Boulder Ballet -- New Moves, February 24-26, 2023

NEW MOVES

February 24–26

Dairy ARTS Center

STORYBOOK BALLET:

ADVENTURES THROUGH WONDERLAND

March 11–12

Dairy ARTS Center

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

May 19–21

Dairy ARTS Center

BALLET IN THE PARK

June 2-3

Boulder Bandshell

Photo: Amanda Tipton

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Welcome To Our Season

Dear Boulder Ballet Community,

This year Boulder Ballet celebrates our 40th Anniversary. This is a momentous occasion and we are so pleased to celebrate with you, our beloved community and audience. Thank you for your ongoing dedication to the arts and for continuing to support live performance. We have an engaging season planned for you including classics from internationally acclaimed artists as well as boundary pushing original works created by acclaimed up-and-coming choreographers. Here at Boulder Ballet, we are pleased to curate a season that prioritizes diversity in the field, highlighting some of the nation’s most influential artists.

New Moves is a contemporary production of four world premieres and the iconic work of Twyla Tharp. This production will continue the company’s efforts to expand the dance industry’s historically limited representation, following last year’s Black Voices of Dance. New Moves presents women in the dance field from diverse backgrounds, resulting in an eclectic demonstration of what dance can be.

Our annual Spring Gala should not be missed! Join us for our highly anticipated murder mystery event, where we will finally discover who is behind the murder in EviDance. Make sure to attend this special evening that marks the celebration of our 40th season and supports the company’s ongoing growth.

This spring we invite you to our classical story ballet production—a beloved tradition—at The Dairy ARTS Center. Enter the enchanted land of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, filled with star-crossed lovers, mischievous pranksters, and ethereal woodland fairies. Join us for this production that will be enjoyed by all ages.

Ballet in the Park at the Boulder Bandshell is a special way to spend a warm summer evening with the family and enjoy excerpts of the season. In partnership with the City of Boulder, we invite you to bring a friend and join us for an evening of dance under the stars.

School Programming: Join Boulder Ballet School for the Storybook Ballet performance of Adventures Through Wonderland. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, we are thrilled to share a unique new take on this classic tale. Get to know the many traditional characters and a few new creatures along with some twists and turns as they dance through Alice’s favorite place, Wonderland!

Since our founding in 1982, Boulder Ballet has grown to become a dance company with a reputation for staging both iconic ballets and new works. Over the years we have performed such classics as The Nutcracker, Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty on a variety of stages in Boulder and beyond. Equally adept at presenting groundbreaking contemporary works, Boulder Ballet is thrilled to bring a colorful and engaging program to our audiences for our 40th Season. Thank you for joining us and please enjoy the show!

Warmly,

Claudia Anata Hubiak Executive Director

Photo: Amanda Tipton

Boulder Ballet Season Overview 2023

Boulder Ballet Spring Gala

April 20, Dairy ARTS Center

Our annual Spring Gala returns in 2023. Make sure to join our highly anticipated Murder Mystery Gala, where we will finally find out who is behind the murder in EviDance. Don’t miss this special evening that marks the celebration of our 40th season.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

May 19–21, Dairy ARTS Center

Enter the enchanted land of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, filled with star-crossed lovers, mischievous pranksters, and ethereal woodland fairies. Don’t miss this classic ballet, suitable for all ages.

Ballet in the Park

June 2–3, 2023, Boulder Bandshell

June 4, 2023, Civic Green Park in Highlands Ranch

We’ll kick off the summer and end our 40th season with a bang as we take our season’s highlights outside for our annual family-friendly Ballet in the Park performances at the Boulder Bandshell and Civic Green Park in Highlands Ranch.

Photos by Amanda Tipton

Company & School

2590 Walnut Street, Suite 10

Boulder, CO 80302

303.443.0028

www.boulderballet.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Stacy Gilbert, Treasurer

Emily Greenberg, Chair

Rachael Harp, Vice Chair

Kathleen Alt

Brittany Ceres

Adriana Llewellyn

Mark Ragan

Jamie Adams (ex-officio)

Andrea Basile (ex-officio)

Claudia Anata Hubiak (ex-officio)

Ben Needham-Wood (ex-officio)

ARTISTIC STAFF

Ben Needham-Wood, Artistic Director

Lizanne McAdams-Graham, Rehearsal Director

Nia Quan, Costume Shop Manager

COMPANY DANCERS

Kate Adams, Kelly Dornan, Gianna Forte, Ross Freeman, Melissa Halpin, Carly Hambridge, Matthew Helms, Emma Michaux, Philip Perez

BOULDER BALLET SCHOOL

Andrea Basile, School Director

Faculty: Kate Adams, Andrea Basile, Ana Claire, Kelly Dornan, Peter Davison, Ross Freeman, Maddie James, Veronica Lemberger, Laura Malpass, Emma Michaux, Georgia Michelle, Ben Needham-Wood, Celia Grannum Perarnaud, Philip Perez, Jarrett Rashad, Laura Saylor, MacKenzie Schuller, Becky Tibbatts

BOULDER BALLET ADMINISTRATION

Claudia Anata Hubiak, Executive Director

Jamie Adams, Deputy Director

Leah Alexis, Development Director

Wendy Timmermans, Marketing Director

Beth Litz, Office Manager & BBS Registrar

Kelly Dornan, Marketing Associate

PARTNERS OF BOULDER BALLET

Jeff Rushnak, Technical Director (on Tour)

Craig Bushman, Technical Director (Dairy ARTS Center)

Jamie Adams & Kathryn MacGregor, Boulder Ballet Guild

Amy Kenney, Boulder Body Wear

Lynn Flynn, CPA, Accounting

Boulder Cleaners, Dry Cleaning Services

Photo: Amanda Tipton

About

Boulder Ballet

Boulder Ballet Celebrates 40 Years!

