Artistic Director

Shav’on is a North Philadelphia native and a graduate of the Philadelphia school district. She has been a part of the theatre world

since she was in the sixth grade at the former John Wanamaker Middle School under the direction of Virginia Lam. She went on to do more theatre and concert band at Abraham Lincoln High School, Community College of Philadelphia, and finally settling in at the prestigious HBCU, Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. There, Shav’on was under the direction of Dr. Shirley Basfield-Dunlap in the theatre department. Shav’on held down several titles; costume director, stage manager, actress, and lighting designer. Shav’on graduated from Morgan State in 2009, and continued her love of theatre with a very successful children’s theatre program at Methodist Services for eight years. For two and a half years, Shav’on was an Emotional Support teacher and as of August 2017 became a worker for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation finding her path and destiny at Venice Island Performing Arts Center where she is the Assistant Recreation Leader (ARL) and program facilitator. Shav’on’s ultimate goal is to make Venice Island a performing arts hub for all artists in and around Philadelphia, and make the arts accessible for all.

In the beginning of 2018, Shav’on started the development for her own theatre company and was able to settle on the name and purpose of her company. The purpose for Grounded Theatre Company is in its tag line; “from the root of our history to the stage.” To tell the stories of the African Diaspora and honor our traditions and legacy.

Her favorite quote: The artist's role is to raise the consciousness of the people. To make them understand life, the world and themselves more completely. That's how I see it. Otherwise, I don't know why you do it."~Amiri Baraka a.k.a LeRoi Jones