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2016 SEASON JULY 1 to AUGUST 27
THE SANTA FE OPERA 60TH ANNIVERSARY
The Girl of the Golden West
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Roméo et Juliette
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W E A LT H M A N A G E M E N T
CONTENTS Colorado Ballet Publication 2015-2016 Sanya Andersen-Vie Colorado Ballet Editor
Colorado Ballet Publication is produced for Colorado Ballet by The Publishing House, Westminster, CO.
Angie Flachman Johnson Publisher Tod Cavey Director of Sales Stacey Krull Graphic Designer/Production Manager Mark Fessler Press Manager Wilbur E. Flachman President
Letter from the Director Letter from the Board of Trustees Sharon Wehner’s 20th season COVER PHOTOS: ALICE (in wonderland) Photo by Allen Birnbach Ballet Director’s Choice Photo by Allen Birnbach CONTENTS PHOTOS: Swan Lake Photo by Terry Shapiro The Nutcracker Photo by Mike Watson Ballet Director’s Choice Photo by Allen Birnbach
6 Colorado Ballet
8 9 24 Sharon Wehner
Dana Benton and Kevin Gaël Thomas
Artists of Colorado Ballet Yosvani Ramos and Artists of Colorado Ballet Dana Benton and Kevin Gaël Thomas
For advertising information, please call 303.428.9529 or e-mail sales@pub-house.com ColoradoArtsPubs.com
FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Welcome to Colorado Ballet’s spectacular late winter/early spring productions! If you joined us for our season opener La Sylphide or our 55th annual production of the holiday classic The Nutcracker, we thank you. The most recent production of The Nutcracker was the most successful in the history of our organization; the 2015 production shattered the attendance record. We are pleased to present the Colorado premiere of ALICE (in wonderland), a ballet based on the beloved books by Lewis Carroll. With choreography by Septime Webre and music by Matthew Pierce, ALICE (in wonderland) premiered in 2012 and we are thrilled to bring it to Denver for the first time. This is not your typical storybook children’s ballet; it is a charming theatrical extravaganza with colorful costumes, whimsical sets and a wide variety of dance styles that will appeal to all ages. In March, we close the season with Ballet Director’s Choice, a collection of two contemporary ballets including the world premiere of the tango-inspired ballet, The Angel of Buenos Aires by Colorado Ballet’s Ballet Mistress and Choreographer Lorita Travaglia, with music by Piazzolla. Renowned contemporary choreographer Dominic Walsh will present Wolfgang (for Webb), created in 2008 with music by W. A. Mozart. The production will also include two challenging pas de deuxs: Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain and Amy Seiwert’s award-winning It’s Not a Cry. Ballet Director’s Choice highlights the talents of our dancers through a diverse selection of ballets and dance styles. As I continue my 10th season as Colorado Ballet’s artistic director, I want to thank everyone who has supported the ballet by purchasing tickets, making donations and attending our events. You have helped us thrive! The last two seasons have been the most successful in the history of our organization, breaking attendance and revenue records. We have been in our spectacular new home, the Armstrong Center for Dance since August 2014 and our new building has truly put Colorado Ballet on the map as a world-class ballet company. Our dancers, students and staff cannot thank our Capital Campaign supporters enough for their support. In August, Colorado Ballet also performed with some of the best dancers in the world at the Vail International Dance Festival. The Company received rave reviews from critics for the two ballets we performed during the Festival. This season, we also celebrate two extraordinary dancers who are in their 20th season with Colorado Ballet: Maria Mosina and Sharon Wehner. It has been such a privilege to work with such talented dancers. Our winter/spring performances demonstrate the passion that Colorado Ballet offers to the performing arts community in Colorado. Don’t miss the exciting 2016-2017 season! Gil Boggs Artistic Director
8 Colorado Ballet
FROM THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES Welcome to our late winter/spring productions, which highlight our dancers’ artistry and athleticism. As board co-chairs, we are honored to be a part of Colorado Ballet’s recent successes. We have had several seasons of record-breaking ticket sales, including the most recent production of The Nutcracker, which was the highest grossing Nutcracker in the 55-year history of our organization. In addition to record ticket sales, in August 2014, we moved our new state-of-the-art dance training and rehearsal studio in at the Armstrong Center for Dance in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe. In August 2015, the Company received rave reviews for the three performances at the 2015 Vail International Dance Festival. Performing with some of the best dancers in the world and with so many recent successes, Colorado Ballet has proved that we truly are a world-class ballet Company! Colorado Ballet also educates the next generation of dancers. The Colorado Ballet Academy provides a wide range of dance classes for children as young as 1 ½ to adults, beginners to students in the pre-professional ballet division. Academy students have the opportunity to audition for roles in several professional productions each year. The Academy not only teaches dance, it encourages the love of dance in every student. Colorado Ballet’s education and community engagement programs provide opportunities for in-need students, teachers, families and individuals with disabilities to take dance classes and attend performances. These programs make more than 50,000 contacts each year in 225 schools and organizations. Did you know that ticket sales only cover 50 percent of our annual budget? The generous support of our patrons helps us continue producing high-quality productions and programing every year. We hope that you enjoy today’s performance and will consider making a donation to Colorado Ballet. Donors of $1,000 or more belong to the Premiere Society and enjoy unique benefits like a private lounge and bar at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and free valet parking for ballet performances at the Ellie. Thank you for attending the performance and we look forward to seeing you during the 2016-2017 season! Sincerely, Elizabeth Katkin and Duke Hartman Board Co-Chairs
BOARD CO-CHAIR Duke Hartman
BOARD CO-CHAIR Elizabeth Katkin
SECRETARY JoAnne Zboyan
TREASURER AND FINANCE C0-CHAIR William J. Tryon
FINANCE C0-CHAIR Brent L. Backes
BOARD OF TRUSTEES BOARD GOVERNANCE CO-CHAIRS
Henny Lasley, Immediate Past Co-Chair Adrienne L. Toon, Esq.
LONG-RANGE PLANNING CHAIR Jane Netzorg
MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR Susan Bailey
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN CHAIR
EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT CHAIR
Merry Logan
Joanne Posner-Mayer
DEVELOPMENT CO-CHAIRS
AT-LARGE MEMBER
Colleen Curran Susan Struna
ACADEMY CHAIR Raydean Acevedo
Harry M. Sterling
IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR
COLORADO BALLET AUXILIARY PRESIDENT Kristen Miner
CENTER STAGE REPRESENTATIVES Naji Ghorayeb Katrina Van Marter
TRUSTEES Lisa Levin Appel Michelle Moorman Applegate Jean Armstrong Lacee Artist Sandy Elliott Kaye Ferry Ann Frick Anne M. Hillary Gail K. Kassan Shea Kauffman Lisa Konen Mary Lou Blackledge Kortz
Greg Laugero Joe Maslowski Cindy Meany M. Sean Murphy Marc Musyl Dave Ramsay Barbara R. Reed, MD Cheri Rubin Denise Sanderson Suzan Schlatter Brad Sonnenberg Nancy Stevens Frank Wiederman
EX-OFFICIO Ginger White Brunetti
CHAIRMEN EMERITI Anna Bates
LIFETIME TRUSTEES Raydean Acevedo Duke Hartman Dick Saunders
Holly Baroway Colorado Ballet 9
ART CHANGING LIVES 2016 WINTER SEASON ASPEN
March 26, 2016
SANTA FE
April 1, 2016
ON TOUR
MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY STUDIES
THEATRE, FILM, & VIDEO PRODUCTION
VENICE, ITALY - March 10 - 12 LA CROSSE, WI - March 18
VISUAL ARTS
PARK CITY, UT - April 9 ESCONDIDO, CA - April 14 NORTHRIDGE, CA - April 16
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LIVERMORE, CA - April 21 HUMBOLDT, CA - April 23 JACOB’S PILLOW - June 22 - 26
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GLOBAL DOWN SYNDROME FOUNDATION’S
BE BEAUTIFUL BE YOURSELF DANCE PROGRAM Providing an exceptional dance experience for children with Down syndrome
Special thanks to our lead sponsor the Melvin & Elaine Wolf Foundation, and our partners:
12 Colorado Ballet
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Summer Camps Week-long dance camps for ages 3 to 9 At Colorado Ballet’s home at the Armstrong Center for Dance Camp Sessions Include: Creative Dance Camp for ages 3-4 Ballet Prince & Princess Camp for ages 4-6 Ballet Fairy Camp for ages 4-6 Level 1 Dancing Camp for ages 7 and up Level 2 Dancing Camp for ages 8 and up For more information: coloradoballet.org/summercamps
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THE PREMIERE SOCIETY gram Colorado Ballet’s Patron Pro
Colorado Ballet donors of $1,000 or more belong to the Premiere Society. They enjoy unique benefits like access to the Premiere Lounge and bar and complimentary valet parking for ballet performances at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
ColoradoBallet.org/PremiereSociety 16 Colorado Ballet
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Colorado Ballet 17
BALLET
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I N TONIGHT’S PERFORM A N C E , TH E ROLE OF
W I LL BE PERFORMED BY SH A DE . ( WE CAN D REAM, CA N ’T W E? )
AS IF BY MAGIC, the lights come on, the performance starts, the actors, dancers and musicians tell the story. The artists and crew are all obsessively dedicated to their craft, which makes for such a breathtaking experience. And we can relate, even if our talents are so different. We deliver perfectly installed automated window shades that effortlessly dance up and down as if by magic. Call us at 303 517 1994 to see our performance at our showroom or visit DenverShadeCompany.com.