Join us in celebrating this milestone — four decades of performance, education, and collaboration!

The origins of Boulder Ballet began with the Ballet Arts Studios, founded in Denver and Boulder by former American Ballet Theatre dancer Larry Boyette in the 1970s. In 1981 the Boulder studio was purchased by Barbara Demaree and Wanda Tierney. The next year they started the first performing company, originally known as Boulder City Ballet. In 1995, the company and school became known as Boulder Ballet.

Our rich history includes bringing classical, contemporary, and uniquely theatrical ballet to venues that range from Estes Park to Highlands Ranch. Boulder Ballet currently performs in Macky Auditorium, Chautauqua Auditorium, Vance Brand Auditorium, the Dairy ARTS Center, the Stanley Hotel, Lakewood Cultural Center, and outdoor amphitheaters in the Denver metro area for our summertime events.

Since its founding, the professional company has been led by several notable former dancers, including Miljenko Banovic (Zagreb Ballet), Robin Haig (Royal Ballet), John Prinz (American Ballet Theatre), Peter Davison, Ana Claire, and Lance Hardin. With the 2022–23 season, we are thrilled to welcome our new artistic director, Ben Needham-Wood.

Photo by Amanda Tipton

Support

Boulder Ballet

SUPPORT BOULDER BALLET in 2023 and beyond as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary

Whether you are an individual, associated with a small business or with a large corporation, Boulder Ballet values your support!

Your support will build the foundation for the next 40 years and bring the art of dance to our community.

Your donations provide essential support, making a difference to our operations, artistry, programming, and outreach to the Boulder community and beyond.

For more information on ways to support Boulder Ballet, planned giving or corporate sponsorship please contact Leah Colby Alexis, Development Director at leah@boulderballet.org or 303-443-0028 ext 2

Please Note: We are happy to customize your support opportunities. All can be billed monthly, quarterly or annually.

Photo by Amanda Tipton

The Boulder Ballet School (BBS) provides ballet training for all ages, pre-school through adult, in an atmosphere of creative excellence.

Photo: Amanda Tipton

New Moves is my favorite type of program — a mix of iconic dance makers and emerging voices that celebrates how powerful and personal dance can be. Each of the program’s five choreographers brings a unique voice to the creative table, and their influence will undoubtedly shape the future of Boulder Ballet’s company artists. It’s truly awesome to watch evolution in motion.

Audiences who joined us for our season opener at the beautiful Chautauqua Auditorium will surely recall Twyla Tharp’s Junk Duet. This impressively athletic and witty work is a fan favorite from a legendary dance maker. When a dancer is able to experience the greatness of someone as iconic as Twyla Tharp it often shapes the way they understand themselves. That is something I love about another choreographer on our program, Viki Psihoyos, whose connection to a different dance legend, George Balanchine, is central to her work. Viki travels the world sharing the ballets of Balanchine, and the knowledge she gained from his teachings thrives in her choreography.

Inside Voice is the second of four world premieres on our program. This new work from Oregon Ballet Theatre’s Makino Hayashi is both sensitive and compelling. Subtle gestures juxtapose bursts of energy that brilliantly reflect an original score composed by musician Bob Bush. Rarely do choreographers and dancers get to be the first to invent movement to new music, and we are lucky that New Moves features two premieres with commissioned scores. Boulder Ballet’s own Executive Director, Claudia Anata Hubiak, partnered up with composer, KWEST, to explore the morphic nature of echoes in the human body. Their collaboration brings an entirely different creative spark, inviting Boulder Ballet’s dancers to connect their physicality to introspective reflection.

Closing the program is a truly special work by celebrated dance maker, Caili Quan. Caili’s choreography is sweet, fun, engaging, and thoughtful — much like Caili herself. In developing her work Caili chose to feature music by LA-based artist Micah Manaitai. Both Caili and Micah are originally from Guam, and this world premiere celebrates their shared Chamorro roots while empowering the dancers of Boulder Ballet to bring their personal selves to the movement.

It has been such a gift watching this program come together, and I’m so excited to be sharing these New Moves with Boulder audiences. Thank you for joining us, and enjoy the show!

Cheers, Ben

Needham-Wood

We. by Viki Psihoyos

Pause

Junk Duet by Twyla Tharp

Pause

Inside Voice by Makino

Hayashi

ECHO by Claudia Anata Hubiak

*Video

Photo: Maximillian Tortoriello

We.

