Mother's Day Tea 2026
Columbus Modern (CoMo) Dance Company
Laura Puscas (Director), Aliya Myers (Rehearsal Coordinator), Ally Capone, Jackie Fisher, Julie Huddleston-Reed, Lenka Mičincová (Class Instructor), Meghan Western, Rani Bawa, Sophia Fisher Beaudet
Additional Company Dancers: Kimberly Taylor, Faith Smith
No Man's Land
Choreographer: Jackie Fisher
Music: "Crying Winds" by Deskant, "Mother Tongue - Remastered" by Dead Can Dance
Dancers: Aliya, Ally, Jackie, Julie, Laura, Lenka, Meghan, Rani, Sophia
Rite Songs; Introduction and Pastorale (Excerpts)
Choreographer: Meghan Western
Music: "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Ralph Vaughn Williams
Dancers: Aliya, Ally, Jackie, Julie, Laura, Lenka, Rani, Sophia
To Be Continued (Part 1)
Choreographer: Aliya Myers
Music: "The Foresaken Waltz" by Joshua Kyan Aalampour
Dancers: Aliya, Ally, Jackie, Lenka, Rani, Sophia
Motherhood
Choreographer: Lenka Mičincová
Music: "Skladba"
Dancers: Laura & Lenka
Impetus
Guest Choreographer: Madeline Kendall Schreiber (Pittsburgh, PA)
Music: "The Dive" by Peter Gregson, "Into Thin Air" by Hans Johnson
Dancers: Aliya, Julie, Laura, Lenka, Rani, Sophia
~ INTERMISSION TEA ~
Light (Excerpt)
Guest Choreographer: Michele Kriner Foust (South Bend, IN)
Restaged by Laura Puscas
Music: Philip Glass & Foday Musa Suso - Music From "The Screens"
Dancers: Jackie (Soloist), Sophia, Lenka, Meghan, Ally, Julie, Laura
Unspoken Suffering
Choreographer: Ally Capone
Music: "Untitled #9 - Smáskifa 1" by Sigur Rós
Dancers: Aliya, Jackie, Julie, Laura, Lenka, Meghan, Rani, Sophia
A piece of plastic in the air (Sat only)
Choreographer/Instructor: Lenka Mičincová
Music: "hundred00" by Lara Somogyi
Dancers: CoMo Adult Modern Dance Class
A Difficult Conversation
Guest Choreographer: Maggie Liang (Columbus, OH)
Music: "Tar" by Lucrecia Dalt
Dancers: Aliya, Ally, Jackie, Julie, Laura, Lenka, Meghan, Rani, Sophia
Thank you to Dublin Arts Council for supporting CoMo Dance through a Community Arts Grant to encourage community engagement, cultivate creativity, and foster life-long learning through the arts.
We are so grateful to all who made today’s performance possible:
- Dublin Dance Centre & Gymnastics who generously donates all of the company’s rehearsal space.
- CoMo Board Members:
Kelsey Burbrink (Co-Founder), Mary Cecil, Terry Filicko, Renie Viola - Our individual supporters: Dr Parul Bawa & Mr Rahul Bawa, George & Karen Western, Mimi and Ric Comana
Thank you to CoMo volunteers, friends, & family for all the support!
PERFORMER BIOS:
Rani Bawa has been a dancer since the age of 4. From West Chester, Ohio, she trained under Mary St. Romain at SDA Studios, primarily in ballet, pointe, and modern, with additional training in contemporary, lyrical, & jazz. She performed in the Nutcracker yearly with her studio growing up, cast in various lead roles such as Clara, Rose, and Sugarplum Fairy. As a teenager, Rani competed with her studio in various dance competitions. She went on to attend The Ohio State University, majoring in neuroscience and minoring in dance. She is currently completing her PhD in social psychology at OSU. During her time at OSU, she has had the opportunity to perform under the direction of Kathryn Nusa Logan, Robin Prichard, and Yukina Sato, as well as take classes under the training of various OSU dance faculty. Rani found CoMo in 2023 and knew it was the perfect place for her to keep dancing! When not dancing, Rani enjoys being outdoors, spending time with her dogs, and creating pottery.
Sophia Fisher Beaudet is from Upper Arlington, Ohio and began dancing at the age of 3 with Marjorie Jones School of Dance. She trained in many styles including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and contemporary. She competed as a member of the MJCT Competition Team and participated in various regional and national competitions, including Ohio Dance Masters, under creative directors Stephanie Pritchard and Dara Berman Cheung. In 2020, she received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (minors in French and Management & Leadership) from Miami University, where she also took classes in East & West Coast Swing, Salsa & Rumba. She is a graduate of the Venture for America Fellowship and currently works as a Group Product Manager at a startup headquartered in Cleveland. She joined CoMo in June 2025 and feels so blessed to dance alongside her sister once again and to work with so many talented dancers in the community.
