Colorado Ballet

History

In 1961, Lillian Covillo and Freidann Parker established Colorado Concert Ballet to showcase talented students they had been teaching at their ballet school. Their first production, The Nutcracker, played to sold-out houses in Denver's Bonfils Theatre. By 1978, Colorado Concert Ballet employed 16 men and women, and had achieved full professional status. The board increased the annual budget to $100,000 and refined the company’s name. In doing so, Colorado Ballet was born. In 1987 Parker and Covillo conducted a nationwide search, at their own expense, for a new artistic director. With their choice of Martin Fredmann, they changed the course of Colorado Ballet.

In the late 1980s, a lagging economy in Denver forced Colorado Ballet to look at an emerging national trend among dance companies and as a result entered into an alliance with Tampa Ballet. Through shared expenses, the alliance enabled the companies to develop an excellent artistic product with reduced financial risk. By 1990, Colorado Ballet achieved greater financial stability and community recognition, so the alliance was discontinued to better enable future growth of the Denver company. The decision reestablished Colorado Ballet as a resident company.

For eighteen years, the company grew to a well-respected regional ballet company recognized for its broad ranging repertoire. In March 2006, Gil Boggs, former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, was hired as the new artistic director.

In June 2012, Colorado Ballet performed at the Gotham Dance Festival at The Joyce Theater in New York City, NY.

Artistic leaders

The artistic leadership of the Colorado Ballet includes (as of 2014-2015 season):

Artistic Director: Gil Boggs, former principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre

Ballet Mistresses: Lorita Travaglia, Sandra Brown

Music Director/Principal Conductor: Adam Flatt

Associate Conductor: Catherine Sailer

Company Pianist: Natalia Arefieva

Academy Director: Valerie Madonia

Dancers

Colorado Ballet consists of 30 professional dancers from around the world (as of 2015-2016 season):

Principal dancers

Soloists

Studio Company

The Studio Company is a pre-professional training program; members are selected by audition. The program is designed to offer young dancers training and experience working with the professional company. The 2016-2017 Studio Company members are Amber Ball, Katie Buckmiller, Brianna Crockett, Kelly Dornan, Riko Fujita, Tracy Fuller, Molly Huempfner, Sara Jumper, Molly Klug, Reagan Lawthers, Toni Martin, Francesca Martoccio, Leah McFadden, Sophie Moffat, Georgina Ocampo, Michael Pell, Camille Robinson, Vara Shiva Reom, Macie Rowe, Brendan Rupp, Ian Santiago, Hannah Stolrow, Marie Tender, Sara VanderVoort and Claire Wilson.

2016–2017 season

Colorado Ballet's 2016-2017 season will open on October 7, 2017.

Swan Lake (choreography after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov set and updated by former American Ballet Theatre principals Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner and Sandra Brown, Ballet Mistress for Colorado Ballet, music by P. I. Tchaikovsky)

The Nutcracker (choreography after Marius Petipa, music by P. I. Tchaikovsky)

Ballet MasterWorks (includes The Firebird choreographed by Yuri Possokhov, music by Igor Stravinsky; Serenade choreographed by George Balanchine, music by P.I. Tchaikovsky; and Petite Mort choreographed by Jiří Kylián, music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

The Little Mermaid (choreography by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, music by Michael Moricz), opening with Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 choreographed by Clark Tippet, music by Max Bruch)

2015–2016 season

Colorado Ballet's 2015-2016 season opened on October 2, 2015.

La Sylphide (choreography by August Bournonville, music by Herman Severin Løvenskiold)

The Nutcracker (choreography after Marius Petipa, music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

Alice in Wonderland (choreography by Septime Webre, music by Matthew Pierce)

Ballet Director's Choice (includes The Angel of Buenos Aires by Lorita Travaglia, Wolfgang (for Webb) by Dominic Walsh, Light Rain pas de deux by Gerald Arpino and It's Not a Cry pas de deux by Amy Seiwert)

2014–2015 season

Colorado Ballet's 2014-2015 season opened on September 26, 2014.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, music by Felix Mendelssohn)

Dracula (choreography by Michael Pink, music by Philip Feeney)

The Nutcracker (choreography after Marius Petipa, music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

Ballet MasterWorks (includes Concerto Barocco choreographed by George Balanchine, music by Johann Sebastian Bach; Fancy Free (ballet) choreographed by Jerome Robbins, music by Leonard Bernstein; and a new work)

Peter and the Wolf (choreography by Michael Smuin, music by Sergei Prokofiev, opening with Bruch Violin Concerto No.1 choreographed by Clark Tippet, music by Max Bruch)

