Columbus Modern (CoMo) Dance Company
CoMo is a part-time professional modern dance company made up of women who hold degrees in dance or have equivalent training. The company has an athletic, entertaining style. CoMo Dance Company enjoys working with a variety of local and national guest choreographers along with commissioning company-choreographed works. At CoMo Dance Company, our philosophy is “Be Entertained. Be Included. Be Fulfilled.”
The Movement Mission
An annual dance concert benefiting melanoma research in the name of Bonnie J Lavric, beloved teacher, mother, wife, and friend. This annual concert showcases local dance companies and individual soloists coming together to dance through the pain, love, and joy of the cancer journey. 100% of funds donated go directly to The James and the Melanoma Research Foundation in the name of Bonnie.
Informance
CoMo Dance + The Movement Mission
Sat, November 14, 2026
- Wilderness
Guest Choreographer: Hannah Williamson (Mutual Dance - Cincinatti, OH)
Music: "Malaise Vague" by Cruel Diagonals and "La Valse au Clair de Lune" by Eric Christian
CoMo Dancers: Aliya Myers-Ortiz, Jackie Fisher, Laura Puscas, Lenka Mičincová, Mackenzie Leger, Sophia Fisher Beaudet
- Sing My Way Back
Music: "Sing My Way Back" by Steffany Gretzinger
Movement Mission Dancers: Tara Barboza-Rinehart, Kristin Michael, Kelly Phillips, Mila Rogers, Kimberly Taylor, Kristen Wallace
- Elles parlent
Guest Choreographer: Ellen Vierse (St. Louis, MO). Restaged by Laura Puscas
Music: "Assise," "Janine I," and "Vous" by Camille
CoMo Dancers: Aliya Myers-Ortiz, Ally Capone, Julie Huddleston-Reed, Kimberly Taylor, Mackenzie Leger, Meghan Western, Sophia Fisher Beaudet
- Touch
Choreographer: Lenka Mičincová
Music: "Dots"by Pascal Schumacher, Maxime Delpierre
CoMo II + Adult Class Dancers: Hallee Cremeans, Motolani Shenbanjo, Nathan Cotton, Daisy Danziger, Lenka Mičincová
- Duet
Choreographers/Dancers: Jackie Fisher, Ally Capone
Music: "Slip - Slumberville Remix" by Elliot Moss
- Rejoice
Music: "Rejoice" by Victory
Movement Mission Dancers: Tara Barboza-Rinehart, Kristin Michael, Kelly Phillips, Mila Rogers, Kimberly Taylor, Kristen Wallace
- Rite Songs
Choreographer: Meghan K. Western
Music: "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" by Ralph Vaughn Williams
Dancers: Aliya Myers-Ortiz, Ally Capone, Julie Huddleston-Reed, Jackie Fisher, Kimberly Taylor, Laura Puscas, Lenka Mičincová, Mackenzie Leger, Sophia Fisher Beaudet
We are so grateful to all who made today’s performance possible!
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.
Thank you to 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:
- Barbara Leger
- Bradley Williams
- John Gray
- Mike Bierschenk
- Heather Gilham
- Madame J
- Jason Prosek
- Debra Zynger
- Mother's Day Tea attendees who donated in cash - thank you!!
- Dr Parul Bawa & Mr Rahul Bawa
- George & Karen Western
- Mimi & Ric Comana
Thank you to CoMo volunteers, friends, & family for all the support!
COMO DANCER BIOS:
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.
Alexandria Rian Capone is a native of Douglassville, PA. Growing up she played various sports such as volleyball, softball, and basketball. As a teenager, she started cross-training in dance to help improve her skills in sports. Shortly after, she fell in love with dance and was committed to becoming a dancer. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance at Slippery Rock University and a minor in Adapted Physical Activity. Ms. Capone trained at Dance One Studios in Douglassville, PA, where she performed with the DOBCT, the professional ballet company, and DO CREW, the professional hip-hop company. While dancing with Dance One Studios, she trained in many styles, including modern, ballet, jazz, acro, commercial, pointe, and hip-hop. Ms. Capone performed in prestigious venues like the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and was on stage at Walt Disney World. After dancing at Dance One Studios, she subbed and taught dance classes and camps there. Alexandria choreographed and performed multiple pieces for Ten Tiny Dances in Bethlehem, PA. She is the youngest choreographer they have ever selected. In her college career, she danced for Emmalee Halliman (2023) and Davianna Griffin (2024). She also understudied Helen Simoneau when Simoneau had a guest artist residency at Slippery Rock University in 2022. In winter 2023, she attended a winter intensive and danced with David Dorfman and his dancers. Ms. Capone has performed in the BFA Concert in 2023 and 2024, Emerging Artist in 2020, and Freshmoves in 2023 and 2024. She also choreographed twice for Slippery Rock University Dance Theater, an opportunity to showcase student choreography. She interned for the FORGE Summer Dance Intensive for the spring semester through June of 2024. She had the opportunity to dance with and learn from various artists such as Lindsay Viatori, Bianca Melidor, and Jasmine Gobourne. After graduation she moved to Columbus, Ohio to continue her dance career with Columbus Modern Dance Company (CoMo).
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: grew up in West Chester, Ohio and began dancing at the age of 4 with the hope of being like her two older sisters. After taking a break to pursue other interests, she rediscovered dance after being invited to watch friends in a production of The Nutcracker. Her younger sister, with whom she later got to dance with as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara her senior year, also inspired her to begin dancing again. At 13 years old, she started with ballet, and was gradually trained in modern, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, acrobatics, yoga, pointe, and competition dance at SDA Studios under the guidance of Mary St. Romain, Lindsay Spreng, and Erica Collins. While attending Ohio State University, she minored in dance while pursuing a B.S. in Zoology before graduating in the winter of 2023. Eager to continue dancing, she discovered an advertisement for CoMo’s winter show in February of 2024, and tried out for the company shortly afterwards. She has been dancing with CoMo ever since while pursuing a career in the field of wildlife conservation, and is grateful for every performance that she gets to be a part of!
Mackenzie Leger began her dance training at the age of six at Patti Rutland Jazz in southeast Alabama. Mackenzie would later accept an apprenticeship in the Patti Rutland Jazz Company her senior year of high school. Mackenzie earned her BFA in Dance from Troy University after honing her artistry and discipline as a performer, choreographer, teacher, and graduated Cum Laude as a member of multiple honor societies. She has also trained with Ballare Carmel, LINES, Complexions Ballet, and TAKE Dance. Since moving to Columbus, Mackenzie has danced, choreographed, and taught with various companies in the area.
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. At the University of Notre Dame, Laura earned a busness degree while completing additional studies in the Film, Television, and Theater department and St. Mary's College Dance Minor program. Laura founded ND TransPose Dance Collective, which continues to this day as a "no-cuts" student group that accepts all auditionees. After moving to Columbus in 2011, Laura served as a committee member & 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. Laura has set her choreography on the company, restaged guest artist works, and created numerous works for CoMo’s Adult Modern Dance Class. She has been proud to dance with the company every season in amazing venues & events throughout the city. 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 works on the Bath & Body Works digital team.
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.