Choreography by Viki Psihoyos

Music: Alexandre Desplat

Lighting: by Craig Bushman

Dancers

Friday night & Saturday Matinee: Gianna Forte, Matthew Helms, Emma Michaux, with Kate Adams, Kelly Dornan and Carly Hambridge

Saturday night & Sunday Matinee: Melissa Halpin, Preston Swovelin, Emma Michaux, with Kate Adams, Kelly Dornan and Gianna Forte

About Viki Psihoyos

Viki Bromberg Psihoyos was accepted into George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet at age eight. She trained with the SAB’s international team of teachers: Felia Doubrovska, Alexandra Danilova, Muriel Stuart, Helene Dudin, Antonina Tumkovsky, Andre Eglevsky, and of course the beloved Stanley Williams who cast her as La Sylphide in the annual Workshop performance. Balanchine then invited Psihoyos to join the New York City Ballet at age 17.

Psihoyos performed for thirteen years, appearing in over 70 works by Balanchine, Robbins, and others. Her television appearances include The Cage, Four Temperaments, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, The Merry Widow, Chaconne and other works.

Psihoyos has been teaching widely since leaving the stage, on faculties and as a guest teacher for academies, universities and professional companies in the US and abroad.

She specializes in the refined technique and musicality that the Balanchine repertoire demands.

She has taught, staged and choreographed in Florence, Budapest, Paris, Estonia, Trinidad, and the West Indies in addition to working with Orlando Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Ballet West, University of Cincinnati, Western Michigan University, Brigham Young University, Boulder Ballet and The Flint School of Performing Arts in Flint, MI. Psihoyos also launched a Dance for Parkinsons Program in her native Colorado in 2013.

Junk Duet

Choreography by Twyla Tharp

World Premiere 1998, Copenhagen, Denmark

Music by Donald Knaack

Selections from “Junk Music”

Staged by Matthew Stockwell Dibble

Original Costume Design by Santo Loquasto

Lighting originally by Jennifer Tipton, recreated by Craig Bushman

Dancers

Friday night & Saturday matinee: Melissa Halpin and Ross Freeman

Saturday night & Sunday matinee: Carly Hambridge and Matthew Helms

Junk Duet was commissioned by Alexander Kølpin for the Sommerballett Festival in Denmark. He performed the classically structured pas de deux with Stacy Caddell. The duet was later included in Known By Heart, commissioned by American Ballet Theatre.

Tharp pits the two dancers against one another in a cartoonish competition. The percussive score by Donald “The Junkman” Knaack is played on 100% recycled materials. The scrapheap sounds enhance the comedic blend of exaggerated pantomime and classical ballet vocabulary. The ballerina dominates her partner until he cowers behind her henpecked and she takes her final bow.

About Twyla Tharp

Since graduating from Barnard College in 1963, Ms. Tharp has choreographed more than one hundred sixty works: one hundred twenty-nine dances, twelve television specials, six Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines. She received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, nineteen honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President’s Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts, the 2008 Jerome Robbins Prize, and a 2008 Kennedy Center Honor. Her many grants include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

In 1965, Ms. Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. Her dances are known for creativity, wit and technical precision coupled with a streetwise nonchalance. By combining different forms of movement – such as jazz, ballet, boxing and inventions of her own making – Ms. Tharp’s work expands the boundaries of ballet and modern dance.

In addition to choreographing for her own company, she has created dances for The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Boston Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Martha Graham Dance Company, Miami City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Today, ballet and dance companies around the world continue to perform Ms. Tharp’s works.

In 1992, Ms. Tharp published her autobiography PUSH COMES TO SHOVE. She went on to write THE CREATIVE HABIT: Learn it and Use it for Life, followed by THE COLLABORATIVE HABIT: Life Lessons for Working Together. In 2019, her fourth book was published, Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life.

Today, Ms. Tharp continues to create.

About Matthew Dibble

Matthew was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Matthew began his training at the Royal Ballet School White Lodge and the Royal Ballet Upper School. He joined the Royal Ballet Company and danced many roles under the directorship of Sir Anthony Dowell. While Matthew was in the company, he had roles created for him by choreographers like Christopher Wheeldon, William Forsythe, Ashely Page, Twyla Tharp, William Tuckett, and Michel Clark. After spending five years with the Royal Ballet, Matthew went to work in Japan to be a founding member of K Ballet. Under the directorship of Tetsuya Kumakawa, Matthew got the opportunity to dance works by Sir Fredrick Ashton, Roland Petit, and many of the classic ballets. In 2001 Matthew came to the United States to join Twyla Tharp Dance. He was nominated for a Critics Circle Award for his performance in London of Twyla’s work. In 2004, Matthew did the Broadway production of Movin’ Out choreographed by Twyla Tharp with the music of Billy Joel. Matthew also did Movin’ Out in the West End in London. In 2007, Matthew joined Matthew Bourne’s company, Adventures in Motion Pictures, in London and did the production Carmen around the UK and London. At this time, Matthew was also a guest principal artist with Scottish Ballet, worked with Benjamin Millepied in NY and Christopher Wheeldon’s company Morphoses. In 2010 he performed in Come Fly Away on Broadway, creating an original principal role, Chanos, performed at the Tony awards, and also went on the first national tour of the show around the US. Matthew recently had the opportunity to go around the world and set works for Benjamin Millepied and Twyla Tharp with the National Ballet of China, Pacific Northwest Ballet and most recently St. Louis Ballet, where he set a Tharp ballet and danced Sinatra Suite.

