SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT! Elena Shaddow
SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT WILL HIGHLIGHT A SINGER-ARTIST IN THE STUDIO EACH WEEK. SOME OF THESE SINGER-ARTISTS MIGHT BE FAMILIAR TO YOU, AND SOME MAY NOT. NO MATTER WHAT, EACH SINGER-ARTIST IS SOMEONE THAT YOU SHOULD GET TO KNOW!
It is an honor and a privilege for me to work with each of these singer-artists and introduce them to you!
This week’s spotlight shines on Elena Shaddow.
I told Elena this week that I had had a dream about her: she had written a one-woman show and called it “Often the Bridesmaid: The Story of the Cover/Standby.”
You heard it here first!!!
And yes, Elena has been a standby and an understudy because she truly IS a leading lady: on the stage, on the screen, in her life. From the moment I met Elena, and began working with her, she was “chiaroscuro” to me: the contrast of light and dark, of shadow and illumination, the space that authentically captures both.
This is Elena.
She feels and lives so deeply, so authentically & so purposefully. If you followed Elena early in the pandemic, she sang from the depth of her soul, seated at the piano in her home ,on IG and FB Live EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. She gives. She creates. She moves through her life as an artist does: full of action, full of possibility, full of mastery, full of inclusion, full of discovery. It’s been an honor to create a safe place for HER to continue to explore her craft, while she creates such a safe place for so many others in her sphere. This woman, this artist, this mother & wife & partner, friend and colleague simply gives: through her voice, her dramatic intelligence, her human-ness. She fills the spaces she inhabits: with love and energy, with light and wit, with joy. She is humble, and carries incredible talent & artistic integrity. Get to know Elena. She will captivate you, if you dare.
ELENA SHADDOW
I love doing yoga at my local studio, where I’ve made a group of friends that have gentle natures and kind hearts. I love taking my dog Ziggy for walks and runs and I love love love my kids and being with them. Whatever they do I love doing. Arts and crafts, YouTube edits, making tiktoks, cooking, hiking, watching them play sports, perform, I’m there with them and I love it.
I started out professionally thinking I would never want to do anything else but sing on stage. I spent about 15 years professionally climbing and reaching new milestones and also birthed two children along the way.
As I’ve come to learn, though, things change. What started out as a passion and a full-blown successful performing career has lulled itself into more of a burning ember but with no less love for sure. Before the pandemic I was already questioning my place in the industry. I had already started teaching voice lessons as a way to supplement my income found a deep sense of fulfillment while doing it and realized the answer was there all along.
I’ve since started my own performing art program called Theatre Arts Project, based in Bergen County, NJ and I am fully immersed in the programming, teaching and directing of our students, ages 5-18. I still love performing but know that it would really have to be the right project in order for me to get back to an 8-show a week schedule or leave town.
I get to share so much of what I’ve used and learned in my time as a professional performer with my students. It gives me a great sense of peace and joy creating a safe space to learn the performing arts and I even get to teach my own kids. It’s a win-win.
I have an amazing husband Michael Harrington, and we are doing our very best to keep our heads screwed on straight in a very difficult world.
Thank you Susan for your profile of me. I’m really honored to know you and have you as an ally and friend in my life.
Find out MORE about Elena & follow her:
Website: Elena Shaddow