Sam Shapiro hails from Winston-Salem, N.C. He began his ballet training at Wake Forest University under the direction of his mother, Brantly Shapiro. At age 11, he entered UNCSA, where he studied with the entire faculty including Duncan Noble, Nina Danilova and Gyula Pandi.
At age 17 he joined The Royal Ballet’s Upper School where he danced for three years, graduating with commendation. Sam danced in the Royal Ballet’s productions of "Cinderella," "La Fille Mal Gardee," "Firebird," "La Valse" and "Manon." He spent two years in Boston Ballet II and performed with Boston Ballet in many ballets such as "Giselle" and "Romeo and Juliet."
After Boston he spent two years with The North Carolina Dance Theater performing classical and contemporary repertoire. Favorite roles included Dwight Rhoden’s "Broken Fantasies" and Mark Godden’s "Dracula." The next year was spent touring, performing freelance with Tulsa Ballet, Fort Wayne Ballet and Ballet National de Panamá. He joined The Royal New Zealand Ballet for the 2011-2012 season, dancing roles by Larry Keigwan, Benjamin Millipied, and Ethan Stiefel.
2013-2015 was spent performing as a guest artist with various companies and perfecting his skills as a dance educator. For the last five years Shapiro has worked closely with director James Darrah and choreographer Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, performing in Opera Omaha’s "Semele," San Francisco Symphony’s "Das Klagende Lied" and their SoundBox series, as well as "Iris" at Bard Summerscape and site specific work for The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Sam currently teaches workshops and masterclasses around the country in addition to being a visiting guest lecturer at Wake Forest University and primary instructor at UNCSA.