Inside Voice

Choreography by Makino Hayashi

Music composed by Bob Bush

Lighting by Craig Bushman

Dancers

Friday night & Saturday matinee: Carly Hambridge, Matthew Helms, Gianna Forte, Emma Michaux, Philip Perez

Saturday night & Sunday matinee: Emma Michaux, Philip Perez, Kate Adams, Kelly Dornan, Ross Freeman

About Makino Hayashi

Makino Hayashi is choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker based in Portland, OR. She was born in Kumamoto, Japan where she began ballet at Kumamoto Ballet Studio at the age of nine. She danced professionally with Colorado Ballet from 2002-2008, has guested with several companies in the U.S. and Japan, and has been dancing with Oregon Ballet Theatre since 2010 and has performed in primarily soloist and principal roles. She has been choreographing professionally since 2013.

Her choreographic works include UKARE ISHI, Brothers and A Sister, What do you see..., On the other side of the door, Mother Earth, The Spotlight, From here From now, TSURUnoMAI, Be You, KUKAN, Another me, Black Earth, KIZUNA and The Message 2022.

Black Earth was choreographed and danced for Hunter Noack’s In a landscape Classical Music in the Wild throughout the state of Oregon. Also, Black Earth was danced at choreographer competition SzólóDuó in Budapest, Hungary in 2020. KIZUNA was performed for Ten Tiny Community Healing Dances for the city arts program in Portland, OR in 2021.

Her film Beauty in the Nature was a part of the 2018 VIDEOSKIN film festival in Yukon Canada, 2019 Lady Filmmakers Festival in Beverly Hills, CA and Moving Images videodance festival in 2021. Breathing was shared at We Are The Moving Stories. Beauty in you was a part of the BB Dance Film Fest in Boulder, CO in 2022, and The Message 2022 was a part of the Artists Climate Collective Art 2 Action in 2022.

About Bob Bush

Bob Bush is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer based in Portland, Oregon. He attended Bowling Green State University on a piano performance scholarship, and apprenticed with Michael Vail Blum at Titan Studios in Los Angeles, California. Bob’s many decades of experience include hundreds of live performances, recording session work, and music production including engineering, mixing, and mastering.

As a composer, Bob has released many recordings as part of the duos Of Heaven and Sea and ChristieBush, and as a solo artist under the name Yuki Kuma. In addition, Bob composes for film, television, and stage including recent works for Oregon Ballet Theater.

ECHO

Choreography by Claudia Anata Hubiak

This work is sponsored by Mark & Jamie Ragan

Music by KWEST

Lighting by Craig Bushman

Costumes designed by Erica Martin and hand painted by Cathy Zimmerman

Dancers

Kelly Dornan, Gianna Forte, Melissa Halpin, Carly Hambridge, Emma Michaux, Matthew Helms, Philip Perez, Preston Swovelin

About Claudia Anata Hubiak

Claudia Anata Hubiak is a choreographer, dance educator and film-maker, originally from Boulder, CO. She holds a BFA from UCSB and an masters in dance and choreography from NYU at Tisch. Claudia was a cofounder of Vispo Dance in San Francisco from 2004-2009. She founded The Anata Project in 2011, creating original works for stage and screen. Her work has been hailed as “true craft” and presented across the nation from San Francisco to New York. Claudia has been a Resident Choreographic Artist of the CHIME Program, Bay Area Discovery Museum, Shawl Anderson and The California Historical Society. Her work has been presented at Judson Memorial Church, NYU, Joe’s Pub, The Atlas Theater, LaMama’s Ellen Stewart Theater, The Wave Rising Series, Danny Studios, Z Space, ODC, Dance Mission Theater, The West Wave Dance Festival, Minna Gallery, and The Dairy Center for The Arts.

Claudia taught for LINES Ballet and the San Francisco School Of The Arts (SOTA) focusing on choreography and compositional education between 2011-2019. In 2014 she founded the Anata Wellness Outreach Program dedicated to bringing dance, meditation and somatic practices to schools throughout the Bay Area. Claudia is a mother of two boys and the Executive Director of Boulder Ballet.

About KWEST

KWEST (Jonas Leuenberger) is a musician from Bern, Switzerland. He is a founding member of LapCat and has been creating and producing music for decades in styles ranging from Hip Hop to electronica and beyond. Jonas is a collaborator and has worked with a wide range of artists including John Trudell, Knackeboul, Max Davies, Anne Waldman and many more. He is currently living in Boulder, Colorado raising his two kids and running Royal Stag Hats with his wife.

Photo: Amanda Tipton

To Become Like This.