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Founders Lillian Covillo and Freidann Parker Artistic Director Gil Boggs Ballet Mistresses Sandra Brown and Lorita Travaglia Musical Director and Principal Conductor Adam Flatt Associate Conductor Catherine Sailer THE COMPANY Principals Dana Benton, Chandra Kuykendall, Domenico Luciano, Maria Mosina, Yosvani Ramos, Alexei Tyukov, Sharon Wehner Soloists Shelby Dyer, Francisco Estevez, Asuka Sasaki Corps de Ballet Joshua Allenback, Ariel Breitman, Morgan Buchanan, Mackenzie Dessens, Megan Dillon, Emily Dixon, Kevin Hale, Tracy Jones, Bryce Lee, Christophor Moulton, Sean Omandam, Kristine Padgett, Alexandra Pullen, Emily Speed, Kevin GaĂŤl Thomas, Sarah Tryon, Luis Valdes, Kevin Wilson, Benjamin Winegar, Melissa Zoebisch Studio Company Miyuki Abe, Katie Buckmiller, Bryton Foster, Riko Fujita, Tracy Fuller, Molly Huempfner, Molly Klug, Regan Kucera, Toni Martin, Melissa Meng, Tyler Rhoads, Camille Robinson, Hannah Stolrow, Sara VanderVoort
Colorado Ballet | 1075 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204 | 303-837-8888 | www.coloradoballet.org Out of courtesy to the dancers and musicians, the taking of photographs of any nature is strictly prohibited during performances. Please silence all cellular telephones, pagers and audible devices. Colorado Ballet productions are made possible in part by funding from the citizens of the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District. The Artists of Colorado Ballet are represented by The American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.
PwC Presents
ALICE (in wonderland) February 19-28, 2016 Ellie Caulkins Opera House Choreography by Septime Webre Music by Matthew Pierce Costume Design by Liz Vandal Scenic Design by James Kronzer Lighting Design by Clifton Taylor Assistant Lighting Designer: Steve O’Shea Puppetry Design and Construction by Eric Van Wyk Flying by Foy Costumes and Scenery Courtesy of The Washington Ballet Staged by Luis Torres Ortiz and Johanna Wilt Synopsis Act I PROLOGUE Alice daydreams as her family swirls around her chaotically. She is mesmerized by the mysterious and quirky Lewis Carroll, a family friend, who takes Alice on a boat ride and picnic in the country. DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE During their picnic, Lewis Carroll begins telling Alice an astounding story of a little girl’s adventures in a wonderland. As Alice drifts to sleep, a White Rabbit hops by. The nervous Rabbit checks his pocket watch because he’s late. He quickly leaps into a rabbit hole; Alice follows. She falls for what seems like miles. Alice lands with a thud in a hallway filled with closed doors. She drinks a potion and grows quite tall; she fans herself and shrinks quite small. Through a keyhole, the tiny Alice catches her first glimpse of the evil Queen of Hearts. When Alice eats a bit of cake and returns to normal size, she can no longer fit though the tiny door that leads to the wondrous world. POOL OF TEARS AND THE CAUCUS RACE Frightened and confused, Alice cries a pool of tears. The Dormouse swims by and befriends Alice. Then, a Dodo Bird, an Eaglet and a flock of Flamingos plop into the pool. The Dodo Bird decides the best way to get everyone dry is to dance a Caucus Race. PIG AND PEPPER Alice comes upon a Fish footman who is delivering an invitation to the Queen of Hearts’ croquet game to the Frog footman who works for the Duchess. Inside the Duchess’ cottage, bedlam reigns. The Duchess is agitated because the Cook has put too much pepper into the soup. THE CHESHIRE CAT / ADVICE FROM A CATERPILLAR / THE MAD HATTER’S TEA PARTY While walking along, Alice comes upon a Cheshire Cat, who appears and disappears on a whim. Later, when Alice looks up to the sky she finds he has become the moon. She then meets a peculiar Caterpillar who smokes a hookah pipe before metamorphosing into a butterfly before her eyes. Next, Alice stumbles into a puzzling tea party with the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Dormouse. 2 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
Act II QUEEN’S GARDEN PARTY AND CROQUET GAME Card gardeners have accidentally planted white roses in the Queen’s garden. The Queen of Hearts only wishes to grow red roses. Fearing her wrath, they paint the roses red. The Queen’s court spills by and Alice sees her friend the White Rabbit and the Queen’s Joker. Alice is invited by the Queen to play a very different game of croquet using Flamingo mallets and Hedgehogs as croquet balls. Blaming the Hedgehogs for losing the match, the Queen proclaims, “off with their heads.” Alice saves the Hedgehogs and the angry Queen chases her into the forest. TWEEDLE DUM AND TWEEDLE DEE AND THE JABBERWOCK In the forest, Alice happens upon a Rocking-Horse-Fly, a Bread-and-Butterfly and beautiful Snap-Dragon-Flies.
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee playfully argue as they pass by. Alice reflects on her amazing journey with the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and the Tweedle Twins. The languid group is suddenly threatened by the ultimate danger: the Queen’s Jabberwock. To protect her new friends, Alice slays the beast. THE TRIAL AND HOME AGAIN Back at the Queen’s palace, Alice is arrested and put on trial for her crime. Utter confusion breaks out in the court while the Queen shouts, “off with her head.” Alice realizes the silliness of the Queen and her court and they fall like a house of cards. She awakens from her dream and finds herself at home.
Artistic Staff Gil Boggs, Artistic Director Gil Boggs began his dance career with the Atlanta Ballet. He joined American Ballet Theatre in New York in 1982 and was promoted to soloist dancer in 1984 and principal dancer in 1991. Boggs was a member of the company for 17 years. Boggs also performed with the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends, and made several guest appearances around the world. During his career with ABT, he was recognized as both an accomplished virtuoso and one of the company’s most popular performers. Boggs has worked with numerous noted choreographers, including Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins and Merce Cunningham and has an extensive performance repertoire of both classical and contemporary works. Boggs accepted the position of Artistic Director with Colorado Ballet in the Spring of 2006. In Boggs’ tenure with Colorado Ballet he has restaged full-length productions of Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Don Quixote and Coppelia along with adding new full-length productions of Romeo & Juliet, Cinderella, Le Corsaire, Beauty and the Beast and Peter Pan. Boggs has also presented 15 world premieres and 12 Colorado Ballet premieres by such renowned choreographers as Twyla Tharp, Lar Lubovitch, Antony Tudor, Val Caniparoli, Dwight Rhoden and Lynne TaylorCorbett.
Sandra Brown, Ballet Mistress Sandra Brown joined the corps de ballet of American Ballet Theatre in 1987 under the directorship of Mikhail Baryshnikov and was promoted to soloist in 1992 where she remained until 2003. During that time, she danced not only numerous classical full length principal roles, but gained recognition for her leading
contemporary roles as well. Most notably, she created and danced the world premiere role of Desdemona in Lar Lubovitch’s full-length Othello in 1997 and appears in ABT’s film productions of Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsaire, and the documentary Ballet. In 2000, Brown was featured in the movie Center Stage and appears in the film The Company. Brown also holds the honor of appearing on Broadway as the original Louise Bigelow in the Tony Award-winning 1994 revival of Carousel, directed by Nicholas Hytner and choreographed by Sir Kenneth MacMillan at the Lincoln Center Theater. In 2003, Brown left ABT to pursue work as a freelance artist with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Stiefel and Stars, Vladimir Malakhov, Peter Boal and Company, Chamber Dance Project, Dancers Patrelle, Ballet Hawaii and Madison Ballet. During this time, she also was asked to perform as a guest artist at the Vail International Festival, became certified to teach Pilates, taught for the ABT Summer Intensive, and choreographed the ballet Synchronicity. In 2006, she joined her husband, Gil Boggs, to work with Colorado Ballet. Since then, she has assisted staging the full-length productions of Giselle, Don Quixote, and Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Brown has also assisted with choreographing and staging of The Nutcracker, Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. In addition, she assisted staging Lar Lubovitch’s Smile With my Heart, Dwight Rhoden’s Ave Maria, Twyla Tharp’s In The Upper Room, Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, and Edwaard Liang’s Feast of the Gods. Brown restaged her ballet, Synchronicity, for Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company. In 2007, she was asked to stage Smile with my Heart for the Joffrey Ballet. In 2013, she staged Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk at the University of South Carolina and in 2014 at NBA of Japan. In 1989 and 1990, she was chosen by Mikhail Baryshnikov to choreograph for the American Ballet Theatre Choreographic Workshop. During her tenure, she has choreographed for the Bal de Ballet, an event hosted by the Denver Ballet Guild. Her creations are From Within, Crimson Surges, Unforgettable, Grand Pas Fantastique, Heart Strings, One by One, Set Fire to the Rain, The Secret Garden, Young and Beautiful, The Charleston, Scheherazade, and Pirates of the Caribbean. In 2014, she gained critical acclaim for the ballet The Last Beat, which she created on the dancers of Colorado Ballet to the music of DeVotchKa.
