Erin S. Smith

ERIN S. SMITH, a former soloist with the Columbia City Ballet in South Carolina, holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in dance from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from The University of Akron. Erin received scholarships to the Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and the Vaganova Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She studied ballet with Jerry Burr, Inna Stabrova, Gabriella Komleva, Cynthia Harvey, Arnold Spohr, William Starrett and many others. Erin’s training in modern dance began with Lana Carroll, Tom Evert and Beth Corning. She continued to study modern dance with Jan Van Dyke, John Gamble, John McLaughlin, Leslie Dworkin and Kent DeSpain, to name a few. She served as the Vice-President for the Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (OAHPERD) and she has choreographed for “A Children’s Theatre Workshop” in Hudson, Ohio. Erin has created several dances for the Kent State faculty concerts including Pivotal Interludes, New Order, Spanish Guitar, The Train, Sustained by a Breath, Kinections Rise the Tension and Hear No, See No, Speak No. Together with her husband Mark, Erin owns and operates Studio West Performing Arts Centre, LLC in Fairlawn, Ohio. She is currently the varsity head coach for the dance team at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio. She has led the team to four consecutive OASSA State Championships since 2019.