Famed choreographer Mark Swanhart has always loved to tell stories, and it’s that passion that led him from south central Pennsylvania into a thriving, successful career.

At the age of 7, the Vinco, Pennsylvania native started taking dance lessons a few times a week and found that it served as an outlet for him to express himself.

“I always wanted to entertain in some way like most kids do,” the 41-year-old Los Angeles resident said.

Swanhart said he knew he wanted to continue his dance studies and attended Point Park College in Pittsburgh for about two years.

“After those two years, I had felt that I got enough from Point Park and it was time make my move,” he said.

From there, Swanhart went to Chicago and performed with Deeply Rooted Dance Chicago, River North Dance Company and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.

“I toured the world,” Swanhart said. “I went to Brazil, Germany and England.”

But around the age of 23 or 24, he said, he felt that he wanted to do more choreography work than he wanted to dance.

“I packed up my CRV and moved to Los Angeles,” Swanhart said. “I didn’t know anybody and for the first three months it was horrible.”

He sent a dance reel showing his choreography and a letter to Baz Luhrman, who directed, wrote and produced “Moulin Rouge,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Great Gatsby.”

A month later, Luhrman contacted Swanhart to arrange a meeting to discuss working together on his upcoming production of “La Boheme” on Broadway.

“I went to meet (Luhrman) in San Francisco, and spent the next three years with him,” he said. “He became my mentor.”

By having Luhrman’s name on his resume, doors started to open for new job opportunities.

At 27, Swanhart was teaching dance classes for Celine Dion’s show at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

“I was asked to audition for the show and was offered a job,” he said. “I spent two years with Celine and was then offered to choreograph her world tour and her show in Vegas.”

At the same time, Swanhart was choreographing commercials and beginning to build relationships in Los Angeles.

He has choreographed for Cirque du Soleil and the water fountains for Steve Wynn’s casino in Macau, China, and the fountains in front of the Wynn Las Vegas.

He then got the call to be the creative director of “Britain’s Got Talent” in London and then “The X Factor.”

Upon returning to the U.S., he served as creative director of the “America’s Got Talent” tour.

Always trying to reinvent himself, he said, he’s planning to venture out into film.

“I have two films that I’ve written and my main focus will be to get my one film made,” Swanhart said.

His hope is to shoot it next summer in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania area — just a short drive from his hometown.

Johnstown, located about two hours east of Pittsburgh, is a city possibly known more for its historic floods and steel manufacturing than for its ties to celebrities or the entertainment arena. Despite the area’s dwindling population and resources, Swanhart believes the area will be the prime location to capture the spirit of his first production.

“The film has roots here and it’s about reinventing yourself,” he said. “I believe that everyone is a piece of art. We just have to realize it and we can rewrite our story at any time.”

Currently, Swanhart directing the “Maks & Val Live on Tour: Our Way Summer Show,” which is a “Dancing with the Stars” production.

“I hired five different choreographers to keep that show a mix of things, and I also choreographed a couple of pieces in the show,” he said.

Swanhart said for those who have a passion for something, they need to get really quiet to find their dream because that dream is behind a lot of noise.

“There are a lot of obstacles, and you’re going to come up against them and it’s not going to be easy,” he said. “I could have never dreamt of the life I’ve had, but I could never have had the life I have without dreaming. To reach your dreams you have to keep dreaming.”

Urban writes for the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Tribune-Democrat.