Julie Shanahan

Performer

Julie Shanahan began dancing at age seven under her mother’s Royal Academy of Dance-based ballet training and later studied modern dance at the Centre for Performing Arts in Adelaide. At 19 she joined Kai Tai Chan’s One Extra Dance Company in Sydney before moving to Germany, performing with Reinhild Hoffmann’s company and then joining Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch in 1988.

Over three decades with Tanztheater Wuppertal she has created roles in more than 30 productions, including 12 world premieres under Pina Bausch. Her range spans sharp wit to utter desperation, imprinting Bausch’s language with authenticity and emotional clarity.

Her collaboration with Alan Lucien Øyen began with Bon Voyage, Bob (2018) for Tanztheater Wuppertal, marking the beginning of an ongoing relationship that continues with winter guests. In 2021 she performed in Robert Wilson’s I Was Sitting on My Patio This Guy Appeared I Thought I Was Hallucinating, taking on the central role in a rare revival of the 1977 work. Since 2022 she has toured extensively with Gisèle Vienne’s L’Étang, while also appearing in new works by Tim Etchells and Rainer Behr.

Julie Shanahan performs in the winter guests production Julie Shanahan (2025).

Julie Shanahan

Contact Info

Alan Lucien Øyen

Ornella Sallum

Martin Flack

Tora De Zwart Rørholt