Director / Choreographer

Shanda Sawyer’s work as a Director, Choreographer and Executive Producer has garnered numerous awards including two Emmys®, a Gracie, an Iris nomination and five American Choreography Award nominations.

Recently, Sawyer was honored to be chosen to re-imagine the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus. With her team of Oscar®, Tony® and Emmy Award® winners, Sawyer completely re-designed this American entertainment icon; transforming the performance space, incorporating video, a narrative storyline and fresh musical score. Sawyer’s first Ringling show Circus of Dreams was lauded as the biggest change in 50 years. The NY Times praised her next show Zing Zang Zoom as “an artful eyeful, liberally spiced with mystifying magic.” Sawyer’s latest show; DRAGONS! is currently touring to rave reviews.

Sawyer’s work as a comedy director has fueled the success of television shows such as The Man Show, Queer Eye, The Keenan Ivory Wayans Show, Motown Live and Comics on Delivery as well as popular programs such as Extreme Makeover, The Miss America Pageant, and The World’s Greatest Stunts. She brought a fresh eye to Disney’s 2006 Christmas Parade as Creative Consultant for performances by Beyonce, Andrea Bocelli, the stars of High School Musical and Michael Bolton.

Sawyer developed, executive produced and directed the critically acclaimed reality/comedy series Who Needs Hollywood? for Oxygen; winning the Gracie Allen Award.

Other projects include designing and directing the Michael Kidd tribute for the 69th Academy Awards®,and serving as choreographer and creative director for Paris By Night’s spectacular international productions for over 10 years, creating a wide variety of stage shows and music videos for top Asian pop stars. She also works extensively in Europe designing live shows characterized by her fluid use of video, narrative, comedy and spectacle.

Her choreography credits include television shows such as Las Vegas, GhostWhisperer, Disney Animal Kingdom and Keenen Ivory Wayans, as well as numerous commercials for clients such as Levi’s, Nestles, Nintendo, Yoplait, Carnival Cruise, Disney and Pepsi, and music videos for Chris Rock, Hammer and the original song “Surprise” from Chorus Line the Movie.

A San Francisco native, Sawyer started her career as a director/choreographer at the age of 14, creating a street performance group with her 16 year old sister. Sawyer attended USF/Lone Mountain College’s Theater Arts dept. on a full scholarship; graduating with a BA, Summa Cum Laude. In college, she formed a dance/comedy company, The Rhythm Methods. Their shows, satirizing pop culture through comedy, music and dance, became a cult hit in the San Francisco area. Sawyer’s directing, choreography and comedy writing caught the attention of media producers, and soon led to a career in television and music videos.

Sawyer is a member of the Director’s Guild of America, Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers.