Columbus, Ohio, is not one of the...

Columbus, Ohio, is not one of the cities that spring to mind immediately when one thinks of major cultural centers. But it should, according to Mary K Bailey, executive director of BalletMet, the Columbus-based dance troupe that will perform at Citrus College on Wednesday night.

“On any given weekend, there are at least half a dozen major performances in theaters around town,” Bailey said.

There’s the Columbus Symphony, Opera Columbus and the Players Theatre, a resident repertory whose facilities are housed in the same building as Ohio legislators’ offices.

And there’s the Martin Luther King Jr. Arts Complex and the Wexner Center at Ohio State University, where dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov and choreographer Twyla Tharp put together their current national tour and gave its first performance in September. The famed duo also worked with BalletMet and the group’s Dance Academy.

“In respect for their privacy, we couldn’t tell anyone (about the association), and my public relations director was losing her mind” because of the secrecy, Bailey said.

BalletMet, which became a professional company in 1978, has 25 dancers and a repertoire of 50 dances.

“We’re always adding dances” and retiring others, Bailey said. “Some are unsuccessful and some become overexposed in time.”

Four of the dancers are graduates of the ballet’s Dance Academy, which has about 1,300 students and offers 150 classes per week, making it one of the nation’s largest professional dance training centers.

The recital starts at 8 p.m. at Haugh Performing Arts Center on campus, 1000 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora. Tickets are $21, students and seniors $19.