Krista Shovlin named director of Mancini Arts Academy, Jason Swauger new assistant director

Krista Shovlin has been named director of the Henry Mancini Arts Academy, the community arts instruction program of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center.

Jason Swauger is the assistant director, a new position.

The Henry Mancini Arts Academy is the community arts instruction program of the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center, offering classes in dance, voice, acting, musical theater, and music.

Shovlin succeeds Maria Torrence as director. Torrence, who started the Mancini Academy when Lincoln Park opened in 2006, remains as director of the Mancini All-Stars, Lincoln Park’s 30-member show troupe. Swauger also was named assistant director of the All-Stars.

Torrence and Shovlin are on the dance faculty at Lincoln Park. Swauger has taught musical theater the past two years for the Mancini Academy.

Shovlin said she and Swauger plan to hold more camps, casting workshops and weekend master classes for students in the Mancini Academy. An example is a “Wizard of Oz” camp for students aged 6-9 held in late July.

“In four days our students mastered five songs and two scenes from the Wizard of Oz, then put on a 20-minute performance,” she said. “They were super.”

Shovlin, a native and resident of Beaver, Pa., holds a bachelor of arts in dance from Slippery Rock University. She has taught dance five years at Lincoln Park, specializing in jazz, modern, tap and hip hop.

Swauger, a more recent addition to the Mancini faculty, holds a bachelor of fine arts in musical theater from Point Park University. A Beaver County native, Swauger is a veteran performer. In the 1990s he toured the U.S., Australia and Europe with Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats: A Live Adventure” show, and was host for a touring production of Nick’s “Double Dare” show.

Swauger suffered a broken back and pelvis July 2, 2000, when part of the Double Dare show’s set collapsed on him. Thanks to his excellent muscle conditioning from dancing. and rehabilitation that included pilates, he made a full recovery. He continues to dance and act – including a long relationship with Pittsburgh Musical Theater – and even ran in the recent Pittsburgh Marathon. He and his wife Summer reside in Crafton, Pa.