At just four years old, Shawn Ahern starred in his first dance production, playing the role of John in Cinderella.

Now 22, Ahern is living his childhood fantasy after beating out more than 300 dancers to earn one of two available spots with the internationally renowned Pilobolus Dance Company.
It’s been a whirlwind experience for the ConVal High graduate and former Peterborough resident, who is now embarking on a journey that over the next three years will take him to destinations he otherwise may never have gone — places like Israel, Brazil and Egypt.

Simply put, he has made it.

“To get into a professional company and to have some sort of input on creating new works right out of college is just totally amazing. This just doesn’t really happen to people. It really is a dream come true,” said Ahern.

A 2010 graduate of Keene State College, Ahern just signed a three-year full-time contract with Pilobolus, which began in 1971 at Dartmouth College. Currently, the company is composed of seven dancers and three artistic directors. According to Ahern, it is known for its modern dance repertory, in addition to its performances on the Oscars, Tony Awards, Oprah Winfrey Show, and its commercials for Honda and Ford.

In addition to touring 30 weeks out of the year, both in the United States and internationally, Ahern will be rehearsing for 20 weeks — five days a week — in the studio.
Although Ahern spent nine months in Vienna, Austria, after graduating from high school in 2005, he said, “I now get to travel all over the world as a recognized professional artist, which I think is very different than doing it as a student or tourist.”

Ahern is also excited about the opportunity to collaborate with world renowned dancers and professionals from other artistic mediums. Pilobolus Dance Company creates about three new dances per year, a process in which the dancers also take part.

“Just to be a part of that living, thriving, creative process is really exciting because choreography is something that has been a huge part of my education and has really allowed me to thrive as an artist,” said Ahern.

The first three-day audition process took place in Manhattan where dancers from colleges such as New York University, Juilliard, Boston Conservatory, and a variety of countries, auditioned for one male and one female spot. During the first two days, “there were a lot of physically exhaustive things to sort of test your stamina. There was also a lot of lifting and guided improvisation,” said Ahern.

On the third day, a few of the people were invited to the company’s small studio in Connecticut where the primary focus was choreography. Then, a week later, two men and three women were invited back for a last day audition, where they learned 10 minutes of choreography from a variety of dances.

“There were also a lot of interviews sporadically throughout the day,” said Ahern. “When you are in a dance company like this, it’s not like you’re in a cubicle in your office and you have coworkers. You are living, breathing, sweating, rolling around on the floor, partially nude with these people, creating dance. You have to make sure that you are going to get along with them.”

About three or four days after the final audition, Ahern, while living with his sister, Riley, and brother, received an e-mail from Pilobolus. “I was just casually checking my e-mail, and I got the e-mail from them saying they wanted to offer me a position in their main company,” said Ahern. “I was just like, ‘Riley, they want me in their main company!’ We were both jumping up and down in the living room.”

Ahern has been dancing for as long as he can remember and grew up in dance studios. His mom co-owns the Monadnock Performing Arts Academy and was herself a professional ballerina. “I think the joke in my family is that I’ve been dancing since before I was born,” said Ahern.

Ahern’s first experience performing with dance professionals was at the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival when he was in ninth grade. Bill Irwin, who has starred on Broadway, television, and in films, chose Shawn to perform with him at the festival.

“He wasn’t supposed to pick anyone to perform with him; it was supposed to be a solo, and he picked me to go on stage and dance with him,” said Ahern. “That was a life changing experience for me.”

During the past two summers, Ahern studied at Duke University, where he took part in the American Dance Festival. He will be going back this summer, which will be his second time on full scholarship. At the festival, Pilobolus was one of the companies Ahern had the opportunity to interact with.

Through his many experiences at festivals, in studios, and abroad, Ahern believes that dance changed his life and that the obstacles he faced were worth it in the end.

“It is certainly a competitive and rigorous track,” he said. “Choosing dance even as a hobby let alone for a career as a man in New Hampshire is not necessarily the most common or supported path. But, I know that it taught me to stand up for what I believe in. I just got into a major international dance company, and I’m really glad that those things happened because it made me the person I am today.”