Shannon Pickett received her initial ballet training under Christine Fossemalle in Hot Springs, AR, and Barbara Ebert in Topeka, KS.  In high school she began performing with Ballet Midwest, a civic ballet company in Topeka. She continued to teach, perform, and assist company productions with Ballet Midwest as an adult. Shannon danced lead roles in ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella,  A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Nutcracker.  Shannon studied dance on scholarship at The University of Kansas with Jerel and Krystyna Hilding, both former Joffrey Ballet dancers. She performed leading roles in original ballet, jazz, and modern works with the University Dance Company while completing her BA in English. Shannon has taught dance for twenty years, and has been teaching and performing at LAC for 8 years, specializing in ballet. Shannon has danced the title role in the LAC production of The Snow Queen as well as the roles of Hummingbird and Snow Queen in past productions of A Kansas Nutcracker. Shannon holds an MA in education and teaches at Eudora High School, while also teaching all levels of ballet at the Lawrence Arts Center.