Ally Capone: bio coming soon
Jackie Fisher is from Upper Arlington, Ohio and began dancing at the age of 3 with Marjorie Jones School of Dance. She trained in many styles including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and contemporary. She was a member of the MJCT Competition Team and competed in various regional and national competitions, including Ohio Dance Masters, under creative directors Stephanie Pritchard and Dara Berman Cheung. She received a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Health Sciences and a minor in Dance from Ohio Northern University in May 2023. At ONU, she furthered her dance education and participated in many performances through the ONU Dance Company, training under Elizabeth Cozad-Howard, Ashley Reed, and Amanda Wischmeyer. Performance credits include The ONU Holiday Spectacular, Inlet Dance Theatre & The ONU Dance Company, Swing! The Musical, Impulse, and Looking Back Moving Forward: Celebrating 30 Years of ONU Dance. She graduated from ONU with her PharmD in May 2025 and is currently a pharmacy resident at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. She joined CoMo in June 2024 and is extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with so many talented artists in the Columbus dance community.
Julie Huddleston-Reed: bio coming soon
Lenka Mičincová: studied at the Jan Levoslav Bella Conservatory (Slovakia) and received her Master’s degree in social pedagogy at the Matej Bel University. She led the children’s folklore ensemble Lipka and taught many workshops for children and youth. She won the Annual Award for her performance in From Side of a Man From Side of a Woman. Before her maternity leave she worked in the company of the Divadlo Štúdio tanca, where she created many performances with choreographers such as Zuzana Hájková, Milan Tomášik and others. These performances have been performed at home and abroad, including France, Switzerland, Spain and Croatia.
Aliya Myers has been dancing since the age of 7, first in Classical Indian Dance under Indira Satyapriya then in American styles at age 12. In high school she joined the competitive dance team at Diversion Dance Collective with Lisa Barry to further her technique and experience. Aliya has trained in mainly Contemporary, Jazz and Ballet while competing in Contemporary and musical theater styles. She later went on to attend Miami University where she completed a dance minor under the direction of Ashley Goos as well as a B.A in Biology. She was able to participate in many of the on campus performances and choreographed pieces for a dance club on campus named Miami Dance Corp. Towards the end of college Aliya knew she wanted to continue dancing and performing so she looked into CoMo, a company in which her old dance friend was already a part of. Upon joining in 2023 she knew that it was the right place for her and has gotten to work with some incredible choreographers and dancers!
Laura Comana Puscas 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 and CoMo’s Adult Modern Dance Class along with restaging guest choreographer works. In November 2018, Laura danced as the soloist in CoMo’s restaging of Martha Graham’s “Heretic.” In 2020 and 2023, Laura was honored to return as a guest choreographer to Saint Mary’s College to set a piece on the Dance Ensemble Workshop. During the day, Laura directs digital product management for Bath & Body Works.
Meghan K. Western cannot remember a time when she wasn’t dancing or making dance. Formal classes began at age three when she wouldn’t stop running around the house. (Meghan thanks her first teacher, Cynthia Hennessey (SPCC, Moving Current) for seeing her spark, and encouraging her family to move to a new studio where she could pursue Modern dance.) Meghan trained primarily in modern and ballet, with regular study of choreography, at Firethorn School of Dance/Modern Dance Company in Tampa, FL under Lucia Hatcher, Mary Gayle Wright, and many others. She attended numerous workshops and trainings through the Florida Dance Festival, North Carolina School for the Arts, and Jacob’s Pillow. Meghan presented her first original choreography to an audience at age 15, and has continued presenting work throughout her career. Meghan graduated from The Ohio State University Department of Dance with her BFA in 2002. She has worked as a dancer and choreographer with Moving Current (Tampa), Columbus Movement Movement (CM2: Columbus), Locality 2012 (Columbus), created Duo/ ets for Columbus Civic Theater, and has been working with CoMo Dance since 2022. Meghan has also done extensive choreographic work with community and educational Theater in Columbus, as well as with vocal ensembles such as The Magpie Consort and Columbus Gay Men’s Chorus (CGMC). Meghan is a self-proclaimed ‘dance nerd’ and loves combining her study of dance history, mythology, literature, and other inspirations with her foundations in dance to create engaging work for a broad audience.