Shaakir Muhammad was born in Brooklyn, New York and trained at Brooklyn Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. He danced with Houston Ballet 2, Norwegian National Ballet 2 and Norwegian National Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada in 2024 as a First Soloist.
Most recently, Shaakir debuted as Benno in Karen Kain’s Swan Lake and as Stiva in the North American premiere of Christian Spuck’s Anna Karenina. His repertoire with The National Ballet of Canada includes featured roles in Silent Screen and King’s Fall as well as The Nutcracker, Giselle, Angels’ Atlas and Bolero.
Shaakir’s repertoire with Norwegian National Ballet includes Romeo and Juliet, The Nutcracker, Giselle, La Bayadère, Valse-Fantaisie, Manon and Dido and Aeneas. He performed in the Norwegian premiere of Wayne McGregor’s Chroma and has danced in Jiří Kylián One of a Kind, Alexander Ekman's Cacti and the world premiere of Anaïs Touret's Wagō.
