Dancers

Alex Graban is thrilled to join Columbus Modern Dance Company this season! He is a recent high school graduate with a tremendous love for the arts. He began dancing at age 3 at New Albany Ballet Company, training in ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, and tap. In 2014, Alex was given an opportunity to compete in the YAGP New York City Finals. Alongside dance, Alex has also been involved in musical theatre, onstage and off. At Weathervane playhouse, WYART, and Granville High School, he has performed in countless shows including Cats, A Chorus Line, In The Heights, The Full Monty, and many more. Offstage, he has worked with theatrical lighting, sound, stage management, teaching, and choreography. He has choreographed for New Albany Ballet Company, WYART, and Granville High School. Alex would like to thank his friends and family for the endless support!

Alicia Leigh Hann is a Columbus-based dance educator, performer, and choreographer. Alicia began her dance training in Columbus, Ohio focusing heavily on the study of ballet. As a young adult she pursued a study of modern dance at Ohio University where she received her BFA in Modern Dance Performance and Choreography. Alicia fell in love with modern dance and its endless possibilities for creative physical expression. Alicia is a Dancing Mindfulness Facilitator, certified through The Institute for Creative Mindfulness, she was introduced to the practice by founder Dr. Jamie Marich. Dancing Mindfulness is a form of conscious dance which incorporates meditation, improvisation, music, and community through a trauma-informed lens. Alicia has had the privilege of facilitating Dancing Mindfulness experiences at treatment centers for women seeking recovering from addiction and other comorbid disorders, community-based classes for adults, and presented workshops at retreat-style trainings. Alicia is currently dancing in Columbus with CoMo (Columbus Modern Dance Company) and Hixon Dance Company, as well as freelancing choreographic projects. Alicia has had choreographic work presented in Columbus City Dance Showcase, The Movement Mission’s Annual Benefit Concert, Ten Tiny Dances, and in various dance performances for Columbus Modern Dance Company. Alicia is also currently serving as an Artistic Associate to Alexandra Bodnarchuk Dance Projects based out of Minneapolis. She has worked with various choreographers from around the country. Notably, Miki Orihari, principal dancer from the Martha Graham Company in a reconstruction of Graham’s early works ‘Heretic’. Alicia has also worked with Kelsey Bartman of Texture Contemporary Ballet in Pittsburgh, Hannah Williamson of Mutual Dance Theater in Cincinnati, Todd Weeks and Lindsay Hawkins of MADCO based out of St. Louis, Ellen Vierse of Project 606 Dance in Chicago, and Alexandra Bodnarchuk of ABDP currently creating work in Minneapolis. Alicia hopes to share with her students, collaborators, and audiences the ability to tap into an inherent joy of moving and self-discovery. Alicia strives to foster an appreciation of dance as a physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual pursuit.

Cayla Roberts, originally from Sidney, Ohio, began dancing at age five receiving training across Ohio at Sharon's School of Dance, Dayton Ballet, BalletMet and Pontecorvo Ballet before continuing to earn her BFA in dance from Wright State University.  While studying at Wright State, Cayla received training in concert dance as well as Musical Theatre.  After graduation, Cayla began her professional career in Fort Wayne Ballet before moving to Chicago to pursue a life as a Chicago-based dancer and choreographer.  In Chicago, Cayla danced with Tapestry Dance, Project 606, Esoteric Dance Project and Trifecta Dance collective. In 2020, Cayla relocated to Columbus, Ohio and joined Columbus Modern Dance Company. Cayla has loved seeing what each new chapter has brought. Outside of dancing, Cayla also enjoys taking and teaching aerial silks, yoga, hiking and passing on a love for dance to the next generation. Cayla is excited to continue the artist journey into another year and have the opportunity to dance with other beautiful artists.

Corinne Tansky (Apprentice) is a dancer from Powell, Ohio who attends Olentangy High School. She has been dancing since she was 7 years old, beginning her dance journey at Footsteps Family Dance Center and continuing her training at Diversion Dance Collective through 2021.  Influential teachers who instilled Corinne’s love of the modern genre included Trezon Dancy, Ellen Werksman, and Kenneth Brown. Corinne currently studies ballet, modern, jazz and tap at Dublin Dance Center and Gymnastics and is thrilled to join CoMo as an apprentice this year.  The future looks “funny” for Corinne, as she hopes to be a comedienne or entertainer, incorporating her love of dance along the way. She is grateful to her family and friends for all of the love and support!

