Dancers

Ellison Luthy, or Elli, began her dance career around 3 years old when she began taking classes at Dublin Dance and Gymnastics Centre in Columbus, Ohio. While she was training in ballet, jazz, modern, and gymnastics for a number of years, as she got older she narrowed her focus to contemporary and modern. After graduating high school and taking a break from dance, Ellison rediscovered her passion when she was introduced to Dance Theatre, a student organization at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In this company, Elli acted as a company member, served on the executive board, taught classes, and choreographed a number of pieces. Two of her completed works were selected by the company to perform in the East Central American College Dance Association (ACDA) festival. Outside of dancing, Ellison earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and is currently in the process of applying for her Masters in Counselor Education at The Ohio State University. Recently joining Como II in November, Elli is overjoyed to be back on stage and performing with such a wonderful group of women.

Tori Chu is from Hockessin, Delware, where she began learning ballet and jazz at the age of three. Tori continued her early dance studies by taking ballet classes at the University of Delaware. These classes with Tisa Della Volpe were a part of Tori's training as a competitive figure skater. At age 13, Tori returned to Hockessin Dance Center for ballet and pointe with Cindy Phillips. While attending the Case Western Reserve University, Tori pursued ballet and modern in the Mather Dance Department, led by Karen Potter and Gary Galbraith. Tori completed a Minor in Dance in 2011 and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. She is currently a software developer at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, OH. Tori joined the Columbus Modern (CoMo) Dance Company in 2013 as a founding member. She has created original works Unveiling of Dawn (2013) and Acceptance (2016) for the company, and has presented her work at the Cultural Arts Center's Armory Show, the Columbus Invitational Arts Competition, the Columbus Dance Festival's Dance of Hope benefit, and CoMo's company performances.  In 2017, Tori also began serving as a board member of the Columbus Invitational Arts Competition. In November 2018, she had the honor of performing Martha Graham's "Heretic" with CoMo under the direction of regisseur Miki Orihara.

Caroline Martin (CoMo II Director) began her dance training at the age of three in Boston, MA. Upon moving to Georgia she danced with the Georgia Youth Ballet for 11 years, studying ballet and modern under the direction of Magdalena Maury. Caroline holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and World Religion from Agnes Scott College. Caroline's college career included dancing with David Dorfman Dance, being featured in the 2009 Gala performance at the Southeast conference of ACFDA, and studying Kuchipudi, a form of classical Indian dance, in Hyderabad, India. Caroline holds an Elementary Certification in Labanotation and is passionate about dance history. Since joining CoMo in 2014, Caroline has performed, choreographed, and directed for both CoMo and CoMo II. Outside of dance she works as a licensed massage therapist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Le Meridien The Joseph. She works primarily on the pulmonary unit at NCH. Her background in dance heavily influences her massage practice. She is also the Director of Camp Quest Smoky Mountains where she leads programs on movement and puppeteering. Caroline loves hanging out with her husband and their five cats.

Jessica Wheeler is from Knoxville, Tennessee and began her dance training at the age of 12. She danced with her school’s dance team and was trained in jazz, modern, ballet, and pointe at the Academy of Dance Arts studio. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Arts in both dance and mathematics from Radford University. While at Radford, she performed in various department shows, including the Nutcracker and Cabaret. She also had multiple choreographic opportunities while in college, including directing and choreographing an honors capstone project. She then moved to Columbus to earn her Master’s degree in mathematics from OSU. Jessica joined CoMo II in 2016 and CoMo in 2017. CoMo has given Jessica the opportunity to continue performing as well as to choreograph pieces for Play!  and Formation. She currently works at OSU teaching math and supporting TA’s. She enjoys exploring other areas of dance such as ballroom, salsa, and zouk!