What is Oyo?
A professional contemporary ballet dance company committed to providing motivation and education in the arts of dance.
Mission
Oyo Dance Company is a non-profit professional dance company that embodies diversity, acceptance, and cultural awareness. Oyo promotes appreciation of the art of dance through public performances and outreach, educational programs, and community activities. The Company maintains a diverse repertory through work with guest choreographers, master classes, and technical workshops.
Description
Oyo Dance Company is focused on celebrating diversity within the art of dance, and features dancers of all backgrounds, ages, and body types. Rather than focusing on a certain aesthetic, Oyo brings out the beauty and joy in each individual performer. Oyo dancers train in many styles of dance, and productions are lively and varied. Oyo promotes access to the arts for everyone through their free ticket program, Oyo Access, and a variety of community outreach programs.
Where does the name Oyo come from?
One of the first Frenchmen to see the Ohio River was Rene Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle. The French rarely, and the English even more rarely, got the spelling of Indian names correct, and in converting the name “Oyo” to the French language, aspirated the ‘ee’ by placing an ‘h’ before it, giving us “O-hí-o,” the ‘í’ in French being sounded as our double ‘e’. So today, we are left with the French spelling, English pronunciation, of the Iroquois word, Oyo, meaning “the great river,” more properly pronounced “O-ee-o.”
History
Founded in 2015, Oyo was born out of a desire to create a professional contemporary ballet company that was qualitatively different than other organizations in the area. Founding artistic director Rachel Nace had a vision for a professional company that was focused on artistic excellence and on diversity, inclusion, and social justice. The first performance season involved collaborative performances with other groups, and a lot of awareness building activities and performances. During the second season, Oyo began the tradition of hosting a show specifically targeted toward children and families. The children’s show is now a permanent part of Oyo’s performance calendar, and is performed each April for school groups and the public. Nearly 500 students from Columbus Public Schools attended the 2019 children’s show free of charge as part of Oyo’s outreach program.
As Oyo’s audience has grown, the company has continued to expand its reach into different types of performances and different audience bases. In 2017, the company co-hosted its first benefit showcase, which was a large collaborative effort and brought together dancers, musicians, and performers from central Ohio to benefit local anti-human trafficking organization She Has a Name. The showcase was an overwhelming success, and is now an annual part of Oyo’s programming.
During the COVID lockdown period, Oyo’s small size enabled it to quickly re-focus its efforts by turning the costume shop into a mask-making enterprise. Oyo provided over 1200 masks during the months of March to August 2020. Oyo dancers quarantined together so that they could continue dancing. As the pandemic continued, Oyo presented their entire 2020-2021 season virtually. They transformed their rehearsal space into a black-box theater and the production team worked to produce professional quality videos for streaming.
Oyo Dance Company is looking forward to returning to the stage during 2021-2022!