It鈥檚 a fact most of us never consider鈥攁nyone can dance just about anywhere.
The (CoMo Dance) will do just that in LoCoMotion 2025, a bus tour of performances of dance works by seven contemporary choreographers in five different Columbus venues where dance isn鈥檛 usually on the menu.
The dance bus tour begins Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m. in the Main Library, Downtown Columbus. From there, audience members will travel by bus to experience performances in the East Market, the Lincoln Theatre, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum and the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, before returning to Main Library.
Though the tour focuses on dance, it also gives audience members an opportunity to experience some of Columbus鈥� cultural venues in a unique way.
鈥淎 lot of what we think about is, how do we surprise and delight people with taking them to unexpected places and then also put dance in spaces that complements the spaces that we鈥檙e taking them to?鈥� said CoMo Dance Co-Founder and Artistic Director Laura Comana Puscas.
LoCoMotion 2025 continues the tradition of the company鈥檚 LoCoMotion 2022 dance bus tour. That event had been inspired by Locality 2012, a multivenue Columbus dance event created to celebrate the city鈥檚 2012 bicentennial year. Puscas danced in Locality 2012 and brought the idea to CoMo Dance.
LoCoMotion 2025 will begin in the main library鈥檚 large second floor space with a performance of Falling In and Out of Time by dancer and choreographer Olivia Wang. Currently a fourth-year student at New York鈥檚 Juilliard School, Wang created the piece while completing an Emerging Choreographers鈥� Residency with CoMo Dance in July.
The work explores relationships and the fluidity of time, treating the library as a space that contains much more than books.
"The LoComotion performance in the Columbus Library will hopefully allow the audience to re-experience the library as an immersive space that holds time, rich history, and artistic imagination," Wang said
Audience members will then board the bus for the historic East Market to experience works by Austin-based choreographer Leo Briggs and CoMo Dance member Aliya Myers.
The company will perform Briggs鈥� Adoring Public to the George Michael song 鈥淥utside鈥� in the Switch Yard at the East Market. Inside the market, The Landing鈥攏oted for the cozy feel of its wooden rafters and angled ceiling鈥攚ill be the backdrop for Myers鈥� new work for CoMo Dance.
鈥�(Myers鈥�) piece is very fast and very intimate, so it鈥檚 in this wooden, dark aesthetic at the East Market indoor location,鈥� Puscas said.
Then to the Lincoln Theatre for Impetus Madeline Kendall Schreiber, a resident dancer and choreographer with Pittsburgh鈥檚 Texture Contemporary Ballet. The work explores the theme of being stuck and breaking free and, Schreiber says, is set to a score full of 鈥減layful, jazz-inspired moments.鈥�
鈥淭he music and movement are going to be in harmony with the Lincoln Theatre where the work will be presented鈥攊n its vibrant design and architecture as well as its connection to jazz,鈥� Schreiber said.
The tour鈥檚 centerpiece will take place at the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, with two works that explore veterans鈥� experience.
CoMo Dance Co-Founder Kelsey Morozow Burbrink鈥檚 Valkyrie, named after the women in Norse mythology tasked with carrying fallen soldiers to Valhalla, and 贰惫别谤别迟迟鈥檚 Peace by Roman Baca, artistic director of the New York City-based Exit12 Dance Company. The latter is informed by Baca鈥檚 experience as a veteran of the Iraq War.
Both works will be danced among the images in the museum鈥檚 exhibition 鈥淔ull Metal Jacket Diary.鈥� The exhibition features photographs taken by actor Matthew Modine while filming the Stanley Kubrick Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket.
At the tour鈥檚 final performance stop, the Grange Insurance Audubon Center, the dancers will explore human responses to feeling confined in Slovakian choreographer Lenka Mi膷incov谩鈥檚 new work Limits.
鈥淚 deal with the feelings that arise when we are limited or restricted by someone or something, and how we then try to break out of these boundaries,鈥� Mi膷incov谩 said.
Puscas says the Audubon Center鈥檚 ample space is idea for Mi膷incov谩鈥檚 athletic choreography.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got this beautiful open space with glass windows that face the city and really tall ceilings,鈥� Puscas said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 perfect for all the jumping and throwing and lifting that happens in Mi膷incov谩鈥檚 piece.鈥�
Beyond the many performance venues and dance works, LoCoMotion 2025 is also likely to have at least two different audiences鈥攖hose taking the tour to see dance, and those who just happen to be at the venues and will be surprised when the dancing starts.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something fun about bringing dance unexpectedly to people who are already at some of these spaces,鈥� Puscas said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 always part of CoMo鈥檚 mission, is to bring dance to the public that would not seek out a concert, just bring dance to them.鈥�
Columbus Modern Dance Company鈥檚 will take place Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2 p.m., starting and ending at the Main Library, Downtown Columbus.