Choreography by Caili Quan

Music

Månnge’ Hao by Micah Manaitai

Tumaiguini by Micah Manaitai

Decolonize Me by Micah Manaitai

Lighting by Craig Bushman

Dancers

Kate Adams, Gianna Forte, Carly Hambridge, Emma Michaux, Ross Freeman, Matthew Helms

Caili Quan is a New York-based choreographer who danced with BalletX from 2013 to 2020. She has created works for BalletX, The Juilliard School, Vail Dance Festival, American Repertory Ballet, Flight Path Dance Project, Stars of American Ballet, Asbury Park Dance Festival, Oakland Ballet, Columbia Ballet Collaborative, and Ballet Academy East. She served as an Artistic Partnership Initiative Fellow and a Toulmin Creator at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU. With BalletX she performed new works by Matthew Neenan, Nicolo Fonte, Gabrielle Lamb, Penny Saunders, Trey McIntyre, and danced at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Belgrade Dance Festival, and DEMO by Damian Woetzel at the Kennedy Center.

Mahålang, a short documentary that wove familial conversations of her Chamorro Filipino upbringing on Guam with scenes from BalletX’s Love Letter, was shown at the Hawai’i International Film Festival, CAAMFest, and the Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center. She also participated in New York Choreographic Institute’s 2022 Fall Session, under the direction of Adrian Danchig-Waring, creating a work on dancers from New York City Ballet. Caili was one of the 2022 Artists-in-Residence at the Vail Dance Festival and is a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School.

About Caili Quan

Photo: Nathaniel Brown

Company Dancers

KATE ADAMS is a Boulder native who began dancing at Boulder Ballet at the age of three. While a student, she competed in YAGP and in the Denver Ballet Guild’s Young Dancers Competition where she received second place in 2010 and sixth place in 2014. Kate also received training at numerous summer intensives including The HARID Conservatory, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Richmond Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and Texas Ballet Theater. Following high school, she attended the Conservatory program of the Atlanta Ballet, performing in the Snow and Flower corps with the Atlanta Ballet company in John McFall’s The Nutcracker. Favorite roles at Boulder Ballet include Dew Drop and Arabian in The Nutcracker, Wili in Giselle and Paul Taylor’s Airs. Kate joined Boulder Ballet in 2016. @stateofkate21

KELLY DORNAN grew up and received her early training in central Maryland. In 2011, she attended The Washington School of Ballet on scholarship under Kee Juan Han, Kristina Windom, Vladimir Djouloukhaze and Monique Meunier. After graduating, Kelly trained on scholarship at Texas Ballet Theater School under Ben Stevenson, Charmaine Hunter, and Kathy Warakomsky, where she performed in Ben Stevenson’s Dracula and Harald Lander’s Etudes with the company. In 2014, she joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company for three seasons, where she had the opportunity to perform roles in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Balanchine’s Serenade, Derek Deane’s Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake. In 2018, Kelly danced with Georgia Dance Theatre. Favorite roles with Boulder Ballet include Clara in The Nutcracker and the Fast/Slow Duet in Paul Taylor’s Airs. Kelly joined Boulder Ballet in 2019. @kelly_dornan

GIANNA FORTE is originally from Easton, CT, and began her training with Connecticut Dance, New England Ballet Company, and the Studio at Ballet Etudes. In 2015, she began training privately with Christina Fagundas, former soloist with American Ballet Theatre. Gianna spent summers at ABT, Ballet West, Kaatsbaan, and The Washington School of Ballet where she joined The Professional Training Division under the direction of Xiomara Reyes in 2016. In 2018, Gianna was promoted

to Trainee at The Washington Ballet and performed in Septime Weber’s The Nutcracker, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Julie Kent’s The Sleeping Beauty, and rehearsed Julie Kent’s Swan Lake in April 2020. In her first season with Boulder Ballet, Forte enjoyed performing in The Nutcracker and pieces choreographed by Amy Seiwert and Gregory Dawson. Gianna joined Boulder Ballet in 2021. @giannaforte

ROSS FREEMAN is originally from Kent, Washington and trained with Evergreen City Ballet under Kevin Kaiser. He continued his training at Walnut Hill School for the Arts and the University of Arizona, both on full-tuition scholarships. In 2020, he was elected Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude with a BA in linguistics and a BFA in dance. He has attended summer intensives with American Ballet Theatre, Batsheva Dance Company, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, and has performed works by George Balanchine, Amy Seiwert, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Sidra Bell, Paul Taylor, and Amy Hall Garner among others. In addition to performing, Ross acted as a rehearsal assistant to various artists-in-residence at the University of Arizona and is an active choreographer in the Denver metropolitan dance community. Ross joined Boulder Ballet in 2021. @ross_freeman23