Colorado Ballet • ALICE (in wonderland) 3
Artistic Staff Lorita Travaglia, Ballet Mistress
Catherine Sailer, Associate Conductor
Lorita Travaglia is originally from New Zealand. She received her ballet training at the National School of Ballet and later the Royal Ballet School in London. Lorita made her debut as a professional dancer with the Berlin Ballet. After six years with the Company, she moved to the United States where she worked with Princeton Ballet, Boston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and International Ballet Rotaru, dancing solo and principal roles in a wide range of repertoire. Her favorite roles include Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Cinderella, Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Paquita. In 1992, Lorita returned to New Zealand, but continued to perform as a guest artist with companies in the United States as well as Company Z, a contemporary dance company in New Zealand. Lorita began teaching in 1988 while still performing and studied the Vaganova methodology. She was the principal teacher for a professional training program in Auckland, New Zealand and later, as artistic director of Canyon Concert Ballet in Fort Collins, Colorado, she set up a similar aspirant program. In 1999, Lorita joined Colorado Ballet as director of the Apprentice Program and company repetiteur, and has been ballet mistress since 2006. Her choreography includes Equanimity, Aspects, Pictures at an Exhibition and Piazzolla for Colorado Ballet and a full-length The Nutcracker for Canyon Concert Ballet. Lorita graduated from the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2000 and has a private practice in Denver. She is an avid tango dancer and is the Creative Director of Parasol Arts.
Catherine Sailer, Director of Choral Studies at the University of Denver, conducts the Lamont Chorale, Lamont Women’s Chorus and the Evans Choir. She is also the Associate Conductor of the Colorado Ballet Orchestra. Conducting credits include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony, National Symphony, Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra, National Opera of China, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Central City Opera Chorus, Dale Warland Singers, Kansas City Chorale, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Oregon Bach Festival. She was the winner of Chorus America’s Robert Shaw Conducting Fellowship.
Adam Flatt, Music Director & Principal Conductor Adam Flatt has served as Music Director and Principal Conductor of Colorado Ballet since 2007, conducting hundreds of performances in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House and leading the Colorado Ballet Orchestra to a widely recognized period of excellence. Well known to Colorado audiences, Adam served as Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, where he led over 250 concerts in an acclaimed five-year tenure, and Music Director of the Denver Young Artists Orchestra for seven years, leading that orchestra at home in Denver and on international tours. In addition to his work at Colorado Ballet, Adam is Music Director of the Newport Symphony Orchestra on the Oregon coast, and the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor he has led performances with orchestras all over the United States and productions for the major ballet companies of Portland and Salt Lake City. He serves on the musical faculties of both the Rocky Ridge Music Center and Summerfest at the Curtis Institute of Music. Adam Flatt has his bachelor’s degree in music with honors from the University of California at Berkeley, and his master’s degree in instrumental and opera conducting from the Indiana University School of Music. Adam Flatt and his family make their home in Denver. www.adamflatt.com
Generously sponsored by Sandy Elliott 4 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
Heather Prokhnitski, Academy Alice Director Heather Prokhnitski is from Norfolk, Virginia and received her early dance training from the Old Dominion University Ballet School. She was a full-scholarship student at the Kirov Academy in Washington D.C., and studied for a year at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. For three summers, she was invited by the North Carolina School of the Arts to study in Budapest, Hungary at the Hungarian State Ballet School. Heather danced with Colorado Ballet for 10 seasons and as a Soloist danced many leading roles. Some of her favorite roles include the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Lilac fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, the Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Pas de Quatre, the Dryad Queen in Don Quixote and Lucy in Dracula. Heather was also a featured dancer in Taisiya Korobeynikova’s Elysium, Jessica Lang’s From Foreign Lands and People, Darrell Moultrie’s Vital Sensations and many other works by contemporary choreographers. Mrs. Prokhnitski began teaching at the Colorado Ballet Academy in 2008. She is now in her eighth season serving as Academy Nutcracker Director for Colorado Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker, selecting, rehearsing and staging all students that perform in the production. In addition to creating the Colorado Ballet Academy’s Intermediate Ballet Intensive, Mrs. Prokhnitski has taught several summers in the Summer Intensive for Ballet Virginia International as well as been a guest teacher for the Youth America Grand Prix workshops in Denver.
Sayaka Ruggles, Academy Alice Director Sayaka Karasugi-Ruggles is originally from Japan. She has performed professionally in many countries including Japan, Korea, Canada, and in the United States. Sayaka graduated from Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) School Professional Division with distinction, and
Artistic Staff joined RWB Aspirant Program where she had performed and toured internationally with RWB Company. She then joined Colorado Ballet, where she performed many leading/ principal roles in both classical and non-classical ballet productions. She retired from Colorado Ballet in 2011, and she received a full scholarship to enroll in the Dance Department of Colorado State University. Sayaka studied with Carol Roderick to obtain Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude in Dance in August 2013, and she became a faculty member of CSU Dance Department. Currently, she teaches ballet technique, pointe, variation, and repertoire at Colorado Ballet Academy, and she also prepares students for local
and regional competitions in the USA. Sayaka has guest taught in Zikr Dance Ensemble, Colorado State University Dance Teachers’ Institute, International Association of Blacks in Dance, and many ballet schools in the USA and Japan. She had an opportunity to work with and be featured in the Sound Venture Production’s award-winning Canadian Television series “The Toy Castle.” Sayaka was nominated for a best actress in the Canada’s Gemini Awards in 2003. She is also a owner/designer of “Tutu by Sayaka” where she makes miniature ballet tutus that are sold at Colorado Ballet’s boutique.
Dancers PRINCIPALS
Chandra Kuykendall
Dana Benton
Chandra Kuykendall is from Parker, Colorado and trained at the Academy of Colorado Ballet from 1988 until graduating in 1997. In 1996, she won the Denver Ballet Guild Competition and received the prestigious Florence Rustin Award. She also attended summer programs at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Vail (under full scholarship), Kirov Academy of Ballet, San Francisco Ballet Academy and School of American Ballet. After graduating from the Academy in 1997, Ms. Kuykendall joined Colorado Ballet. She spent the 1998-1999 season with Leipzig Ballet in Leipzig, Germany under the direction of the brilliant choreographer Uwe Scholz. She returned to Colorado Ballet in the fall of 1999. With Colorado Ballet, Ms. Kuykendall has danced numerous principal roles including Princess Aurora and Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Giselle and Myrta in Giselle, Medora in Le Corsaire, Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara in The Nutcracker, Cinderella in Cinderella, Dryad Queen in Don Quixote, Lucy in Dracula, Titania and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the principal role in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, the Crossover Girl in Twyla Tharp’s In The Upper Room, the Mother in Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring, the Brown Girl in Celts, the Kick Girl in George Balanchine’s Rubies, principal role in Theme and Variations, and 2nd Violin in Concerto Barocco. Her favorite of these roles was the tragic Odette/Odile in Swan Lake. She has also been featured in Antony Tudor’s Leaves Are Fading, Stanton Welch’s Of Blessed Memory, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, S. Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are, Edwaard Liang’s Feast of the Gods, Jodie Gates’ Embellish, Emery LeCrone’s Archetypes, Val Caniparoli’s In Pieces, Jessica Lang’s From Foreign Lands and People and De Profundis, Mathew Neenan’s The Faraway, Amy Seiwert’s Traveling Alone and Things Left Unsaid, Carmina Burana, Great Galloping Gottschalk, Yes, Virginia, Another Piano Ballet and Martin Fredmann’s A Little Love as well as his Dreamspace shown on PBS. Ms. Kuykendall was featured in the August 2013 issue of 5280 Magazine highlighting seven of Colorado’s athletes. This is Ms. Kuykendall’s 18th season with Colorado Ballet.
Dana Benton was born in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada, where she began her training with Lou and Pauline Zamprogna at The Dance Centre. At the age of 9, she was accepted to the National Ballet School in Toronto where she trained for eight years. Dana graduated from the National Ballet School with Honors in Academics and was awarded the Peter Dwyer Award for Excellence in Dance. Upon graduating in 2000, Dana received a contract with the Alberta Ballet Company in Canada. She spent one year with the company as an apprentice. In 2001, she joined Colorado Ballet as a Corps de Ballet member. In 2007, she was promoted to Soloist and in 2014, she was promoted to Principal. With Colorado Ballet, Dana has worked with many well-known choreographers and repetiteurs including Val Caniparoli, Bronwen Curry, Judith Fugate, John Gardner, Thierry Michel, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Jessica Lang, Edwaard Liang, Donald Mahler, Amanda McKerrow, Michael Pink, Brian Reeder, Domy Reiter-Soffer, Dwight Rhoden, Amy Seiwert, Paul Sutherland, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Doug Varone, Shelly Washington, Septime Webre, Christopher Wheeldon and Lila York. Since joining Colorado Ballet, she has performed many Soloist and Principal roles. Her notable roles include Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Swanilda in Coppélia, Cow Girl in Rodeo, Ave Maria Pas de Deux, Sugar Plum and Clara in The Nutcracker, Gulnara in Le Corsaire, Tinker Bell in Peter Pan, Pink and Aqua in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Red Girl in Celts, Lucy in Dracula, Princess Florine and Diamond Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Peasant Pas in Giselle, Flower Girl and Cupid in Don Quixote, Hermia and Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Flames of Paris Pas de Deux, Bomb Squad in In The Upper Room, Lead Souvenir Lady in the Great Galloping Gottschalk, and the featured role in Amy Seiwert’s Traveling Alone. This is Dana’s 15th season with Colorado Ballet.
