Artist Laureate Tour led by Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown at Liberty Arts Magnet School. Photo by John Landry, Top5ive Photography
Artist Laureate Tour led by Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown at Liberty Arts Magnet School. Photo by John Landry, Top5ive Photography
Patriot Preparatory Academy field trip to Ohio State - Photo by Amber Ellison Hall
Indianola Water Workshops - Photo by Amber Ellison Hall
Indianola Water Workshops - Photo by Amber Ellison Hall
Indianola Water Workshops - Photo by Amber Ellison Hall
Indianola Middle School field trip to Ohio State - Photo by Amber Ellison Hall
Indianola Middle School field trip to Ohio State - Photo by Amber Ellison Hall
A video with Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown describing the 2024 Artist Laureate Tour showing several scenes from the tour.
In spring 2024 The Ohio State University's Artist Laureate Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown brought her new production "Dancing Stories: Comings, Goings, and Finding Home" to Ohio State's regional campuses in Lima and Mansfield, Ohio as well as special engagements at Miami University and The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show featured a collection of dances that uplift themes of identity, inclusion, and expanding ideas around who gets to dance. McCarthy-Brown presented two works with her cast of eight Ohio State dance majors and share a short dance film "Reflecting Rae" featuring BalletMet dancer Victoria Watford. The Mansfield show featured a collaborative performance with Ohio State dancers and dancers from the Richland Academy for the Arts. Dance Students of Meghan Mulcahy (BFA 2022) from Liberty Arts Magnet School collaborated with Ohio State dancers for the Lima performance. Pieces by graduate students in the Ohio State Department of Dance, Lucy Dillon and Kierra Williams, were also shared in this performance.
Cast: Meghan Bhanoo, Malaika Burke, Hattie Plinke, Larissa Rojas, Ariana Stone, Latifat Sulaimon, Eryn Toppin
Video by John Landry, Top5ive Photography
Saturdays in the Studio
Free Dance Classes
Sullivant Hall 390
10:30 am - 12 pm
- September 28, 2024 - Jazz and Improv Class
- November 2, 2024 - Hip Hop Class
- November 16, 2024 - Jazz Dance Class
Free dance classes for Columbus City middle school and high school students will be from 10:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.. All Columbus students are welcome to attend, but the program is geared toward those with limited access to dance education. Arts education has numerous positive outcomes for students, including academic achievement, higher standardized test scores, social and emotional benefits and memory retention (Guhn et al. 2019; Bowen et al. 2019). Arts education remains inequitable and underfunded. Institutional barriers that prevent fair treatment and full participation in the arts are especially prominent when considering who has access to arts education and what cultural traditions and art forms are valued through classroom teaching. Through public programming at the intersection of social justice education, artmaking and activism, we welcome middle school and high school children from the inner city of Columbus to join us for free dance classes.
Video of Ohio State Dance Faculty and Students teaching Columbus youth dance classes in Ohio State Department of Dance studios.
Columbus Kids' Dance Day
The featured event of the year is Columbus Kids’ Dance Day. Dance teachers from across Columbus are invited to bring their students to Ohio State for a mutual dance exchange. During this event, local K-12 students will be able to take dance class from our Ohio State Dance majors and perform in the Barnett Theatre. Columbus Kids’ Dance Day encourages local K - 12 dance students to be affirmed and inspired by the Ohio State Dance community. If you would like your students to participate in Columbus Kids’ Dance Day, please contact the department at dance@osu.edu.
Video shows footage of Columbus kids taking dance classes from Ohio State Dance students and faculty. It also shows them performing work created at their home studios or schools in the Barnett Theatre. A voiceover describes the events and community building that happens on Columbus Kids' Dance Day.
Summer Intensive
The Department of Dance launched its inaugural High School Summer Dance Intensive in the summer of 2021. Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown, Associate Professor of Dance, leads the ongoing development of this program with support from collaborators and experts working at the intersection of dance technique, dance education and pedagogy, racial equity and community-engagement. Dr. McCarthy-Brown brings decades of university and field-level leadership to bear on this project.
Numerous faculty members from the Department of Dance taught in the summer of 2021 and 2022. Their expertise comprised a wide range of aesthetics and styles including African, contemporary, improvisation and ballet. Our community partners include Thiossane Dance Institute, Flavor’d Flow Dance Studio, BalletMet, Dublin Dance Center, Columbus Dance Center, Transit Arts and many others.