Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest to Celebrate Performing Arts

The fifth annual Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest will feature more than 100 artists in dozens of performances, workshops and readings Friday through Sunday around State College.

Presented by local theater company Tempest Productions, the festival will hold a kick-off event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on South Fraser Street with performance previews, activities, crafts and food available for purchase from Duck Donuts and Juana’s.

Throughout the weekend free and ticketed performances, workshops and readings will take place 3 Dots, The Blue Brick Theatre, Phoenix Academy, The State Theatre and Webster’s Bookstore Café. 

Events will offer attendees opportunities to learn Egyptian dance, juggling, improv and acting techniques and join the companies in performance. Performances include improv comedy, drama, music, dance, cabaret, film, and a play reading competition.

In conjunction with the festival, the 16th Annual Penn State Powwow takes place Saturday and Sunday at Mount Nittany Middle School.

Stacie Bird’s photography exhibit “Within a Mile of Home” will be on display at University Wine Company, and Egyptian dancer Shannon Bishop will perform on Sunday at Pine Grove Hall.

For the full lineup, visit centralpatheatre.com/2022-schedule-of-events.

Participating companies and artists include The Art Alliance, Black Cat Belly Dance, Capvara the Clown, Castle Tales with Jon Vickers Jones, Central PA Dance Workshop, Central PA Playwriting Competition Readings, Centre Dance, Centre Film Festival, Community Dance Showcase, Community Jazz Showcase, FUSE, Happy Valley Improv, Local Authors Showcase hosted by Mary Rohrer-Dann, The Lyric Voice hosted by Jim Colbert, MindBodyArt School of Dance, Dmitry Myers and Phoenix Academy, The Next Stage Theatre Company, On the Spot Poetry, Sock & Buskin Theatre Company, Adam Swartz Puppets, Tempest Productions, TrioArts Project and VanDance Inc. 

The Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest was founded in 2018 by two long-time members of the local theatre community, Cynthia Mazzant and Elaine Meder-Wilgus, through the nonprofit theatre company Tempest Productions Inc. The festival showcases Çentre County’s professional and pre-professional theater, dance and other performing arts groups through one immersive weekend each summer, inviting ;ocal residents and visitors to experience State College as a destination for the performing arts.