MELISSA HALPIN is a native of Orlando,  FL. She began her training under Beatrix Aldana and Veronica Lemberger and then studied with Luba Gulyaeva, Victoria Rockhill-Schneider, and Mark Spivak. She competed in the 2002 YAGP finals in NYC and began her classical career at Russian Ballet Orlando under Vadim Fedotov. She then danced for five years with Central Florida Ballet under the direction of Vasile Petrutiu. Melissa has performed extensively as a guest artist including the World Ballet Competition Gala in 2008 and at Walt Disney World 2001–2009. Favorite roles at BB include Concerto B by Peter Davison, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Becky Jancosko and Ana Claire, Soiree by Lance Hardin, and Airs by Paul Taylor. She has also performed works by Sidra Bell and Amy Seiwert. Melissa joined Boulder Ballet in 2010. @melih532011

Photo: Francisco Estevez

Photo: Francisco Estevez

Photo: Francisco Estevez

Photo: Francisco Estevez

Photo: Amanda Tipton

Company Dancers

CARLY HAMBRIDGE has danced with companies across the country including BalletMet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Pedagogy from Butler University. Her notable principal and soloist roles include the title role of Giselle, Sugar Plum and Clara in The Nutcracker, Je Ne T’aime Pas and This Bitter Earth by Christopher Wheeldon, Act 3 Pas de Deux from Don Quixote, and Summer Fairy in Cinderella. Her notable corps de ballet roles include Serenade, Who Cares?, and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue by George Balanchine, Airs by Paul Taylor, Bolero by Edwaard Liang, and full-length ballets The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Romeo and Juliet, and Beauty and the Beast. Aside from performing, Carly teaches ballet to dancers of all ages. Carly joined Boulder Ballet in 2017. @carly.sage

MATTHEW HELMS began his training in Colorado on full scholarship at the Academy of Classical Ballet, then studied on full scholarship at the International Ballet School. He competed in the Youth America Grand Prix and the Denver Ballet Guild’s Young Dancers Competition in 2008, receiving a full scholarship to Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City. Matt was promoted to the Ballet West Pre-Professional Trainee Program in 2010. He has danced with artists from American Ballet Theatre, Ballet West, Joffrey Ballet and Kirov Ballet. A frequent guest artist, he has performed with ballet companies in California, Colorado, Idaho, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia performing leading roles in ballets such as The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and Le Corsaire. He is also a ballet teacher and choreographer. Matt joined Boulder Ballet in 2010. @strongballetman

EMMA MICHAUX is a Colorado native who has been dancing since the age of four. She trained with Colorado Ballet Society in Colorado Springs since the age of eleven and has also trained in various summer programs including San Francisco Ballet, Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, and Texas Ballet Theatre. Emma has had the opportunity to perform many wonderful roles onstage including Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, the Pas de Trois from Swan Lake, and Dewdrop Fairy from The Nutcracker. She has

also had the privilege of being awarded multiple scholarships from both the Denver Ballet Guild Young Dancers Competition and the Esther Geoffrey Scholarship Competition. Emma joined Boulder Ballet in 2019. @emmamichaux

PHILIP GABRIEL PEREZ was born in Colombia and adopted to New York City. At seven, he began classes at The JKO School of ABT, studying under Franco De Vita and Raymond Lukens. In 2010, Alexei Ratmansky cast him as the Young Prince in the company’s new production of The Nutcracker. In 2015 he continued his training at Boston Ballet School under Peter Stark and Margaret Tracey. He then joined Nashville Ballet II under Paul Vasterling and learned company repertoire, including Balanchine works. In 2017 he danced with Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company performing in company productions and learning Tharp’s Brief Fling and Tudor’s Pillar of Fire. At the 2019 Miami IBC he was awarded the second-place silver medal. He enjoys teaching and guesting with local schools and companies across the country. Philip joined Boulder Ballet in 2018.

Guest Artist

PRESTON SWOVELIN

Preston Swovelin is a native to Los Angeles. He has trained with the Pasadena Dance Theatre and Miami City Ballet School on full scholarship under Cynthia Young, Lawrence Blake, and Edward Villella. He is the recipient of various awards including 2nd place for Hip-Hop at the USA Nationals. Preston has worked with over 85 organizations including as a Principal at Eugene Ballet Company, California Ballet, and Golden State Ballet, Troy University as a professor, Golden State Ballet as Ballet Master, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Setsuko Kawaguchi Ballet in Japan, San Diego Opera, CalArts, National Choreographers Initiative, Disney, Harley-Davidson, Audi, Bad Boys of Dance throughout Europe (as Romeo in Romeo & Juliet), and performed and choreographed in collaborations with Cirque du Soleil. He is a desperado by day, a connoisseur of Netflix by night, and enjoys the occasional skydive.

Photo: Francisco Estevez

Photo: Amanda Tipton

Photo: Francisco Estevez

Photo: Francisco Estevez

Sponsors

The Boulder Ballet graciously thanks our season sponsors!

The Boulder Ballet graciously thanks our show sponsors!

Jamie & Mark Ragan

The Schramm Foundation

We express our sincere appreciation to the following donors who supported Boulder Ballet from January 2022 through January 2023.

