Colorado Ballet

Colorado Ballet encompasses a 40-member professional performing ballet company, a studio company for advanced dance students, an academy, and an education and outreach department. Based in downtown Denver, Colorado, Colorado Ballet serves more than 125,000 patrons each year.
The professional company performs primarily at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the Denver Performing Arts Complex and one show each year at the Robert and Judi Newman Center for Performing Arts at the University of Denver. Colorado Ballet performs classical ballets and contemporary dance works. The Colorado Ballet Orchestra performs with the Company at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, at five productions a year.
With an annual operating budget exceeding $14.8 million, the company employs more than 150 people on either a full-time or part-time basis during the year.
Colorado Ballet received the 2009 Colorado Masterpieces Award. As part of the award, Colorado Ballet toured Colorado in the 2009–2010 season as a part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius initiative, funded by the Colorado Council on the Arts.
Colorado Ballet has performed at the Vail International Dance Festival in 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2024.
In 2013, Colorado Ballet purchased a building in Denver's Art District on Santa Fe. The company moved to its new location in August 2014.

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 1968, the Company hit the road for its first tour of the state. By 1976, Colorado Concert Ballet produced 33 performances of The Nutcracker and three other productions that season. By October of that year, Colorado Concert ballet achieved full professional status with a total roster of eight professional dancers. Two years later, the board of trustees changed the company's name to Colorado Ballet.
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. Also that year, 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. Colorado Ballet and Tampa Ballet joined forces, performing 18 weeks in Tampa and 18 weeks in Denver. The partnership remained successful for three years, and in 1990, the board of trustees decided to the dissolve the alliance and move the Company permanently to Denver.
In 1993, Colorado Ballet made its New York debut to favorable reviews. In 1995, the Company formed Colorado Ballet II, which is now known as Colorado Ballet's Studio Company. By the time the Company celebrated its 40th anniversary in the early 2000s, the organization's annual budget had grown to $5.1 million, with 30 professional dancers, 20 apprentices and an academy with 250 students. In March 2006, Gil Boggs, former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, was hired as the new artistic director.
After more than two decades of leasing a space near the Colorado State Capitol, Colorado Ballet purchased a building at the north end of Denver's Art District on Santa Fe in 2013. The Company renovated the space and moved into its new home in August 2014.
During the 2016-2017 season, Colorado Ballet's ticketing revenue exceeded more than $4 million for the first time and more than 87,000 people watched Colorado Ballet's productions. In December 2016, Colorado Ballet's The Nutcracker was named the best-loved Nutcracker in the 10th Annual Goldstar National Nutcracker Award contest, winning this coveted honor in a field that included more than 80 other productions throughout the U.S.

Artistic leaders

The artistic leadership of the Colorado Ballet includes :
Artistic Director: Gil Boggs, former principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre
Ballet Masters: Sandra Brown, Lorita Travaglia, Maria Mosina
Music Director/Principal Conductor: Adam Flatt
Associate Conductor: Catherine Sailer
Company Pianist: Natalia Arefieva
Academy Director: Erica Fischbach
Academy Principal: Bernadette Torres

Dancers

Colorado Ballet consists of 40 professional dancers from around the world :

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.

2018–2019 season

Colorado Ballet's 2018–2019 season will open on October 5, 2018.
Sleeping Beauty
The Nutcracker
The Wizard of Oz
Tour de Force
''Ballet MasterWorks: Carmina Burana''

2017–2018 season

Colorado Ballet's 2017-2018 season opened on October 6, 2017.
Dracula
The Nutcracker
Romeo and Juliet
''Ballet Director's Choice''

2016–2017 season

Colorado Ballet's 2016-2017 season opened on October 7, 2016.
Swan Lake
The Nutcracker
Ballet MasterWorks
''The Little Mermaid''

2015–2016 season

Colorado Ballet's 2015-2016 season opened on October 2, 2015.
La Sylphide
The Nutcracker
Alice in Wonderland
''Ballet Director's Choice''