Generously sponsored by Montine Hansl and Jane and Skip Netzorg
Generously sponsored by Joanne Posner Mayer Colorado Ballet • ALICE (in wonderland) 5
Domenico Luciano
Dancers
Domenico Luciano was born in Naples, Italy and graduated from Royal Teatro di San Carlo Ballet School in Naples in 1999. In the same year, Mr. Luciano was invited to join the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, Germany. After dancing with several companies in Europe including Europadance in France, Maggio Danza in Florence, Teatro Dell’Opera in Rome and Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, in 2004 Mr. Luciano joined Tulsa Ballet as a Demi-Soloist. In 2005, he joined Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in Houston as Principal Dancer. His repertoire includes many of the classical principal leads such as Romeo, Paris, and Benvolio in both Sir Kenneth MacMillan and John Cranko’s Romeo & Juliet; Romeo and Paris in Amedeo Amodio’s Romeo & Juliet with Eleonora Abbagnato, Etoile with Paris Opera Ballet; Solor in La Bayadere, The Prince in The Nutcracker, and Albrecht in Giselle, all by Derek Dean; In the Night by Jerome Robbins; Onegin in John Cranko’s Onegin; Roland Petit’s Ma Pavlova with international ballerina Lucia Lacarra; and Don Jose with the National Ballet of China in Carmen. Mr. Luciano also excels in his contemporary repertoire, which includes George Balanchine’s La Valse; Nacho Duato’s Jardi Tancat and Without Words; and Orfeo in Carole Armitage’s Orfeo and Eurydice. With Dominic Walsh Dance Theater he performed Matz Ek’s Pas de Dans, Jirí Kylián’s Double You and 27’52’’, and the role of the White Swan in the White Swan pas de deux from Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, Le Spectre de la Rose, Desire in Sleeping Beauty, Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet, The Firebird with Paris Opera Ballet Étoile Marie-Agnès Gillot. As an international Principal Guest Artist, Mr. Luciano danced in production with Tulsa Ballet, Ballet Quad Cities, The Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Atlanta Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, National Ballet of China and The New National Theater in Tokyo. Mr. Luciano is also invited to various national and International Galas and Dance Festivals. In 2003, he received the Leonide Massine award in Positano, Italy as Best Male Dancer of the Year. In October 2008, the Houston Press named Luciano as “Best Dancer.” He was also named in Pointe Magazine “Standouts: Our 12 favorite performances of 2009” and in 2010 he received the “Young Talent Award” in Florence, Italy at DANZAINFIERA. He joined Colorado Ballet as a soloist in 2013 and was promoted to principal in 2014.
Generously sponsored by Paul Goodspeed/ Mary Poole Maria Mosina Maria Mosina was born in Moscow and graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia. Upon graduation, Ms. Mosina joined the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich Company and (immediately) was chosen for principal roles. Mosina had toured the world appearing on all major European, American, African and Asian stages. In 1995, Ms. Mosina was invited by Colorado Ballet to join as a leading principal dancer. Ms. Mosina performed all major parts in classical productions such as Clara and Sugarplum Fairy in The
6 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
Nutcracker, Sylphide in La Sylphide, Odette-Odille in Swan Lake, Aurora and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle in Giselle, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Kitri in Don Quixote, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Talioni in Pas de Quatre, The Dying Swan, Le Spectre de La Rose and pas de deux from Le Corsaire, Talisman, Paquita, Les Sylphides. Ms. Mosina also had the chance to show her talent in neoclassical, modern and contemporary choreographed master pieces such as Balanchine’s Apollo, Rubies, Theme and Variations, Western Symphony, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Stars and Stripes and Who Cares?, as well as Christopher Weeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pucci’s Size Nine Spirit (as seen on PBS). She has also performed Alvin Ailey’s River, Martha Graham’s monumental Appalachian Spring, Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Paul Taylor’s Company B, F. Ashton’s Facade, Antony Tudor’s Leaves are Fading and Echoing of Trumpets, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs and In The Upper Room, Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring, Michael Pink’s Dracula and Hunchback of Notre Dame, S.Welch’s Of Blessed Memory, Val Caniparoli’s In Pieces, Martin Fredmann and Alun Jones’ Romeo and Juliet, and Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, A Little Love, Mon Dieu, Sechertorte, Silent Woods and Dreamspace (as seen on PBS), Vebre’s Where the Wild Things Are, Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto No.1, Matthew Neenan’s The Faraway, Lynn Taylor-Corbett’s Great Galloping Gottschalk, Lar Lubovitch’s ...smile with my heart, Emery LeCrone’s Archetypes, Jodie Gates’ Embellish, Sandra Brown’s The Last Beat, and many more. Ms. Mosina was a featured dancer on the cover of Dance Magazine and has been featured in other magazine articles. She holds a bachelor’s degree in methodology and pedagogy from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. Ms. Mosina is also an active ballet instructor throughout the United States. She participated as a master teacher and judge for the Youth American Grand Prix. Ms. Mosina performed leading roles in all major productions as a member of the Company, as well as a guest artist with many other festivals, galas, and companies. She is now in her 20th season with Colorado Ballet.
Generously sponsored by Pam and Duke Hartman Yosvani Ramos Yosvani Ramos was born in Camagüey, Cuba and trained at the National Ballet School, going on to dance with Jeune Ballet de France and Ballet de l’Opéra National de Paris after winning the Gold Medal at the Paris International Ballet Competition in 1998. He joined English National Ballet as a Soloist in 1999 and was promoted to Senior Soloist in 2000, then Principal Dancer in 2003 after his performance as Franz in Coppélia. He danced with ENB until 2008 when he joined The Australian Ballet as a Principal Artist, where he remained until April 2013. He has danced the lead roles in all the major classical ballets including Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppélia, Romeo & Juliet, Don Quixote, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, The Merry Widow, Manon, La Silphíde as well as in ballets by Balanchine, Ratmansky, Duato and many others and has guested all around the world. He danced at the XVIII International Ballet Festival in Miami in September 2013, spent several months guesting with companies in Europe
Dancers and the USA and joined the Cincinnati Ballet as principal dancer in July 2014. At the beginning of the 2015-2016 season, Yosvani joins Colorado Ballet as Principal dancer.
Generously sponsored by Katherine and Michael Whitcomb Alexei Tyukov At age 10, he enrolled in Perm State Ballet Academy and in 1995, he graduated with a red diploma. He started dancing with The Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1998, he won a gold medal in the Senior Men’s division at the Arabesque competition of Perm and received the Mikhail Arnapolskiy prize for the most talented participant of the competition. During the next four years, Mr. Tyukov performed leading roles and traveled throughout the world. In 1999, he became a Principal dancer with Ballet Internationale and performed leading roles in full-length ballets including Carmen, Phaedra, Creation of The World, Thousand and One Nights, La Fille Mal Garde’, Cinderella, Fire Bird and Napoli. With Ballet Internationale, he danced throughout the United States and in Taiwan, China, Canada, Germany and France. In 2006, he joined Cincinnati Ballet as a Principal and performed classical and contemporary works. Mr. Tyukov has also participated in numerous galas including La Gala Des Etoiles in Montreal, Stars of Mariinskiy in Germany, International Gala in South Korea, and Russian Stars in memory of Galina Ulanova. He has been a guest artist in Amsterdam, Croatia, Japan and several American ballet companies. Mr. Tyukov has received many great reviews from The New York Times, Le Figaro, Los Angeles Times and Financial Times UK. He is a candidate of Master of Sports for Figure Skating. This is his 19th season performing with ballet companies and 7th season with Colorado Ballet.
Generously sponsored by Colleen Curran and Stephen Boane Sharon Wehner Sharon Wehner is originally from San Jose, California. She trained with Jody White and David Roxander, San Jose Dance Theatre, San Francisco Ballet and San Jose/ Cleveland Ballet. Ms. Wehner joined Colorado Ballet in 1995 and was promoted to Principal in 1999, and in the last 20 years, has performed many lead roles with the Company. These include Kitri in Don Quixote, Giselle in Giselle, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Medora in Le Corsaire, Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Swanilda in Coppelia, Mina in Dracula, Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, the Cowgirl in Rodeo, the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Cinderella in Cinderella, Esmerelda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Titania and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Second Violin in Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, the Principal couple in Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes, Rubies, and Theme and Variations, Antony Tudor’s Leaves are Fading, and Twyla Tharpe’s In The Upper Room. She has been honored to have
solos and pas de deuxs created on her by choreographers Val Caniparoli, Edwaard Liang, Mathew Neenan, Christopher Wheeldon, Darrel Grand Moultrie, Dwight Rhoden, Jessica Lang, Brian Reeder and Toru Shimazaki. In addition to Colorado Ballet, Ms. Wehner has also performed with The Washington Ballet, Oakland Ballet and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery. She has also been a guest artist at the Vail International Dance Festival, in Japan in the Aoyama Ballet Festival, and the National Ballet of Japan’s Golden Ballet Costar. Sharon enjoys teaching dance to all ages and abilities, particularly Dance for Parkinson’s Disease.
Generously sponsored by Raydean Acevedo SOLOISTS
Shelby Dyer Shelby Dyer is a soloist with Colorado Ballet. She joined the company in 2006 after working professionally with Ballet Internationale Indianapolis, Tulsa Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet. She has had the pleasure of performing in the Florida International Ballet Gala, the Stars of the Russian National Ballet Gala in Chicago and the Vail International Dance Festival. Some of Dyer’s most notable roles include Lisa in La Fille Mal Gardee, Wendy in Peter Pan, Myrtha in Giselle, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Dryad Queen in Don Quixote, Gulnara and Third Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Big Swan and Pas de Trois in Swan Lake and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.
