateful for the voice classes that I took with Shawn. I have taken voice lessons on and off all my life (for decades!) and they were rather similar, although the teachers were different. What I learned working with Shawn was completely new to me and revelatory and boy, did I hear a difference in my singing voice! Shawn is intuitive, kind - but also, one of a kind! The days working with Shawn were enormously exciting to me. I am a different and better singer now. What joy!"
- Lea F.
"Shawn brings his whole self to his teaching. That includes a great knowledge of the mechanics of singing and of the importance of body awareness, a sense of humor and a kind heart."
- Brian G.
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"Shawn Shafner is excellent in whatever he teaches. He is clear and demanding in a kind way. He took me step by step, methodically through a process new to me. He taught me that singing comes from a relaxed place in the body. It really felt good. His humor and good nature was much appreciated."
- Tamar R.
About Shawn
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Based in Washington, DC, Shawn Shafner is an experienced actor who can work with performers on music and text, and whose special musical expertise includes working on Musical Theatre songs. In addition to being part of the Vocal De-Armoring team, Shawn has also received a 60-Hour Integrated Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate through The Embody Lab, a 200-Hour Teaching Mindfulness Certificate hosted by Shambhala NYC, a Level II Reiki Master training, and has been practicing (for 20 years) and now teaching Tamar Rogoff's Body Scripting for bodies of all abilities. Shawn brings all this experience into his VoDe lessons which are playful, therapeutic, musical, and physical.
Shawn is also a multidisciplinary artist, educator, advocate and Renaissance Man who blends backgrounds in devised theater, public health, sustainable food activism, education, embodied music making, somatic healing, faith-based ritual and secular mindfulness to help foster a fiercely loving relationship with their bodies, planet, and global neighbors. Since 2010, Shawn has been breaking wind and taboos as founder of The People's Own Organic Power (POOP) Project, using humor, theater, podcast, a book and more to advocate for more sustainable nutrient reuse, safe and dignified toilets for all, and deep love for our embodied experience. While pursuing his MFA at GWU's Corcoran School (2022-24), he championed the acorn as a traditional food surviving in the concrete jungle, facilitated a semester-long fellowship alongside the Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park to grow Indigenous visibility and native ecology on campus, and organized the art school to transform old t-shirts into a hammock representing our ability to rest in the strength of our interconnection.​
From Shawn
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"The truth is, all of us have an expressive vocal mansion inside us - inseparable from our selves. Sure, some houses may have a few more rooms, or a wild firehouse pole into the basement. Some houses are more modest, but even those are filled with as many rooms as we have emotions and thoughts. And most all of us will see renovations and changes with time. But we can’t have access to all the rooms, or all the nooks and crannies, until we clear away some clutter. Some of that clutter, then, is physical tension.
Another “clutter” that can cloud our sound-making is the idea of “singing.” That might be a concept of a “correct” posture, a “powerful” voice, sounding “pretty,” “perfect” or all sorts of idealized versions of singing. This is like having a mansion but living your whole life in one room. Unsinging habituates us to releasing our expectations. Stop listening for a sound. Experience the possibility of all sorts of singing - go through all the rooms and find every nook and cranny. It’s inexhaustible! And here’s where the work of “nonsinging” begins.
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The work is never complete. All homes need maintenance for rusty hinges, peeling paint, etc. Sometimes a hail storm comes through and breaks a window, or a room starts to feel musty and ready for redecorating. So we come back to the work - ever freer from, ever freer to."
(Photo by Bridget Badore, insta @bridgetbadore)
All Rights Reserved. Marisa Michelson.