The Trust Performing Arts Center in downtown Lancaster will host its 2024 Dance Festival Jan. 13-14, featuring a local choreographer’s showcase, performances and masterclasses.
All weekend events will be held at The Trust, 37 N. Market St., and tickets and further information are available at lancastertrust.com/events.
January 13
5-6:30 p.m. – Masterclass (ages 12 and up) with local choreographer Taylor Hahn
7:30 p.m. – Taylor Hahn Showcase Performance
Taylor Hahn
Pennsylvania native Taylor Hahn is a member, choreographer and co-director of Catalyst Dance Company in Lancaster. In 2017, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Slippery Rock University. Hahn has danced in repertories for Nora Ambrosio, Teena Custer, Matt Pardo, Ursula Payne, Heike Salzer, Attack Theatre and many other renowned artists.
Hahn is also an instructor and choreographer for a studio, competition team and performing company in central Pennsylvania. She enjoys teaching modern technique and improvisation skills and focusing on mind and body connection. She has been a judge at regional dance competitions for the past five years and loves helping other dancers grow and learn. Hahn regularly presents her work at showcases and has received numerous awards for her creativity. She began working as a psychotherapist after receiving her Master of Social Work in 2021. Hahn has created many pieces focused on mental health and promotes the importance of teaching dancers how to advocate for their own mental health.
January 14
12:30-2 p.m. – Masterclass (ages 12 and up) with Lancaster choreographer and director Cody Smith
3 p.m. – Cody Smith Showcase Performance
Cody Smith
Cody Smith is a performer, director and choreographer from Lancaster. He was a dancer/swing in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York for 18 years. He has toured with the Christmas Spectacular as well as with “Beauty and the Beast.” Other New York performance credits include ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway, “School Daze” at the New York Musical Theatre Festival and as a guest artist with the Synthesis Dance Project. He has also performed regionally in “Brigadoon” at the Marriott Theater in Chicago and in many productions at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, including “Brigadoon,” “Hello Dolly!,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “A Chorus Line,” “Joseph,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Anne of Green Gables,” “Shrek,” “Newsies,” “Pinocchio,” “Sleeping Beauty” and “A Christmas Carol.”
Smith has choreographed “Guys and Dolls,” “Big: The Musical,” “Shrek” and “Robin Hood” for the Fulton Theatre as well as directed “Aladdin” and “The Wizard of Oz.” Additionally, he has directed or choreographed numerous shows over the years for the Hempfield dance and theatre programs, as well as for Lancaster Bible College and Ephrata Performing Arts Center, for which his credits include “Legally Blonde,” “Xanadu,” “13 the Musical,” “Equus,” “Altar Boyz,” “Bat Boy,” “Sweet Charity,” “Cabaret,” “Follies,” “Chicago,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Oklahoma,” “The Rocky Horror Show,” “Assassins” and “La Cage Aux Folles.” Smith is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association and the American Guild of Variety Artists.
The Trust Performing Arts Center is an architecturally stunning venue for music, theatre, dance, lectures and community events in the heart of Lancaster’s downtown arts district. In 1912, the Lancaster Trust Company completed construction on its new headquarters—a Beaux-Arts masterpiece from the imagination of Lancaster’s leading architect, C. Emlen Urban. A century later, Mr. Urban’s architectural treasure has been re-imagined by Lancaster Bible College as The Trust Performing Arts Center. The Trust has a mission to honor God by encouraging excellence in the work of student and professional artists and by enriching the community through inspiring, challenging and redemptive experiences.