Generously sponsored by Patty Lorie Francisco Estevez Born in Quito, Ecuador, Francisco moved to the USA in 1995. He began his ballet training in Louisville, Kentucky and at the age of 16 was invited to finish his professional training at the School of American Ballet in New York where he also had the opportunity to perform featured roles with the New York City Ballet. Upon graduating in 2008, Francisco joined Boston Ballet under the direction of Mikko Nissinen where he danced for 2 years before joining the Barcelona Ballet under the direction of Angel Corella. As a member of this company, he performed various soloist and principal roles and took part in the “Feria del Libro” in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Spoleto Festival in both Italy and Charleston, North Carolina and the Peralada festival, Catalonia. Francisco won 1st Place at the Premio Internacional de Danza Roseta Mauri, in 2011. His notable roles to date include Balanchine’s Tarantella and the 1st and 2nd themes from The Four Temperaments, Jorma Elo’s Carmen Illusions, Principal in Jerome Robbin’s 2 & 3 Part Inventions and the 1st and 3rd Sailor in Robbins’ Fancy Free, Peter Martin’s Les Gentil Hommes, Christopher
Colorado Ballet • ALICE (in wonderland) 7
Dancers Wheeldon’s For Four, DGV, Polyphonia and VIII, Pink, Red and Aqua Couples in Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto, Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, Stanton Welch’s Clear, Franz in Coppelia, Benno and Neopolitan in Swan Lake, the Peasant pas de deux from Giselle, the pas de six from Napoli, the Nutcracker Prince and Sugarplum Cavalier in The Nutrcracker, Jester in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Lysander in Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Renfield in Michael Pink’s Dracula, among others. Francisco joined Colorado Ballet during the 2012-2013 season and was promoted to soloist in 2015.
Generously sponsored by Janis and Jim Brewster Asuka Sasaki Asuka Sasaki was born in Nagano, Japan. She trained at the Beijing Dance Academy in China and later joined Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet as an Aspirant. She joined Colorado Ballet’s Company in 2005 and was promoted to Soloist in 2010. With Colorado Ballet, she has worked with accomplished choreographers such as Val Caniparoli, Eldar Aliev, Michael Pink, Ben Stevenson, Martin Fredmann, Lila York, Shelly Washington, Jessica Lang, Dwight Rhoden, Edwaard Liang and Amy Seiwert. Sasaki has danced many soloist roles with the Company. Her notable roles include, Clara and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, Mercedes and Flower Girl in Don Quixote, Gulnara in Le Corsaire, Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Myrta and Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, Fleur de Farine, Miettis Fairy and diamond in The Sleeping Beauty, Autumn Fairy and Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Red and Pink Couple in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Soloist in George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco and Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Generously sponsored by Debby Herz CORPS DE BALLET
Joshua Allenback Joshua Allenback, a native of Colorado, has been dancing since he was 4 years old. He has studied, on scholarship, with American Ballet Theatre, The Rock School, and Joffrey Ballet. He is also a former member of Houston Ballet II as well as Ballet San Antonio. Josh has performed many principal roles including Firebird’s Katchi, Giselle’s Prince Albrecht, Cavalier and Snow King in The Nutcracker, and Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty. He joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company in 2013 and was promoted into the Company in 2014.
8 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
Ariel Breitman Ariel Breitman of Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, began his dance training at the age of eight with the Boys Scholarship Program of Metropolitan Ballet Academy directed by Lisa Collins. At 16, Ariel moved to New York City to train with Edward Ellison, director of Ellison Ballet-Professional Training Program. While in New York, Ariel performed roles such as Jerome from Flames of Paris, Basilio’s Variation from Don Quixote, the Poet’s Variation from Chopiniana, James’ Variation from La Sylphide, and Cavalier from The Nutcracker. In 2012 and 2013, Ariel earned three gold medals from the Youth America Grand Prix competition and one silver medal in 2013 from the Tanzolymp International Ballet Competition in Berlin. After graduating from Ellison Ballet, Ariel joined The Washington Ballet Studio Company for one season, performing roles such as Liza in George Balanchine’s Who Cares and John Darling in Septime Webre’s Peter Pan. His repertory also includes the Grand Pas de Deux from La Esmeralda, Flames of Paris, and The Nutcracker, as well as the Diana and Acteon Pas de Deux from La Esmeralda, the Pas de Trois from Swan Lake, and the Pas de Quatre from Raymonda. Most recently, Ariel was invited to compete in the 2014 USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, where he performed with his partner in the final round and galas. Ariel is beginning his second season with Colorado Ballet.
Morgan Buchanan Morgan Buchanan is from Houston, Texas. She trained at the Ballet Center of Houston under the direction of Victoria Vittum and Gilbert Rome. Ms. Buchanan also trained at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy for two years, under the direction of Sally Rojas and Sabrina Lenzi, where she earned the highest final evaluation variation score in her class. Before joining the Colorado Ballet Studio Company in 2009, Ms. Buchanan attended summer programs with American Ballet Theatre, Orlando Ballet and Houston Ballet. In 2011, she performed Emery LeCrone’s Archetypes at the Vail International Dance Festival. Her notable roles with Colorado Ballet include Wendy in Michael Pink’s Peter Pan, Vitality Fairy and Jewels in The Sleeping Beauty, Moyna in Giselle, Autumn Fairy and Fairy Godmother in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, and First Passerby in Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free. This is Ms. Buchanan’s seventh season with Colorado Ballet.
Dancers Mackenzie Dessens Mackenzie Dessens is from New Orleans, Louisiana where she began her training at Giacobbe Academy of Dance and privately with Kimberly Beck. She attended summer programs in New York with the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theater. Ms. Dessens continued her training at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy and upon completion joined Cincinnati Ballet’s second company. With Cincinnati Ballet, Dessens’ repertoire included Peter Pan, 7th Symphony, The Nutcracker, Alice, Symphony in C, and the world premiere of King Arthur’s Camelot, in which she performed as the Lady of the Lake. Dessens was chosen to perform as Guinevere in the “Wedding Pas de Deux” for the second company’s rep to promote the new ballet throughout the season. Her second year, Victoria Morgan chose her to perform as Clara in a recreation of the pas between Clara and the Prince from The Nutcracker. She also had the opportunity of working with Jennifer Archibald and received a solo and pas in her piece for the second company. This is Mackenzie’s first season with Colorado Ballet.
Megan Dillon Originally from Syracuse, NY, Megan began dancing with Cathy Mucci at Dance Centre North where she trained until moving to New Jersey in 2004. In NJ, she continued her dance training at the Academy of Dance Arts in Red Bank with Jennifer James Church and Shayne and Nick Mishoe. In 2010, she was accepted into Miami City Ballet School’s Pre-Professional Division, where she trained for a year before moving to Philadelphia, PA to train under the direction of Bojan and Stephanie Spassoff at The Rock School for Dance Education. Megan has attended summer programs at American Academy of Ballet, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Miami City Ballet, The Rock School, and Chautauqua School of Dance. Megan joined Charlotte Ballet 2 (formerly North Carolina Dance Theatre) in 2013 where she had the opportunity to perform a soloist role of Spring Fairy in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Cinderella. Megan then joined Ballet Met 2 in 2014 where she performed in the world premiere of Edwaard Liang’s Cinderella. Some of her other favorite professional repertoire includes Balanchine’s Western Symphony, Sasha Janes’s Carmen, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s The Nutcracker, Jimmy Orrante’s The Great Gatsby and Dwight Rhoden’s Othello. This is Megan’s first season with Colorado Ballet.
Emily Dixon Emily was born in Lubbock, Texas and she was raised in Colleyville, Texas. She received her training at the Ballet Academy of Texas under the direction of Lisa Slagle. Upon graduating high school, Emily joined Tulsa Ballet II where she danced for two seasons. In 2009, Emily accepted a corps de ballet contract with The Sarasota Ballet. During her five seasons in Sarasota, Emily had the opportunity to perform a wide variety of repertoire including works by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, Antony Tudor, Paul Taylor, Sir Peter Wright, Will Tuckett, Matthew Bourne, Dominic Walsh, Peter Darrell, Agnes De Mille, Johan Kobborg, among others. Some highlights in her career include performing in Ashton’s Monotones II; 5 girls in Balanchine’s Who Cares?; Surabaya Johnny in Christopher Wheeldon’s There Where She Loved; Emilia in Peter Darrell’s Othello; The Violetta Elvin Solo in Ashton’s Birthday Offering; and the pas de deux in Will Tuckett’s Speilende Kinder. Other favorite ballets in Emily’s repertoire include Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, The Four Temperaments, Diamonds, Concerto Barocco and Serenade; Ashton’s Les Patineurs, La Fille Mal Gardee, and The Two Pigeons. Emily also had the opportunity to perform both Diamonds and Les Patineurs at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. with the Sarasota Ballet. Emily joined Colorado Ballet in 2014 and enjoyed adding works such as Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Michael Pink’s Dracula, Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free, and George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco to her repertoire. This is Emily’s second season with Colorado Ballet.
Kevin Hale Born in Warren, New Jersey but raised in England, Kevin began dancing at the age of 5. At the age of 11, he was accepted into The Royal Ballet School where he graduated from in July 2013. Kevin has won the Kenneth McMillan Choreographic Competition twice and had one of his ballets performed at the school’s annual show at the Royal Opera House. During his graduate year, Kevin performed with The Royal Ballet in various ballets including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, La Valse and The Sleeping Beauty. His repertoire also includes Jiˇrí Bubeníˇcek’s Canon in D Major, Bejart’s 7 Greek Dances and Ashley Page’s Larina Waltz. He has also been featured as a dancer on the BBC. Kevin joined Colorado Ballet in 2013. During the 20132014 season, Kevin performed as one of the Stepsisters in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella. This is Kevin’s third season with Company.
