Shavar “Caution” Blackwood was born in Toronto, raised in Detroit, and has been living and working in Toronto for the last 10 years. Throughout his career he has had the opportunity to work with many outstanding choreographers and performers such as Allen Kaeja, Luther Brown, Siona Jackson, Mandy Moore, and Bill T Jones.
His passion for dance lets him take his ideas of the hip-hop culture to the next level by fusing it with different forms of dance such as Contemporary, House, Vogue, Popping, & Krump. These principles has allowed him to achieve a Top 14 spot on Season 3 of So You Think You Can Dance Canada, as well as dance in the Family Channel show Naturally Sadie, perform along with artists such as Cascada, Mcfly, George Nozuka, Divine Brown, and Jacksoul.
A well sought out choreographer and teacher, Shavar has taught for many institutions, including National Ballet School of Canada, City Dance Corps, OIP Dance Centre, and Stars of The 21st Century. He has choreographed for events such as Sick Kids Canada, Toronto’s Choreographers’ Ball, Talent Defined, Bazaar, TDSB Martin Luther King Remembrance Day celebration at Roy Thompson Hall, and was the winner of Manifesto Dance Competition. Recently he choreographed a 20-minute dance theatre piece called City Lights presented at The Great Hall, co-produced two choreographic showcases titled “3 is Company” which was focused towards helping merge contemporary and urban audiences, and also self produced his own full length production to celebrate the 1 Year Anniversary of “The Male Initiative”
For Shavar dance is not just an art form but also a way of life, He believes dance allows him to not only connect with people, but also use it as a means of self-actualization. Currently interested art therapy, Shavar is planning to go back to school, in hopes to use dance and psychology to provide therapeutic services for youth.