SHAINA CANTINO holds an MFA in dance from Smith College, and is a graduate of the National Theatre Institute and Kenyon College (BA, Distinction in Dance).  Her creative and teaching work is grounded in twenty years of contemporary dance training as well as research in improvisation for performance, contact improvisation (CI), environmental studies and theater.  Cantino is currently a Guest Artist at Smith College, collaborating with students to create a piece for the Smith College Faculty Concert. She has taught as a Lecturer at Wesleyan University and Keene State College (KSC), teaching courses in beginning to advanced contemporary dance technique, composition, and CI. She also teaches intermediate/advanced contemporary dance at School for Contemporary Dance and Thought in Northampton, MA.   Cantino's recent choreographic projects include a group choreography commissioned by KSC, a duet presented in the Smith College Faculty Concert, and two works selected for the American College Dance Festival Association’s gala concert in 2014 and presented at the Kennedy Center in 2010.  Cantino’s performance is noted for its understated humor and off-balance physicality.  Cantino has collaborated with and performed in works by Aretha Aoki, Angie Hauser, Chris Aiken, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Paul Matteson, Kate Seethaler, Joy Davis, Sara Coffin, Colleen Thomas, Karl Rogers, and Alexandra Beller. Cantino has intensively trained with artists including Bebe Miller Company, Deborah Hay, Sara Shelton Mann, Susan Rethorst, Kathleen Hermesdorf, and at the St. Petersburg State Theater Academy, American Conservatory Theater, and Bates Dance Festival.  In addition to her work as a dance artist, Cantino is a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist (BCST).

​Photo credit: Joshua Sugiyama