Colorado Ballet • ALICE (in wonderland) 9
Dancers Tracy Jones
Christophor Moulton
Born in Cork, Ireland, Tracy began to dance at the age of 5 with Ballet Theatre Ireland. Tracy trained professionally at The Royal Ballet School in London where she graduated from in 2007. In 2006, Tracy was a winner of the Ursula Moreton choreographic competition and a finalist of the Young British Dancer of the Year. During her graduate year, Tracy performed with the Royal Ballet in various ballets and joined them on their 2007 International tour to Mexico and the USA. Upon graduating, Tracy joined the English National Ballet as an Artist where she performed in the UK and toured to Beijing, China. From 2008 to 2012, Tracy was a member of the Barcelona Ballet under the direction of Angel Corella. With this company, Tracy danced various soloist and principal roles including the 3rd principal couple in Christopher Wheeldon’s DGV, the 3rd Shade variation and Tall Pas D’Action in Natalia Makarova’s La Bayadere, Pas de Trois and Big Swans in Swan Lake and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, among others. Tracy joined Colorado Ballet during the 2012-13 season. In June 2013, she was named as one of 10 “Stars in the Corps” by Pointe Magazine. Since joining the company, her notable roles have included “Zulma” in Giselle, the Arabian divertissement in The Nutcracker, Summer Fairy in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Principal couple in Sandra Brown’s The Last Beat, Hermia in Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Pas De Deux Girl in Jerome Robbin’s Fancy Free.
Christophor Moulton born in Colorado Springs, Colorado began his training with Rozanne David at the Dance Center of Colorado Springs and continued his training in Colorado with German Zemuel. He is a graduate of the Harid Conservatory in Florida, where he trained under Svetlana Osiyeva, Olivier Pardina and Victoria Schnider. During his years at Harid, Mouton performed numerous roles including Siegfried in Swan Lake and the lead in Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante. He also studied for a year at the Jacquelyn Kennedy Onassis School under Franco Devita. Moulton is a recipient of the 2007 Rudolph Nureyev Education Fellowship. He joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company in 2009 and was promoted into the Company in 2010. During his time he has worked with esteemed choreographers, Val Caniparoli, Amy Seiwert, Edwaard Liang, Ben Stevenson, Stephen Mills, and Michael Pink. He has performed the roles of Lovers in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Step Sister in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Arthur in Michael Pink’s Dracula, Hilarion in Giselle, Cavalier in The Nutcracker, and Red in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1.
Bryce Lee Bryce Lee began dancing at the age of 12 in Ventura County, CA. At the age of 13, he began studying classical ballet with Dmitri and Jennifer Kulev at Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy. He attended School of American Ballet’s Winter Term where he studied under Jock Soto, Sean Lavery and Andrei Kramrevsky. Bryce has placed at YAGP as both a Senior Men’s Classical and Contemporary Soloist and has attended the New York Finals twice. He and his partner won First Place in YAGP Europe 2013 for the Le Corsaire Pas d’Esclave Pas de Deux. He has been a two-time Semi-finalist of the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Classical Dance Scholarship Program and a five-year recipient of the Petit Oasis Foundation Scholarship. Bryce has attended summer programs at Miami City Ballet and SAB on scholarship. He joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company in 2013. With Colorado Ballet, he has performed in Michael Pink’s Dracula, Clark Tippet’s Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Mother Ginger in The Nutcracker, Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, and Christopher Wheeldon’s and A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. As a guest artist, he has performed the role of Cavalier in The Nutcracker, as well as leading roles in Etudes, Faust, and Donizetti Variations. This is Bryce’s first season with Colorado Ballet.
10 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
Sean Omandam Sean Omandam is from Fresno, California, where he began his training with Shirley Winters. He later went on to train on full-scholarship at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida under the instruction of Victoria Schneider, Olivier Pardina and Svetlana Osiyeva. Upon his graduation in 2004, he joined Colorado Ballet’s Studio Company, and was promoted into the Company in 2005. With Colorado Ballet, Mr. Omandam has performed a variety of featured roles including Puck in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Whip Boy in Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring, John Darling in Michael Pink’s Peter Pan, Green Man in Lila York’s Celts, Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Max in Septime Webre’s Where the Wild Things Are and Russian in Martin Freedman’s The Nutcracker. His repertory also includes works by Lar Lubovitch, Amy Seiwert, Edwaard Liang, Jodie Gates, Matthew Neenan, Dwight Rhoden, Darrell Grand Moultire, and Jessica Lang, among others. In 2007, he was a competitor and gala performer at the New York International Ballet Competition. In the summer of 2013, Mr. Omandam was featured as a contestant on the premiere season of the South Korean television show, Dancing 9.
Kristine Padgett Kristine Padgett was born in Littleton, Colorado and began dancing at the age of three. At eleven years old, she started training professionally at the Academy of Colorado Ballet under Elizabeth Shipiatsky. From 2006 to 2014, Ms. Padgett attended summer intensives and school
Dancers training programs all over the world including American Ballet Theater in New York City, the Royal Ballet School in Richmond, England, and Bolshoi Ballet Summer Intensive in New York City. In 2011, Ms. Padgett won a full scholarship to perform at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy’s spring gala in Moscow, Russia and then attended year round for the 20122013 school year. While in Russia, Ms. Padgett trained under Irina Sirova, and had the opportunity to perform in many productions including soloist roles in La Fille Mal Gardee, The Nutcracker, and several character dances. Ms. Padgett returned to Colorado Ballet as a studio company member in 2013 and has danced in many of their productions. This will be Ms. Padgett’s first season as a company member.
Alexandra Pullen Alexandra Pullen was born in Nashville, Tennessee and was raised in Chicago, Illinois, where she began her initial ballet training at a local community center. Pullen studied at Dance Center Evanston, Evanston School of Ballet, and Chicago Ballet Arts, and the Ruth Page School of Dance, where she joined their company, the Civic Ballet of Chicago. She trained on scholarship at the Joffrey Academy of Ballet in Chicago under Anna Reznik and Alexei Kremnev. She toured with the Joffrey Trainees to perform as Clara in The Nutcracker Suite. She studied on scholarship at summer programs of the San Francisco Ballet School, School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. In 2012, Pullen competed in the Youth America Grand Prix Chicago Semi-Finals and received a gold medal in the classical category and a silver medal in the contemporary category. She was a Finalist in New York City. In September 2012, Pullen was awarded the Shoot for Change Scholarship to attend the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre, and joined ABT Studio Company two weeks later. Pullen joined ABT as an apprentice 2013 and was promoted to the corps de ballet in 2014. With ABT, Pullen’s rep included Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Ashton’s The Dream, Manon, Cinderella, Gaite Parisienne, La Bayadere, and Twyla Tharp’s Bach Partita. She went on tour with ABT to Abu Dhabi, Australia, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis. This is her second with Colorado Ballet.
Emily Speed Emily Speed is originally from Argyle, TX and began her professional training under Marina Almayeva. In 2006, she was a Finalist at World Ballet Competition, in Orlando, Florida. Ms. Speed won first place in the classical division at the 2007 Youth American Grand Prix Regionals. Emily was one out of a hundred participants worldwide who qualified and competed in the 2010 Varna International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria and in 2014, went to the USA IBC in Jackson, MS. During her career, she has danced professionally with Alabama Ballet, Ballet Tucson and Boulder Ballet. Ms. Speed has performed multiple principle and soloist roles including, Flower Girl in Don Quixote, roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade and The Nutcracker,
Anthony Tudor’s Lilac Garden and Continuo, Daniel Precup’s Bolero, Third Act Raymonda, The Wedding Pas de Duex from Don Quixote, and The Fairy Doll Pas de Trios staged by Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner. Since joining Colorado Ballet in 2014, Emily has performed “Scherzo” in Wheeldon’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco, and played the role of Clara in The Nutcracker.
Kevin Gaël Thomas Kevin Gaël Thomas is from France and studied at Rosella Hightower’s International Ballet Center and at Canada’s National Ballet School, where he received a full scholarship and graduated in 2006, with honors. Mr. Thomas also graduated with honors from the Music Conservatory in France for piano. He then danced for a year with Houston Ballet II. Mr. Thomas joined Colorado Ballet in 2007. During his first season, he performed well-known roles such as Fritz and Russian in The Nutcracker. He has been performing Soloist roles in Colorado Ballet productions including Blue Bird and Jewels in The Sleeping Beauty, the Whip Boy in Glen Tetley’s The Rite of Spring, and Jester in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella. In 2012, he performed his first principal role as Peter in Michael Pink’s Peter Pan. Since then, he has danced other leading roles including Puck in Christopher Wheeldon’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the title role in Michael Smuin’s Peter and the Wolf, and the first sailor in Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free. Mr. Thomas was chosen to represent France at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2009 and at the USA Jackson International Ballet Competition in 2010.
