Authentic Movement – Shari Washington Rhone (ensemble cast of The Lion King) Ep. 8

What does it take to stay grounded when your role changes night to night?

In this conversation, Steven Leavitt sits down with Shari Washington Rhone, a working performer whose career spans dance, theater, voiceover, teaching, and martial arts. As a swing and understudy in the original Los Angeles theatrical company of The Lion King, Shari has lived inside a creative reality where visibility fluctuates constantly: one night carrying a principal role, the next blending into the ensemble.

Rather than chasing status, Shari has built a sustainable creative life rooted in listening — to her body, her intuition, her family, and the communities she serves. She speaks about what it means to stay ready without attaching identity to outcome, how discipline can exist without harshness, and why longevity in the performing arts depends less on ambition than on regulation, adaptability, and care.

The conversation moves through her journey from the Indianapolis Dance Company to Los Angeles, her work with Lula Washington Dance Theatre and JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble, and her parallel paths as a teacher, mother, and lifelong student of movement. Along the way, Shari reflects on authentic movement as a form of storytelling, dance as emotional literacy, and the quiet strength required to remain whole inside demanding systems.

This episode explores creative stability, embodied intelligence, and what it looks like to build a performing life that can last.

FEATURED ART

Featured Music: “Elevation” by Brian Swartz and the Gnu Sextet (www.brianswartz.com)

Narrated Performance: Shari Washington Rhone 

Visual: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouEfIEO0uec)

SPONSORED LINK (Please support our show!)

Nothing Wrong by Lobate Scarp (http://bit.ly/LSNothingWrong)

Guest: Shari Washington Rhone

Insta: @FestiveShari

FB: Shari Washington Rhone

Email: swr@sharirhone.com

Voiceover Reel: https://voice123.com/sharirhone

Mentioned in the show...

Jazz Antiqua: www.jazzantiqua.org

Soulicious: www.soulicious4u.com

Dance and Dialogue: www.danceanddialogue.org

Lula Washington Dance Theatre: www.lulawashington.org

Bella Donna - A Tribute to Stevie Nicks: www.belladonna-music.com

Jaxx Theatricals: www.jaxxtheatricals.org

Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre: www.gregoryhancockdancetheatre.org

Songs Hapkido: www.songsdohyunhapkido.com

Special thanks to Garden of Sound for hosting this conversation at their Melrose studio. (www.gardenofsound.com)

 

Keywords:

The Lion King, Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble, Lula Washington Dance Theatre, Julie Taymor, Lion King, Jaxx Theatricals, Dance & Dialogue, DisneyLand, Rufus Bonds, Sarabi, dance, dancing, singing, theater, performing, voiceover, costumes, puppets, Julie Taylor, Michael Curry, Disneyland, Disney, Parnell Damone Marcano, Stephanie Andersen, Gerald White, stage