Born in Birch Hills, Saskatchewan, Shawn began his dance training as a theatre major in the B.F.A. program at the University of Saskatchewan where he studied with Irene Jaspar and Linda Rubin. In the fall of 1986, he joined the Professional Division of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and in the fall of 1989, Shawn danced and choreographed for Fusion Dance Theatres production of The Edge Beyond. His choreography for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's 1990 Fast Forward choreographic workshop awarded him the Paddy Stone Memorial Scholarship for artistic merit. Shawn joined the the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in June of 1990 and as a dancer. He cites his experiences working with then company choreographer Mark Godden as some of his most satisfying. Alongside his roles in ballets such as Symphony No.1, Myth, and A Darkness Between Us, were the opportunities to dance in works by Hans Van Manen, Jiri Kylian, Rudi van Dantzig, Agnes De Mille and many others. Noted for his theatricality and versatility, The Winnipeg Free Press writes of his role of Drosselmeir in John Neumeir's Nutcracker as such, "technically robust and thoroughly engrossing, When on stage, he had the rare gift of being able to draw eyes away from the ballerinas" (December, 1991).
 

In the spring of 1991 Shawn choreographed his ballet Jigsaw for the Fast Forward workshop and in the following season it entered the repertoire of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, touring extensively through Canada and the Eastern U.S.A. to favorabel acclaim: "a knockout work of choreography" (Winnipeg Free Press), "a sparkling, delightful spoof on classical dance" (Halifax Mail Star). He joined Les Grand's Ballets Canadiens in 1995 where he danced roles in works by Nacho Duato, Ohad Naharin, Jose Limon and again Jiri Kylian. Shawn's choreography, assurances and small gestures, for the November 1996 Á Suivre choreographic workshop was commissioned by director Lawrence Rhodes for Les Grand's Ballets Canadiens Maison del la Cutlure. As the recipient of the 1997 Clifford E. Lee Choreography Award he created Creaturehood which, after Banff, was invited to join the repertoire of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for a Winnipeg premiere in May of 2000.

In 1998 Shawn created Circle Songs for Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, which premiered in Aspen, Colorado. In 1999, Mr. Hounsell re-staged his work assurances and small gestures for Les Ballet Jazz who toured the piece to the U.S.A. where Andrew Adler in Louisville, Kentucky writes of "a lush, deftly conceived interweaving for three dancers" (Courier-Journal). In 1999 Shawn also presented another creation, 111, in conjunction with Les Grands Ballets Á Suivre, as Andrée Martin in Le Devoir details, "a good number of elements in this piece, both carnal and existential, ring true with their accuracy" and "a profound dance, a mise en scène solid and inventive, we reflect upon a world unavoidable and individualistic". Shawn's pas de deux Oracle presented in May of 1999 at the Gala damour et de danse and again at the Gala des Etoiles premiered as a "frantically riveting/non-stop tour of human relations" (Dance International Magazine).

Mr. Hounsell currently dances with Les Grand's Ballets Canadians.

Creaturehood (1997)

World Premiere, Eric Harvie Theatre
July 8, 10, 13 & 15, 1997

Choreography: Shawn Hounsell
Music: Maurice Ravel Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G major
Lighting Design: Harry Frehner
Costume Design: Denise Barrett

We are all of us Gods couched in creaturehood.

Malcolm Low and Simonde Orlando
in Creaturehood.
Photo: Don Lee