Sarah Tryon Sarah Tryon was born in Hanmer, Ontario, Canada and at the age of 11 was accepted to train at Canada’s National Ballet School. During her six years with NBS, Sarah was selected to partake in exchange programs with various international schools including Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, École Supérieur De Danse Rosella Hightower in Cannes France, and Tanz Akademie Zurich in Switzerland. Upon graduating in 2010, she then moved to New York City to train with world renowned coach Edward Ellison. In 2013, Sarah was invited to join the Sarasota Ballet as a corps de ballet member. During her two seasons with the Sarasota Ballet, Sarah performed many works by major choreographers such as George Balanchine, Agnes DeMille, Will Tuckett, Rudolph Nureyev, Christopher Bruce, Mikhail Fokine, Paul Taylor, Sir Anthony Tudor, and Sir Frederick Ashton. Highlights of Sarah’s time with the Sarasota Ballet would include performing in Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Serenade, Four Temperaments, and Rubies; Ashton’s Façade, La Fille Mal Gardée, Sinfonietta, Les Patineurs, and Montones I; Christopher Bruces’ Sergeant Early’s Dream; Will Tuckett’s Lux Aterna; Agnes De Milles’ Rodeo; Anthony Tudor’s Gala Performance; Mikhail Fokine’s Petrushka; Paul Taylor’s Company B; and Nureyev’s Raymonda. This is Sarah’s first season with Colorado Ballet.
Colorado Ballet • ALICE (in wonderland) 11
Dancers Luis Valdes
Ben Winegar
Luis Valdes was born in Matanzas, Cuba, and joined Colorado Ballet in 2005. Previously, he performed with the National Ballet of Cuba and Cincinnati Ballet. Mr. Valdes’ favorite role with Colorado Ballet is Espada in Don Quixote. Since joining Colorado Ballet, Valdes has had the opportunity to dance as a guest in modern dance pieces in Florida, New York, and Iowa. He has had the chance to perform in new works by Val Caniparoli and Amy Seiwert. Mr. Valdes also enjoyed the opportunity to perform The Rite of Spring in Colorado Ballet’s Ballet MasterWorks production in 2013. Some of his favorite choreography includes Twyla Tharp’s In The Upper Room, Paul Taylor’s Company B and Antony Tudor’s Echoing of Trumpets.
Ben Winegar is from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He began his training at the School of the Grand Rapids Ballet at the age of 11. There, he was trained by Attila Mosolygo, Gaiane Akopian, and Akop Akopian, and was given the opportunity to perform in several ballets with the Grand Rapids Ballet Company. In 2010, Ben spent a year training at the School of American Ballet. Upon graduating, he danced one season with the Los Angeles Ballet under the direction of Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary. This is Ben’s fourth season as a member of Colorado Ballet.
Kevin Wilson Kevin Wilson was born in Durango, Colorado. He is a graduate of the Harid Conservatory in Florida, where he trained under Svetlana Osiyeva, Olivier Pardina and Victoria Schnider. He received the Dance Achievement Award for two consecutive years. Kevin has been a member of Colorado Ballet for seven years. He had the pleasure of dancing in the Corps for Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 and the wedding scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Melissa Zoebisch Melissa grew up in Mexico and studied at the Chamber Ballet of Jalisco. She was awarded a scholarship to attend for a year at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Mme, Sizova’s class, and returned to Mexico to graduate in 2004. Throughout her school years, she participated in many workshops around the world including: Cuba, Canada, Austria, Spain and the United States. In 2005, Ms. Zoebisch joined the National Dance Company, where she obtained soloist roles in her first year in ballets including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty and Carmen. Her other repertoire includes principal roles in Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire, original contemporary choreographies, and many others. She was a finalist at the Korea International Ballet Competition, 2010; recipient of a Special Award KIBC. Before joining Colorado Ballet in 2014, she had been freelancing with her husband around the country.
Guest Artists Septime Webre, Choreogapher Artistic Director, The Washington Ballet Septime Webre was appointed artistic director of The Washington Ballet in 1999, after a six year tenure as artistic director of American Repertory Ballet in New Jersey. In his tenure as TWB’s artistic director, The Washington Ballet’s impact regionally, nationally and internationally has deepened in three areas. First, the Company’s work has continued to grow and expand in its level of excellence and bold creativity with projects including the “American Experience,” a series featuring original full-length ballets based on iconic works of American literature, and the pursuit of full-length original classic works including Swan Lake, a significant milestone for a dance company. Also, The Washington School of Ballet’s enrollment has tripled and the organization’s commitment to community
12 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
through its visionary DanceDC and TWB programs has positively affected the lives of tens of thousands of children in the District of Columbia. Much in demand as a choreographer, Webre has created works that appear in the repertoires of many companies in North America, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, North Carolina Dance Theatre, Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet San Jose, Kansas City Ballet and Colorado Ballet, among many others. As a dancer, he was featured in works by George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Antony Tudor, Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham, as well as in principal and solo roles from the classical repertoire. Mr. Webre has sat on the boards of Dance/USA and the Cultural Alliance of Greater Washington. Among his many awards, Webre received the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Visionary Leadership, Excellence in Artistic Discipline and numerous metro DC dance awards. He has been a recipient of a number of fellowships for his choreography. He is the seventh son in a large Cuban American family and graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in history and pre-law.
Guest Artists Matthew Pierce, Composer Matthew Pierce is celebrated for his new classical scores commissioned by major American ballet companies. He has written ballet scores for Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Ohio Ballet, BalletMet, Cincinnati Ballet, Miami Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Ballet Hawaii, Post Ballet, Ballet Coeur d’Alene, Kansas City Ballet, New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, and the San Francisco Ballet. Night, a full orchestra score set to a Chagall-inspired dreamscape ballet, has been seen at the Opera Garnier in Paris, Covent Garden in London, and City Center in New York. San Francisco Ballet’s Imaginal Disc was voted “Best Cultural Event of 2003” by the San Francisco Chronicle and Sarah Kaufman of The Washington Post called his 2012 score for Washington Ballet’s Alice (in wonderland), “The cherry on top: Pierce’s visionary result, a shimmering landscape that weaves together bits of our own world— Asian, Middle Eastern, pop riffs, jazz—with a contemporary edge and a spirit of discovery. And, yes, wonder.”
Clifton Taylor, Lighting Designer Clifton Taylor (lighting designer) has created lighting, projection and scenic designs for Broadway, Off-Broadway, as well as opera, theater and dance companies around the world. His designs for dance have been commissioned for the repertories of Alvin Ailey, A.B.T., San Francisco, Houston and Washington Ballets among many others, as well as other major companies Europe, Asia and South America.
He is currently the resident designer for Karole Armitage, Philadanco and Elisa Monte dance companies and has recently collaborated with Larry Keigwin, Ron K. Brown, Lar Lubovitch, Victoria Morgan and Daniel Ezralow. Opera designs have included several works for New York’s Gotham Chamber Opera, BAM, the New York Philharmonic’s opera presentations at Lincoln Center and internationally in Asia, Europe and South America for leading companies. For more information, please visit www.designcurve.com.
