After graduating from the Julliard School, Kahn founded the Company in New York, and directed it there for twelve years before moving to Colorado in 1988. Kahn has received two NEA choreography fellowships, a New York State Council on the Arts individual choreographers fellowship and a CoVisions Recognition Award in dance choreography from the Colorado Council on the Arts.
In addition to her own company, her works have been in the repertories of over a dozen other dance companies. Each year she also sets choreography on dance students at the Denver School of the Arts.
The Denver based Hannah Kahn Dance Company was formed in 1992. The company's activities include performances, lecture demonstrations, school shows and workshops, high school residencies, and participation in festivals. The company has performed frequently at the Cleo Parker Robinson Theatre in Denver, the Lakewood Cultural Center, the Shwayder Theatre, the Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, and the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. The Company also performs in public spaces. Some of the places we have performed are Denver’s Botanic Gardens, Art Museum, Natural History Museum, Zoo, and Botanic Gardens.
The New York based company was funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. The current Colorado company receives funding from the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, the Denver Foundation, the Denver Ballet Guild, and the Janus Foundation.
Each year the Company performs its interactive and educational school show How To Build a Dance for thousands of children in Denver, Arapahoe, Jefferson, and Adams counties. We have been offering intensive residencies in public high schools for more than eight years. These residencies include workshops during regular schools hours and continue with after school rehearsals for a piece of choreography set on a group of students by a company member. These residencies culminate in a joint performance at the school by the Company and the students. We also perform in day treatment centers for people with disabilities, at nursing homes, and at resident treatment centers for troubled teens.
The Company holds three modern dance technique classes each week on an ongoing basis at its home base, Open Studio, in Denver's Historic Baker neighborhood.