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. Elli is overjoyed to be back on stage and performing with such a wonderful group of women.

Kelsey Lee is a dancer, choreographer, and actor who began her dance training at 8 years old at The Dance Factory in Wisconsin, where she studied ballet, pointe, modern dance, and jazz dance. She continued her dance training at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she was awarded several dance scholarships. She graduated summa cum laude with a BFA double major in Contemporary Dance Performance & Choreography/Psychology. After graduation, she completed a Meisner technique training program at The Acting Studio in New York, NY. She is currently a company dancer with CoMo and Hixon Dance in Columbus. Additionally, she’s performed with Quasimondo Milwaukee Physical Theatre and Gina Laurenzi Dance Collective for two seasons, and had the pleasure of working with choreographers Maria Gillespie/Hyperlocal MKE, Peter Stathas/Peter Stathas Dance, and Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Dance Group- to name a few. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200), and continues to build upon her dance practice, teachings, and lifestyle based on yogic philosophies. As an independent choreographer, her work is grounded in the intention of generating both new and familiar moments of empathy in herself and others. She has choreographed for films and music videos, and her work has been selected to present at Milwaukee Fringe Festival, Area Choreographers Festival (Cincinnati), PrideFest Milwaukee, dotdotdot: INDULGENCE, and Danceworks’ DanceLAB series. In 2020, she received an Artist Opportunity Grant from Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District that fully funded her trip to the Winter Artist Exchange at Ponderosa in Stolzenhagen, Germany.

Kiara Paola Jiménez Cintrón, began dancing when she was 7 years old in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. Artifice Dance Studio was the place where she fell in love with dancing. Ballet was her main training focus, but she also trained in jazz, salsa, flamenco, hip-hop, belly dance, contemporary, modern dance and acting classes. Making her debut in the big screen in the movie “The Rums Diary”, filmed in Puerto Rico, she got the pleasure to work with actor Johnny Depp. At only 9 years old she performed in the University of Puerto Rico Theatre, which is one of the most important in the island. She was part of the Eglevsky Ballet workshop back in 2010 located in Hofstra University New York. Having the opportunity of training with: Marina Eglevsky, Violeta Angelova, Flavio Salazar, and others. Continuing her salsa training, she won 3rd place in the World Salsa Congress. Then joined Ballets de San Juan, one of the most recognized and important ballet schools in Puerto Rico. Eventually, she became an understudy of the company. For her senior year, at Pablo Casals School of Arts, she graduated being the principal dancer in the last recital. To improve her jazz technique, she joined “TC, The Company” for two years. In 2019, she had her first appearance at Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in Puerto Rico. Performing in hip-hop style. In her first college years in the University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras Campus, she was a member of the dance team for 2 years. They participated in the college competition in Puerto Rico, winning the first place. Also, while being part of the team, she had the opportunity to travel and represent their university in Orlando, Florida. She has been a teacher of ballet and jazz in multiple dance academies like Danzare and her own personal classes. Currently she moved to Columbus, Ohio to search for new opportunities for her dancing and working career. Still, she has great goals for the future!

Kimberly McCalmont started dancing at the age of 3 at South Dayton School of Dance, joining their pre-professional company, South Dayton Dance Theatre, at the age of 11. She has trained in many dance styles; including ballet, pointe, modern, jazz and tap. Through SDDT, she performed in The Nutcracker and spring concerts annually. Kimberly attended Ohio Wesleyan University on a dance scholarship, where she earned Bachelor's degrees in both Genetics and Dance. At Ohio Wesleyan, Kimberly was heavily involved with the Theatre and Dance Department where she led and worked on numerous crews, choreographed, performed, assisted the Artistic Director for their annual dance concert, Orchesis, and was awarded the Excellence in Dance award her senior year. After graduation, Kimberly started dancing with CoMo in 2020. In addition to dancing with CoMo, Kimberly is a Recruiting Manager at ViaQuest, leads the Columbus Delta Zeta Alumnae Chapter, and teaches dance classes for Dance Rhythms Studio in Columbus, OH. 

