Annika Sheaff

Annika Sheaff completed her MFA in Dance at Bennington College under the leadership of Donna Faye Burchfield and Thomas F. DeFrantz. Sheaff earned a BFA in dance from The Juilliard School, where she had the privilege of working directly with Ohad Naharin, Paul Taylor, Ronald K. Brown, Jessica Lang, Risa Steinberg, Kazuko Hirabayashi, Hector Zaraspe, Alphonse Poulin, Carolyn Adams, Terese Capucilli, Laura Glenn, and Stephen Pier. She received Juilliard’s InterArts Award for her community outreach work. She joined Pilobolus Dance Theater and toured the world performing over 550 times on four continents. Sheaff collaborated with the Pilobolus founders and dance artists Inbal Pinto, Avshalom Pollak, puppeteer Basil Twist, graphic artist Art Spiegelman, and the band OKGO. Sheaff has appeared on “America’s Got Talent,” “Extra!,” “Sesame Street,” and on the cover of Dance Magazine with Pilobolus. Annika was in the original cast of James and The Giant Peach under the direction of Graciela Daniele and with new music by legendary artists Pasek & Paul. Touring with Aszure Barton and Artists was a career highlight. Sheaff joined GroundWorks Dance Theater in 2012 and enjoyed her tenure there until 2017. With GroundWorks she collaborated with David Shimotakahara, Amy Miller, Rosie Herrera, Loni Landon, Adam Barruch, Johannes Wieland, Doug Elkins, Noa Zuk, Kate Weare, Monica Bill Barnes, and more to create over fifteen new works for the company. Her choreography has been shown nationally and in France. She was awarded a 2016 Creative Workforce Fellowship to create seven dance films. Annika taught as an Associate Professor of Dance at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio before joining the faculty at TCU. Her research is examining the female condition through the creation of a solo performance show being created in collaboration with Monica Bill Barnes and Rosie Herrera. www.annikasheaff.com

• Sheaff, Annika. “Dance as Resistance: The Secret Power of the Cakewalk.” Lakeside Chautauqua, Lakeside, Ohio, June 11, 2026.
• Sheaff, Annika. “Jazz Dance: Movement as Resistance.” Lakeside Chautauqua, Lakeside, Ohio, June 12, 2026.
• Sheaff, Annika. “Dances of the Lakota and the Massacre of Wounded Knee.” Lakeside Chautauqua, Lakeside, Ohio, June 15, 2026.
• Invited Seminar: Partnering, Trentino Music Festival, Mezzano, Italy, July 2026
• Invited Seminar: Contemporary Technique, Trentino Music Festival, Mezzano, Italy, July 2026
• Invited Summer Intensive: Pilobolus Dance Theater, Bethlehem, CT, June 2026
• Invited Masterclass: Austin Dance Festival, Austin, TX, April 2026
• Invited Presentation/Workshop: “Collaborative Choreography Discovered through Improv”: Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, Huntsville, TX, October 2025
• Invited Presentation/Workshop: “Collaborative Partnering”: Bates Dance Festival, Lewiston, ME, July 2025
• Invited Presentation/Workshop: “Centering Joy in Modern Dance”, American College Dance Association, San Marcos, TX, March 2025, https://finearts.tcu.edu/news/advancing-dance-scholarship-sccdance-faculty-at-acda/

 

• UNDERBELLY, Solo Performance choreographed by Rosie Herrera and Annika Sheaff, Fort Worth, TX 2026
• Wish You Were Here: choreographed by Monica Bill Barnes performed at:
  • • Trentino Music Festival, Fiera di Primiero, Italy, 2026
    • Playhouse Square, Cleveland, Ohio, 2026
    • Austin Dance Festival, Austin, TX, 2026
    • 254Fest, Waco, TX, 2026
    • Fort Worth Dance Festival, Fort Worth, TX 2025         

• Examining the Impact of the ‘Aesthetics of the Beautiful’ on women, MFA Solo Thesis Performance, Montpellier, France, 2024
• Pilobolus, Principal dancer World Tour
• Examining the Impact of the ‘Aesthetics of the Beautiful’ on the Femme, MFA Solo Thesis Performance, Montpellier, France, 2024

• TCU Connection Culture Committee, 2026- present
• Baldwin Wallace Faculty Changemaker Trip to Guatemala, 2023
• Diversity, Equity, and Justice Senate Committee, Baldwin Wallace University, 2020-2022
• Teaching Artist, ArtsIgnite (formerly known as Artists Striving To End Poverty) 2003-2012
• Read to Learn, Dance to Move Program Teacher, Dance Cleveland, 2013 & 2023

Juror for the Cleveland Arts Prize 2022 & 2023