2013–2014 season

Giselle (music by Adolphe Adam)

The Nutcracker (music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

Cinderella (music by Prokofiev)

Director's Choice (Traveling Alone choreographed by Amy Seiwert; Edwaard Liang’s Feast of the Gods; and a new work)

2012–2013 season

The Sleeping Beauty (choreographed by Marius Petipa, music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

The Nutcracker (music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

Ballet MasterWorks (includes Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring with choreography by Glen Tetley, George Balanchine's Theme and Variations with music by P.I. Tchaikovsky, and a new work by Val Caniparoli of San Francisco Ballet

Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project (choreography by Stephen Mills of Ballet Austin)

2011–2012 season

Swan Lake (choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

The Nutcracker (music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

Peter Pan (choreography by Michael Pink, music by Philip Feeney)

Tribute (choreography by Emery LeCrone, Jodie Gates and Amy Seiwert)

2010–2011 season

Anniversary Triple Bill (Feast of the Gods - choreography by Edwaard Liang, “…smile with my heart” - choreography by Lar Lubovitch and The Faraway - choreography by Matthew Neenan)

Dracula (choreography by Michael Pink, music by Philip Feeney)

The Nutcracker (music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

Romeo and Juliet (choreography by Alun Jones)

2009–2010 season

Great Galloping Gottschalk (choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk)

Rodeo (choreographed by Agnes de Mille, music by A. Copland)

Don Quixote (choreographed by Marius Petipa, music by Ludwig Minkus)

The Nutcracker (music by P.I. Tchaikovsky)

Beauty and the Beast (choreographed by Domy Reiter-Soffer, music by Seen-yee Lam)

Echoing of Trumpets (choreographed by Antony Tudor)

Celts (choreographed by Lila York)

Repertoire

Since 1961, The Nutcracker has been in the Colorado Ballet's repertoire every holiday season. Although primarily a classical ballet company, the Company's repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary ballets.

Academy

The Colorado Ballet Academy is the official school of the Colorado Ballet Company, located in Denver, CO. The Academy provides training to students ages 1 ½ through adult, beginner through professional

The Academy begins teaching students from ages 3 through 6 for creative dance and pre-ballet, two classes that lay the foundation for further study of classical ballet

Beginning at age seven, students are placed in Level 1 and advance according to age, experience, and ability. The Academy curriculum is designed to guide students from their first introduction to the art through a full course of ballet study. During their time at Colorado Ballet Academy, students take classes in technique, pointe work, pas de deux, modern, jazz as well as vital conditioning classes.

The Colorado Ballet Academy’s designed method follows a structured sequence of training stages intended to increase student’s technical skills, stamina and discipline in accordance with their age and physical development.

Academy students perform in showcase performances as well as Colorado Ballet's professional ballets, including the annual productions of The Nutcracker. The Academy is located in downtown Denver.

Education and Community Engagement

Colorado Ballet's Education and Community Engagement department serves in-need students, teachers, families, people with disabilities and lifelong learners in Colorado. Colorado Ballet's outreach programs make more than 30,000 contacts each year in 225 schools/organizations.

Education & Outreach Includes:

Programs

Be Beautiful Be Yourself - Based on Boston Ballet’s “Adaptive Dance” program and supported by the Anna and John J. Sie Center for Down Syndrome at Children’s Hospital Colorado and the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Dance program provides 10 weekly dance classes to ten 5-9 year-old-children with Down syndrome.

5 x 5 Project - The 5 X 5 Project is the Mayor's Office for Education and Children's program designed to offer Head Start families opportunities to give their children five cultural experiences by the age of five. Colorado Ballet has been a partnering organization in this program for four years.

Leap N Learn (formerly (Dance Renaissance) - Leap N Learn is an after school residency that lasts 10–15 weeks, classes focus on creative movement and ballet. The students study a variety of dance concepts while working on spatial awareness, problem solving, and strengthening the body and brain. The program culminates with a performance for the parents, school, and community.

Rhythm and Grace - Rhythm & Grace is an adaptation of the nationally recognized Dance for PD® model created by the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. This national model is offered in more than 40 communities in the U.S. and Europe. The Parkinson Association of the Rockies is the first Parkinson’s-oriented Colorado organization to bring this dance-focused method of physical therapy to the Denver community. Since its inception in September 2011, approximately 50 individuals with Parkinson’s disease have participated in the program.

School workshops, assemblies and field trips - Colorado Ballet's education and outreach department offers school workshops and assemblies teaching students about dance. In addition, the department offers students discounted tickets to the professional Company's final dress rehearsal for selected shows each season.