Columbus, OH Indoor Activities

The Columbus Museum of Art dazzles eyes and tickles imaginations with a broad collection of 19th- and early-20th-century American and European artwork, as well as a cavalcade of traveling exhibits. Wear a realistic beast-man costume to the current exhibition Fur, Fins, and Feathers, which spotlights animal motifs within the museum's collections, from Inuit carvings to live armadillos posing as statues (runs through June 5). The permanent exhibit Old Masters captures subtleties of shadow, 19th-century American works encompass vast landscapes, and the extensive Late Modernism and Contemporary assemblage implodes luminous colors in twisting, spiraling transformations. Meanwhile, the museum’s 18,000-square-foot Center for Creativity includes a technology lab and hands-on, kid-centered artistic projects to get children interested in fine art at an impressionable age, keeping them from becoming work-a-day doctors and lawyers.

Michele Mangione thought she might never dance again after a car wreck smashed her skull and fractured four fragile vertebrae. By practicing yoga, she regained her mobility and acquired a new passion: helping others find health and happiness through movement. To this end, she eagerly studied the mind-body connection, earning a PhD in the topic from Ohio State and an advanced teaching certification from the Yoga Alliance. Armed with extensive knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and philosophy, she founded WiseWays, a studio that blends Hatha yoga with healing arts, such as tai chi, structural integration, and the Feldenkrais method of somatic education. Here, students of all skill levels build strong bodies, centered minds, and spirits as buoyant as the studio's suspended-wood floor. Yoga instruction takes place in one-on-one sessions and small-group classes, where pupils hone poses that gently unlock hips, shoulders, and safes filled with middle-school-era diary entries. As strength and flexibility increase, students progress to sun salutations that cultivate balance, focus, and a pervasive sense of calm.

Founder Juan Carlos Polanco came up with JC Entertainment as a way to encourage the community to participate in engaging and unique Hispanic cultural events. Polanco and his staff bring people of all ethnicities together with an array of latin-dance classes, musical performances, and private parties. At regularly scheduled events around town, skilled dance instructors teach guests to tap their feet to salsa, cha-cha, and merengue rhythms while DJs spin latin tunes ranging from salsa hits to Ovid's lost reggaeton poems.

Since their near-simultaneous invention in the 1930s, yoga and Pilates have been locked in the smiling ferocity of mortal frenemy combat, each vying for wellness superiority. Today's deal brings the two sides together and seals the pact with a massage. For $49, first-time clients get a two-class pass ($50) and one 60-minute Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR) massage ($60) at Focused Fitness, a $110 total value.

Founded by world-class duo Igor and Svetlana Iskhakov, Dance Centre is dedicated to the empowerment and physical fitness of the everyday person via the art of dance. The studio features both high-level instruction for budding Baryshnikovs as well as a host of beginner-friendly classes in a variety of dance styles. Group classes consisting of as few as five pupils practice basic steps within the Gahanna facility's grand 6,000 square feet of studio space, the perfect place for dancing and drag racing floor buffers. Igor and Svetlana also host regular practice parties for their students, which present festive opportunities to show off new skills in a no-pressure social setting or mingle with accomplished star students.

Belly dancing is an art form recognized for its health benefits no matter what the age, size, or shape of the dancer. Three lessons will teach newbies to incorporate their entire body in the dance and not just bob their head to the beat like an old desktop computer floating in a kiddie pool. Belly dancing strengthens, tones, provides a low-impact aerobic workout, and can relieve back pain. Even pregnant women are encouraged to take classes, as the dance has become an alternative Lamaze class, making baby deliveries and seducing the pool boy much easier.