2014–2015 season

Colorado Ballet's 2014-2015 season opened on September 26, 2014.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Dracula
The Nutcracker
Ballet MasterWorks
''Peter and the Wolf''

2013–2014 season

Giselle
The Nutcracker
Cinderella
''Director's Choice''

2012–2013 season

The Sleeping Beauty
The Nutcracker
Ballet MasterWorks

2011–2012 season

Swan Lake
The Nutcracker
Peter Pan
''Tribute''

2010–2011 season

Anniversary Triple Bill
Dracula
The Nutcracker
''Romeo and Juliet''

2009–2010 season

Great Galloping Gottschalk
Rodeo
Don Quixote
The Nutcracker
Beauty and the Beast
Echoing of Trumpets
''Celts''

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.

Ballet	Choreographer	Composer
...smile with my heart	L. Lubovitch	M. Laird
Afternoon of a Faun	V. Nijinsky, staged by I. Youskevitch	C. Debussy
ALICE	S. Webre	M. Pierce
Among Silken Cords	L. Wymmer	W.A. Mozart
Apollo	G. Balanchine, staged by P.Neary	I. Stravinsky
Appalachian Spring	M. Graham, staged by T. Capuccilli, J. Herring, J. Eibler	A. Copland
Archetypes	E. LeCrone	T. Riley
Ave Maria	D. Rhoden	Giulio Caccini, vocals by Kagen Paley
A Little Love	M. Fredmann	Songs sung by Nina Simone
Beauty and the Beast	M. Fredmann	M. Ravel
Billy the Kid	E. Loring, staged by H. Sayette	A. Copland
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1	C. Tippet	M. Bruch
Buffalo Bill's Saloon	A. Erb	R. Jarboe, performed by Tim and Molly O'Brien
Carmina Burana	G. Gonzales, P. Renzetti, J. Wallace	C. Orff
Celts	L. York	Traditional Irish music
Centennial Suite	M. Fredmann	R. Thompson
Cinderella	M. Fredmann	S. Prokofiev
Company B	P. Taylor, staged by R. Andrien	Songs recorded by The Andrews Sisters
Concerto Barocco	G. Balanchine, staged by P. Neary	J.S. Bach
Configurations	C. Goh, staged by J. Schergen	S. Barber
Coppélia	M. Fredmann	L. Delibes
Cry and Silence	M. Murdmaa	K. Sink
Diana and Actaeon	A. Vaganova	C. Pugni
De Profundis	J. Lang	Arvo Pärt
Don Quixote	M. Petipa/ A. Gorsky	L. Minkus
Dracula	M. Pink	P. Feeney
Dreamspace	M. Fredmann	G. Mahler, W. Piston, H. Hanson, C. Ives, S. Coleridge-Taylor, A. Hovhaness
The Dying Swan	M. Fokine, staged by N. Krassovska	C. Saint-Saens
Earth Tribe	R. Harris	D. Ross; Romanthony
Echoing of Trumpets	A. Tudor	B. Martinu
Elysium	T. Korobeynikova	Meredith Monk and Kronos Quartet
Embellish	Jodie Gates	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Façade	F. Ashton, staged by A. Grant	W. Walton
Feast of the Gods	E. Liang	O. Respighi
Firebird	Y. Possokhov	I. Stravinsky
Flames of Paris	J. Lang	R. Schumann
Giselle	J. Perrot/J. Coralli, staged by Gil Boggs	A. Adam
Great Galloping Gottschalk	Lynne Taylor-Corbett, staged by Jeff Gribler	Louis Moreau Gottschalk
The Hunchback of Notre Dame	T. Ishida	C. Pugni
The Hunchback of Notre Dame	M. Pink	P. Feeney
In the Upper Room	T. Tharp, staged by S. Washington	P. Glass
Inversion	J. Wallace	S. Barber
