When art attacks, Queen City style

Starting this fall, Pones In(c) Public, a series of events sponsored by Pones Inc. and ArtsWave, will bring spontaneous dance, art and movement to eight different Cincinnati neighborhoods. Not quite a flash mob, but the dancing will be created by random people right on the spot where it starts, be that a public square or a city street.  

Dance for social change is the mission of Pones Inc., a four year old non-profit arts organization. Professional dancers Lindsey Jones and Kim Popa founded the group after taking a class about theater for the oppressed, art that encouraged social justice. If theater can do this, why not dance, thought the two Northern Kentucky University grads. “Dance can give people another way to express their viewpoint outside the political spectrum,” Popa believes. “It became our mission to fuse dance and theater,” involving other artists like poets and musicians so as “to use as many people’s artistic talents as we can.”

So far, Pones Inc. has performed at The Know, the Aronoff and The New Edgecliff theaters and dozens of public spaces around Cincinnati. They’ve danced on Metro buses, up and down store escalators, on public squares, and in grocery store aisles. Everywhere they perform, Pones Inc and its dancers invite the public to join in their free artistic expressions.

Margy Waller, special advisor at ArtsWave, sees Pones Inc as a unique organization, different from the flash mob dancing that is choreographed and organized before the event. “What Pones is great at is engaging the audience in dancing.”  

Popa doesn’t think it’s that difficult to do. ”Everyone enjoys dancing but not everyone may want to volunteer to get up and dance. If you ask people to do it, they will.”

With Pones In(c) Public, Waller says ArtsWave hopes to keep the public surprised and excited about the arts in Cincinnati.   “This kind of spontaneous dance can show people how really magical the arts can be.”

Do Good

Attend:  Pones In(c) Public, starting in October on the second Saturday of every month for eight months, between 5 – 8 pm.  

Watch: Pones Inc. perform live.

Donate or Volunteer: Contact ArtsWave to see how you can help support the arts in Cincinnati.

By Becky Johnson