$30,000+ Anonymous

Jamie & Mark Ragan

Scientific and Cultural Facilities District

$10,000+ Anonymous

Boulder Arts Commission

Interconnected Technologies

Emery Golson

The Shubert Foundation

$5,000+ Anonymous

4 Winds Winery

The Andrews Family Charitable Fund

Boulder Body Wear

Colorado Creative Industries

Francisco Estevez

Photography

Janice Kolbe

Greg Silvus

$2,500+

The Academy Boulder

Andy Bachmann

Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti LLP

Amy & Terence Britton

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Holland & Hart LLP

Krista Marks and Brent Milne

Ellie & Harry Poehlmann

The Schramm Foundation

Todd Reed, Inc.

$1,000+

Anonymous (3)

Alpine Bank

Mary Backlund

Jennifer & Avery Bell

Lloyd Botway

Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau

Create Boulder

Tracy & Brian Brammeier

Jan Burton

Coburn Development

Cherry Creek Mortgage Co.

Kylie & Zachary Crandall

Emily Tucker Design, Inc.

Ann & Jason Freeman

HMH Architecture + Interiors

Hotel Boulderado

Becky & William Jancosko

Terry & Jon Larson

Mathieu Reeves

Rising Tiger

Fredrick V. Simms

TDA_Boulder

$500+ Anonymous (3)

Jamie & Christopher Adams

Kathleen & Michael Alt

Albert Bates

Brittany Ceres & Family

Jen & Josh Davidson

Stacy & Brian Gilbert

Margery Goldman

Claudia Hubiak & Fabio

Stefani

Yinghua Jin

Patricia & John Koval

Jessica Link

Adriana Llewellyn & Michael LaVilla

Patricia McCarthy

Charles S McDaniel

Summer Meyer

Motorola Solutions Foundation

Kathleen Murphy & John Seiner

Lawrence Robins

Jennifer Stachniak

Poem Swentzell & Arthur Brown

$250+

Anonymous (5)

Amgen Foundation

Susan & Andy Aust

Andrea Basile

Desmonne Alanna Bennet

Margaret & Mark Carson

Laurie Clark

Keith Connaghan

Francesca Gettelman

Google Matching Program

Eyal Kaplan

The Kroger Company

Deborah Malden & Michael Donovan

Kirsten McCaskill

KJ McCorry

Susan & Tom McGuire

Mariah McPherson

Hope Meyer

Microsoft Matching Gifts Program

Ida Rastegar

Beth Saperstein

Claudine Schneider

Paula Schwartz & Jose Perez

Julie & Arun Sharma

Taylor Roth & Company, PLLC

Lisa & Christopher Wilson

Carolyn & Tom Zuccareno

$100+

Anonymous (4)

Agilent Matching Program

Leah & Arron Alexis

Marilyn Averill

Leslie Baldwin

Ball Corporation

Robert Basile

Karina Kuddes Baylin

Halie Behr

Stephanie Bingham

Savannah Blair

Boettcher Foundation

Jeni Bough

Christine Breck

Lindley Brenza

Geraldine Brimmer & Wayne

Thomas

Craig Bushman

Center Copy Printing

Mark Chase-Jacobsen

Claire Clurman

Heather Colby

PJ Decker

Mykaela Doane

Lauren Edwards

Jane Enterline

Mary Eaton Fairfield

Aislynn Fehlberg

Lynn & Mike Flynn

Roger Forte

Gea Franklin

Eric Goodman

Mindy Green

Rachel Harp & John Baum

Seth Palmer Harris

Natalie Hofland

Hampton Islan

Daryl James

JPMorgan Chase

Heather Karimi

Kathleen Karr

Sean Kelly

Kaley Klemp

Addie Koyonos

Max Larson

Susan Logan

Sally Lowell

Cinthia Manzano

Len Matheo

Deborah & Gary McBride

Olivia Mills

Cameron Miranda

Jessica Nicolella

Julia Ogden

Michelle & Robert Paczosa

Paul Paiva

Nick Panjwani

Polk Family Charitable Fund

Viki Psihoyos

Anna Rahe

Mathieu Reeves

Oliver Retzloff

Firuzeh Saidi

Gunnar Sroka

Charlie Stein and Lyra Mayfield

Roman Stepanik

Judy Therond

Jessica Tippens

Katie Torres

Michelle Vig & Robert Keller

Melanie Walker & Gabriel Racz

Michelle & Pete Walsh

Nicholas Weidle

Dorothy Whalen

Cathy Zimmerman

June Zwan

Boulder Ballet would like to thank the many individuals and corporations that supported us with smaller donations this past year. Please report any errors or omissions to Leah Colby

Alexis, Development Director at leah@boulderballet.org.

For more information on season sponsorship, gala sponsorship or to sponsor a dancer, please contact Leah Alexis, Development Director at leah@boulderballet.org.

Spring Gala 2023

A Murder Mystery

Boulder Ballet presents EviDance, a fundraising event that marks the celebration of our 40th season and supports the organization’s ongoing growth.

Enjoy wine, cocktails, deliciously curated small plates, suspenseful clues, live & silent auctions, and of course DANCE! You won’t want to miss this one-of-a-kind event. Festive cocktail attire is encouraged!