JamNation	D. McKayle	C. Dobrian, K. Akagi, L. Armstrong, C. Parker, D. Ellington, A.C. Jobin, D. Reinhart, S. Grapelli, J. Johnson
La Bayadere	M. Petipa, staged by M. Stavitskaya	L. Minkus
Land Beyond Horizons	H. Garza	T. Bell
La Sylphide	A. Bournonville, staged by Z. Dubrovskaya, S. Kozadeyev	H. Lovenskjold
La Vivandiere	A. Saint-Leon, staged by P. Renzetti	C. Pugni
Le Beau Danube	L. Massine, staged by G. Verdak	J. Strauss II
Le Spectre de la Rose	M. Fokine, staged by T. Armour	C. Von Weber
Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project	Stephen Mills	Steve Reich, Evelyn Glennie, Michael Gordon, Arvo Pärt, Philip Glass
The Little Mermaid	Lynne Taylor-Corbett	Michael Moricz
Masquerade Suite	M. Fredmann	A. Khatchaturian
A Midsummer Night's Dream	C. Wheeldon	F. Mendelssohn
Miraculous Mandarin	S. Kozadayev	B. Bartok
Mon Dieu	M. Fredmann	Sung by Edith Piaf
Nine Sinatra Songs	T. Tharp, staged by S. Washington	Songs recorded by F. Sinatra
The Nutcracker	M. Fredmann, Additional Choreography by S. Brown, staged by L. Travaglia and S. Brown	P.I. Tchaikovsky
Of Blessed Memory	S. Welch	J. Cantaloube
Picture of Sedalia	P. Pucci	S. Joplin
Peter Pan	G. Conzales/ A. Thompson	L. Delibes
Peter Pan	Michael Pink	Philip Feeney
Petite Mort	Jiří Kylián	W. A. Mozart
Pounds and Stomps	D. Varone	Songs by the Yardbirds
Rachmaninov Second	K. Uralsky	S. Rachmaninov
Raymonda	M. Petipa, staged by M. Stavitskaya	A. Glazunov
Ricordanza	M. Fredmann	F. Liszt
The Rite of Spring	Glen Tetley	Igor Stravinsky
The River	A. Ailey, staged by M. Chaya	D. Ellington
Rodeo	A. de Mille, staged by P. Sutherland	A. Copland
Romeo & Juliet	M. Fredmann	S. Prokofiev
Rubies	G. Balanchine, staged by B. Cook	I. Stravinsky
Sachertorte	M. Fredmann	Strauss Family
Second Exposure	D. Grand Moultrie	R. Romaneiro
Serenade	G. Balanchine, staged by P. Neary	P.I. Tchaikovsky
Silent Woods	M. Fredmann	A. Dvorak
Size Nine Spirit	P. Pucci	B. Goodman
The Sleeping Beauty	Marius Petipa, staged by M. Daukayev, J. Labsan	P.I. Tchaikovsky
Soul of Porcelain	O. Messina	P.I. Tchaikovsky
Stars and Stripes	G. Balanchine, staged by B. Cook	J.P. Sousa
Swan Lake	M. Petipa/L. Ivanov, staged by S. Kozadayev, Z. Dubroskaya, A. McKerrow, & J. Gardner	P.I. Tchaikovsky
Talisman	M. Petipa	R. Drigo
Theme and Variations	George Balanchine, staged by P. Neary	P.I. Tchaikovsky
Things Left Unsaid	A. Seiwert	F. Mendelssohn
Traveling Alone	A. Seiwert	M. Richter
Troy Game	R. North, staged by J. Moss	B. Downes
Vital Sensations	D. Moultrie	Puente, Sidestepper, R. Size/ Reprazent
Western Symphony	G. Balanchine, staged by B. Cook	H. Kay
When the Lad for Longing Sighs	M. Fredmann, J. Levinson	G. Butterworth
Where the Wild Things Are	S. Webre	R. Woolf
Who Cares?	G. Balanchine, staged by J. Fugate	G. Gershwin
Wingborne	L. Houlton	A. Dvorak
Winter Moons	P. Tate	J. Tate
Without Words	T. Shimazaki	T. Kako, R. Eno, L.M. Gottschalk, F. Mendelssohn
Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet	P. Anastos	F. Chopin