Kimberly Taylor is from Morgantown, WV.  She realized her love for dance when she joined the modern dance team in High School.  She went on to minor in dance at West Virginia University where she also got her Masters in Early Childhood Education.  She danced six years with the WVU modern dance group “Orchesis” where she studied under Kathrine Wedibush.  She especially enjoyed her training in improvisation. During her college years she spent several summers at Walt Disney World doing characters and parades. After college she moved to Columbus to start her teaching career with Columbus City Schools.  She occasionally traveled to Pittsburgh for the next five years to perform with the modern dance group Sirens, headed by Jennifer Thomas.  She spent four years teaching and doing several competitions with a ballroom dance company here in Columbus. She is currently in her 6th season dancing with The Movement Mission here in Dublin.  She joined CoMo with our 2018-2019 Season, starting with our fall performance "Formation: Dance Inspired by Public Art."

Laura Comana Puscas (Executive & Artistic Director) was trained in St. Louis, MO by Todd Weeks and Jennifer Reilly of MADCO. While attending the University of Notre Dame, Laura completed the Saint Mary’s College Dance Minor program along with additional study in Notre Dame’s Film, Television, and Theater department. On campus, Laura founded ND TransPose Dance Collective, culminating in her senior project at the Snite Museum of Art. In 2011, Laura earned a BBA in marketing from Mendoza College of Business, graduating Magna Cum Laude. After moving to Columbus in 2011, Laura served as a committee member and commissioned artist for the Locality 2012 Bus Tour Dance Festival, part of the city’s bicentennial celebration. In Fall 2012, she co-founded the Columbus Modern (CoMo) Dance Company with Kelsey Morozow Burbrink. In December 2015, CoMo transitioned to a nonprofit corporation and was granted 501(c)3 status. Laura has set her choreography on the company with “Object” (2012), “Raven” (2013), “Please Advise” (2015), “Coffee Blues” (2016, Ten Tiny Dances®), "Dirt" (2019), along with restaging guest choreographer works, and choreographing for private event bookings. Laura enjoys teaching the weekly CoMo Adult Modern Dance Class for adults of all levels and creating choreography for the class. In November 2018, Laura danced as the soloist in CoMo's restaging of Martha Graham’s “Heretic.” In February 2020, Laura was honored to return as a guest choreographer to Saint Mary's College to set a piece on the Dance Ensemble Workshop current students & SMC alumni dancers. During the day, Laura directs digital web operations for the Bath & Body Works website.

Teresa Catterlin obtained her B.F.A in Dance from The University of Akron. She performed in Luminosity at Cedar Point where she also had the opportunity to dance for the Lebron James Family Foundation with Lebron, J.R. Smith, Jordan Sparks, and Usher. Teresa performed with Neos Dance Theatre, the Electric Parade in Florida, The University of Akron’s Dance Company, Spring Into Dance, and Choreographers’ Workshop. Teresa also performed as the young Emily in Front Page Flo. Teresa has choreographed for The University of Akron’s Choreographers’ Workshop and Spring Into Dance as well as CCDC. Two of her pieces were selected to be presented in The University of Akron’s Dance Company’s performance. These two works, Dipendenza and Creatures of Habit, were also chosen by the faculty to be adjudicated at the American College Dance Association. Teresa has had the opportunity to teach at locations such as The University of Akron’s Dance Institute, BalletMet, and Seven Dance Academy. She was awarded the 2015 dance award at The University of Akron for the enhancement of dance, and the James P. and Maureen C. Kovach Scholarship for the performing arts. She has been performing with CCDC 2019. Teresa joined CoMo Dance in July 2021. In addition to dancing and teaching, Teresa is a graduate student at The Ohio State University, and her course of study is adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioning. In the future, she hopes to work in sports medicine and/ or orthopedics with a focus on wellbeing and recovery for dancers.