Early Bird Tickets available 1/26-3/20, with the code: BBEARLY

Photo: Amanda Tipton

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

May 19–21, 2023

Dairy ARTS Center

Join us in May for Boulder Ballet’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Enter an enchanted land filled with star-crossed lovers, mischievous pranksters, and ethereal woodland fairies. Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s romantic score and choreographed by Ben Needham-Wood. Suitable for all ages.

Photo: Amanda Tipton

Boulder Ballet School Summer Programs

Boulder Ballet offers comprehensive and rewarding dance experiences for those interested in developing their technique and artistry in classical ballet as well as other dance forms. Our summer programs are ideal for those looking to become diverse movers with rigorous training and a good dose of fun. Our classes offer top-quality instructors dedicated to the learning process of each individual student. We will offer a variety of programs over the summer of 2023.

Summer Classes

June 5–August 7

Spend your summer dancing! BBS offers classes in a nine-week summer session for students ages 2 and up. See boulderballet.org for schedule and more information.

Summer Camps and Workshops

Dance & Craft Camp

June 20-23, for ages 4 –7 (9:00 AM–12:30 PM)

June 26–30, for ages 7–10 (9:00 AM–12:30 PM)

This is a great introduction to dance and a way to keep your littles moving through the summer. They will enjoy different styles of movement and get crafty with some dance-related craft sessions. They will be so proud when they show you all they have learned at the mini performance on the last day!

Pointe Workshop

Continue to build strength and keep moving along your pointe shoe journey with this summer pointe workshop.

June 12–16 (1:00–3:30 PM before 4:00 PM technique class)

3A–3B Pre-Pointe preparation, stretch & strength, ballet technique

4A–4B Pointe Safe Program, stretch & strength, ballet/pointe

Five Point Dancer Master Series

August 7–11, levels 4A–7 (11:00 AM–3:00 PM)

This back-to-dance bootcamp will get you ready for a new year. High energy cross training, ballet/pointe, contemporary, hip hop, and all things Five Point Dancer. You won’t want to miss this!

Photo: Amanda Tipton

Community Engagement

Boulder Ballet has long held that everything we do grows out of the community. This is not just about our artistic vision; it also refers to the impact of sharing and connecting through the art of ballet. Boulder Ballet has grown and flourished for 40 years on the Front Range; our roots are deep in Colorado. So, too, is our commitment to the community through education, inclusivity, and outreach programs. Our primary goal is to reach those students who would not otherwise have the opportunity to experience dance and movement.

Elementary school program

Our Elementary School Program, Poetry of Motion is available in various program lengths, from single workshops to multiweek residencies. We collaborate with school staff to bring the art of movement into schools in a way that meets the needs of each school and its students.

Middle school program

Creativity, collaboration, and curriculum! Boulder Ballet aims to provide high quality arts education programming for middle school students to discover joy and confidence through

dance. Our outreach programs foster the creative potential of all students, while providing a supportive environment emphasizing the art of dance.

Community Performances

Boulder Ballet is equally committed to the successful community outreach programs Nutcracker Preview Night and Ballet in the Park. Since 2005, we have reached over 20,000 underserved individuals who are frequently excluded from exposure to the performing arts. These two programs were specifically designed to remove the financial barrier to participation. For our Nutcracker Preview Night performance, Boulder Ballet works with key social-service organizations to distribute free tickets to the full-scale final dress rehearsal of The Nutcracker. Our outdoor summer concert series, Ballet in the Park, is sponsored by the City of Boulder and SCFD and reaches out to low-income families and seniors on fixed incomes as well as the community at large in an effort to make the arts accessible to all.

Adaptive Dance

Boulder Ballet School offers Adaptive Dance

Boulder Ballet is partnering with Children’s Hospital Colorado to offer a medically-supervised Adaptive Dance program designed for youth with cognitive and physical challenges. The Adaptive Dance program provides up to ten special needs students the chance to be in dance classes that teach a creative and contemporary style of dance for students to explore. The children perform to their own abilities and enjoy the physical and emotional freedom of movement to music. Physicians and instructors assist the students in each class. Adaptive Dance classes take place in the Boulder Ballet studios in the Dairy ARTS Center, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder.

Boulder Ballet is able to offer these classes at no cost through a generous grant from the City of Boulder, however there is a $25 registration fee for this program. Financial assistance is available for those in need. For more information or to sign up, go to boulderballet.org/adaptive-dance.

Upcoming Student Performances

STORYBOOK BALLET: ADVENTURES THROUGH WONDERLAND

March 11–12, Dairy ARTS Center

Join Boulder Ballet School for the Storybook Ballet performance Adventures

Through Wonderland. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, our choreographers Andrea Basile and Laura Malpass are excited to share a unique new take on this classic tale. Get to know many of the traditional characters and a few new creatures along with some twists and turns as they dance through Alice’s favorite place, Wonderland. This production is appropriate for the whole family. You won’t want to miss it!

SPRING SHOWCASE

May 27–28, 2023, Dairy ARTS Center

Boulder Ballet’s end of the year Spring Showcase will highlight the versatility of our students and we can’t wait to celebrate another year of excellence in dance education with you!