Shannon Woods received her B.F.A. in Dance and B.A. in English and World Literatures from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. Originally from Massachusetts, she graduated from New York University with a Masters in Performance Studies. During her time in New York, Woods collaborated with multiple companies including WorkHorse Dance Project and De Funes Dance and performed as a freelance dance artist in works at the Battery Dance Festival, Center for Performance Research, Triskelion Arts and Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center, among others. She contributes to Dance Magazine's monthly print section, "The Conversation," and is a research editor for Dance Media's multiple publications, including Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher, Pointe and Dance Spirit. Woods' research examines the choreography of school-based active shooter drills. She is interested in their relationship to performing protection, national identity and panic, as well as the ways in which the body can rehearse for crisis and perpetuate threat.