James Kronzer, Scenic Design Originated the scenic design for ALICE (in wonderland) for The Washington Ballet where he also designed Cinderella. His work has been seen on Broadway with Glory Days and Off-Broadway with Opus and Under the Bridge. He has done extensive theater work regionally in the U.S. and internationally with a current tour of Burn the Floor being seen in Australia, Japan and China. Recent regional work includes Diner (adaptation-Signature Theater) Denver Center: Sweeney Todd, Lord of the Flies; Cincinnati Playhouse: Peter and the Starcatcher. For TV: Over 70 Comedy Specials for Netflix, Epix, Showtime and Comedy Central: Margaret Cho, Dennis Miller, Marc Maron, Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy among others. He will also be premiering a new series for The History Channel this February called Join or Die with Craig Ferguson. Awards: 8 Helen Hayes Awards (Washington, DC): 2 Barrymore Awards (Philadelphia). www.JamesKronzer.com
Colorado Ballet Studio Company Top row L to R: Melissa Meng, Toni Martin, Hannah Stolrow, Bryton Foster, Riko Fujita, Miyuki Abe, Tyler Rhoads; Front: Molly Huempfner, Sara VanderVoort, Molly Klug, Regan Kucera, Tracy Fuller, Camille Robinson, Katie Buckmiller
Colorado Ballet Orchestra Violin 1 Lydia Sviatlovskaya* Concertmaster Britt Swenson Lian Emmerling Violin 2 Margaret Soper Gutierrez* Michelle Davis Leslie Sawyer
Viola Michael Brook* Lora Stevens Sarah Richardson Cello Charles Lee* Evan Orman Karen Terbeek
Bass David Crowe*
Orchestra Personnel Manager Steve Simpson
Percussion Douglas Walter* Scott Higgins
Orchestra Librarian Cynthia Mancinelli
Music Director Adam Flatt
*Principal
Colorado Ballet Orchestra members are represented by the Denver Musicians Association, Local 20-623 of the American Federation of Musicians
Colorado Ballet • ALICE (in wonderland) 13
Supporters of Colorado Ballet As of January 11, 2016 (includes 14 months of giving) Leadership Circle $100,000+ Corporations, Foundations, and Government Agencies Colorado Ballet Auxiliary Bonfils-Stanton Foundation SCFD Ovation Circle $50,000+ Corporations, Foundations, and Government Agencies Gates Family Foundation KeyBank The Shubert Foundation, Inc. Individual Donors Raydean Acevedo Joanne Posner Mayer Founders Circle $20,000+ Corporations, Foundations, and Government Agencies Anna & John J. Sie Foundation The Anschutz Foundation Avenir Foundation Denver Ballet Guild Individual Donors Holly Baroway and Erik Cederlund Janis and Jim Brewster Sandy Elliott Pam and Duke Hartman Nancy and Thomas Stevens Susan and Stephen Struna Director Circle $10,000+ Corporations, Foundations, and Government Agencies Accenture, LLP Always Best Care Senior Services The Armstrong Foundation Chambers Family Fund Colorado Creative Industries The Denver Foundation Denver Office of Children’s Affairs Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Inclusive Solutions, Inc. PB & K Family Foundation Saunders Construction, Inc. Wells Fargo Foundation Xcel Energy Individual Donors Jean and Hugh Armstrong Melanie Backes and Brent Kopperud Ellen Balaguer and Mark Chase Merle Chambers and Hugh Grant Paul E. Goodspeed Anne and Jim Hillary Richard and Elizabeth Katkin Waryn Henny and Bert Lasley Merry and Steve Logan Dr. Barbara R. Reed Jeanne and Dick Saunders David Scanavino Brad M. Sonnenberg Julie C. Van Camp
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14 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
Montine Hansl Carla and Carl Hartman Jim Harvey and Bob Greene Helen and Matthew Hayes Noel and Terry Hefty Linda and Steve Heiss Debby Herz Jan and Gordon Holfelder Rachel and Tim James Patty L. Lorie Anne Mead Kathryn and Harry Peisach Arthur L. Seiden Principal Circle $1,000+ Corporations, Foundations, and Government Agencies April Fund Caulkins Family Foundation Ceilman Family Foundation Exxonmobil Foundation Fuller Family Fund Heidi and Randy Keogh Fund Henry E. Wurst Family Foundation Morgan Stanley, LLC National Philanthropic Trust Ralph L. and Florence R. Burgess Trust Rose Community Foundation Schwab Charitable Fund Vanguard Charitable Individual Donors Christa and Stuart Absolom Anonymous Dr. Joyce Aycock and Dr. Robert Doebele Peggy A. Battalora, M.D. Dr. William Beamgard and Mrs. Belinda Lofton Mia and Kevin Bearley Sharon and Steven Birnbaum Julie and Michael Bock Angelee and Bob Bouchard Karla A. Brown Katy and Brian Brown Sara and Scott Carpenter John and Devon Warde Carr Dr. Karen Polsky Carr and Mr. James Carr Gene Child Brett and Crystal Childs Jeanne Collopy and Christopher Koenigs Dr. and Mrs. Alan Como Donald Cook Tammy and Wesley Cooper Meredith and Peter Coors Ann Corrigan and Kent Rice Karen and William Curtis JoMarie and George Dancik Carolyn E. Daniels Joseph M. Demmler Monica and John Denler Dr. Pete Deol Amy Jo and Tai Diamant Jayme and Bret Dixon Erin and Matthew Dollarhide Lynn Bolinske Dolven Pam and David Duke Dr. Cory Adeline Dunnick and Dr. Ross A. Goldstein Patricia and Christopher Elliott Jennifer and Adam Flatt
John Fox Dr. Donald and Mrs. Debbie Frei Shannon and Brian Furgason Michelle and David Garcia Melissa and Mark Garland Pamela and Barry Gatz Marla and Richard Gentry Charlotte and Guy Geoly Naji J. Ghorayeb Elizabeth Grinevics Dr. Frederick and Mrs. Carol Grover Sally C. Haas Dr. Gary and Mrs. Ellen Hahn Margaret S. Hansson Dr. Wendell and Mrs. Charlotte Hatfield Courtney and Shawn Henry Serena and P. Michael Highum Meralee and Michael Hoffelt Christine Honnen Kim and Christopher R. Jacoby Jane and Matthew Kadillak Jennifer Gilbert-Kaufmann and Robert Kaufmann Carla and Richard Kem Laura and Christopher Lagudis Margaret and Edward Leede Bonnie and Steven List Janet and John MacFarlane Elspeth MacHattie Suzanne Martin Chris McDonald Margaret R. Jurado and V.W. McKnab Nina McLemore Carol McMurry and Patrick Spieles Joseph J. Bronesky and Jacquelin A. Medina Dee and Gene Milstein Lynnette Morrison Susan and Dan Paulien Sue Pawlik Alli and Nelson Perkins Bonnie C. Perkins Dr. Ed and Mrs. Nooshin Prasthofer Mary Ann and Ron Raab Jacob Read Daniel L. Ritchie Gretchen and Mark Roberts Carol Rollin Chandra and Gil Rosenthal Daryl A. Russell Julie and Ron Sachs Andrea and Timothy Sayles Ruth Schoening Judy and Arthur Seiden Eileen Sharkey and James Darling Laura and Russ Shipman Marlene Siegel Nina and Tom Sisk Phoebe Smedley Fran Sterling and Keith Hay Mary Studlick John Trueblood Leslie and Martin D. Twarogowski John Uppendahl
Supporters of Colorado Ballet Catherine Walker and Stuart Gilman Daniel Wilkinson Dr. Raymond and Bernice Yost Linda Roberts Zinn Soloist Circle $500+ Corporations, Foundations, and Government Agencies Encana Oil & Gas Frederick G. Fish Foundation I Have A Dream Foundation IBM International Foundation One Colorado Education Fund Records-Johnston Family Foundation Renaissance Charitable Fund Rotary Eclub One Sugarplum Bazaar Individual Donors Anonymous Brady Behrendt Jeffrey Belden Renate and Horst Bergmann Suzanne and James Buchanan Heather Callahan Carol and Alan Caniglia Michael Cattanach Taylor Clark Christin Crampton Day Greg Laugero Cheryl and Anthony Cotter Margaret Dzwileski Janet Erickson Stephanie and John Flanigan Jennifer and Adam Flatt Richard and Julia Parrino George Laura Goodman Diane D. Henry Debra and Orville Hinerman Christine Hodges Kathy and Derek Konopka Dr. Sherill Ladwig Drs. Charles and Gretchen Lobitz Margaretha Maloney and Robert Palaich Donald Hagengruber Marcia Hannum Lisa Maury Janalee and Morris McDonald Dr. James and Ms. Pat McElhinney Anne Mead Pamela Merrill Ausra Mollerud and Sean Shaw Margaret Morrissey Drs. Sarah and Harold Nelson Judi and Robert Newman Dr. Bruce C. Paton Bill Plummer Cynthia Polhemus Melinda Quiat Lawrence Robins Kathryn and Tim Ryan Connie and Michael Schingle Toni and Andrew Smolen Cheryl L. Solich and John W. Kure Mrs. Robert V. Stailey Holly and Norm Steiner
Marilyn Sundt and Andrew Mirdik Mary and Stephen True Larry Underwood Klasina Vanderwerf Kerry and Gary Vickers George Ann and Arthur Victor Patricia and Edward Wahtera William J. Weekley Artist Circle $250+ Corporations, Foundations, and Government Agencies Andrews Photography Colorado Ballet Auxiliary Sugarplums and Alums Diecidue Family Foundation Halvorson-Freese 21st Century Fund Kroenke Sports Enterprises RSVP Twirl LLC Individual Donors Dr. Frank and Mrs. Celia Anderson Ross Barnhart Katherine Bermingham Rachel and David Bondelevitch Kathy and Bjorn Borgen Virginia Boucher Elizabeth Bradley Cheryl Ristig and Michael Breed Brighton Retail Joan and Lawrence Brennan Karen Bruggenthies Charles W. Clarke Dr. Toby and Mrs. Paulene Cole Tracy Copp Joani Cravens and Lyman R. Ho Delores Eckrich Chirstopher Ellis Joan and John Feek Dr. Fran and Craig Gander Alan Getz Rebecca Givens Mike Groshek Mariellen Guerra Mark Gyetvay Sally and Kenneth Hooks William Hohnhorst Andrew Hornbrook Karen Howland Jaiun Kim Lynn and Dennis Krueger Michael Mallett MaryKate and Timothy McCutcheon Melba and Steve McDanal Ray Merenstein Christopher Merrell Judie and Ron Neel Leslie A. Nelson Rebecca O’Brien Ann Obrzut Elizabeth Pace Richard Pacheco Janet Pasterkamp Debra Piazza Robert Phelps Nancy and Gene Richards Andrea G. Richardson and William A. Stolfus
Richard Sanders, M.D. Martha and Mark Graves Reese Carolyn and John Riedlin Paula and David Roney Spencer B. Ross Gwendolyn and Richard Scalpello Patricia and Scott Schmid Lisa and Bill Snider Stephanie and Arthurm Strasburger Irene and Joseph Szyliowicz Ronald R. Townsend, M.D. Bobby Vargas Ester Varney Deborah Werger Bernard Williams Sandra and Michael Wilson Linda and Eugene Young JoAnne Zboyan Kathy and Jon Zeschin The Artistic Director’s Fund Founded by Colleen Curran and Stephen Boane Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Colleen Curran and Stephen Boane In Memory of Lillian Covillo and Freidann Parker Melinda Quiat In Memory of Meg Fonda Barb and Stu Fonda In Memory of David Jaramillo Charlie Wilson In Memory of Katharyn Jenkins Debra and Stephen Whitman In Memory of Ruth S. Silver Lisa and Bill Snider In Honor of Gil Boggs Raydean Acevedo In Memory of Phyllis and Angus MacDonald Gordon Webb In Honor of Toni Martin Suzanne Martin In Honor of Valerie Medonia Raydean Acevedo In Honor of Hannah Merenstein Elaine and Bill Adams Samantha Berenstein Berdine Clumpus Marie Friedemann Elisa and Allen Gage Arlene and Herb Galchinsky Maxine Gann Harriet and Charles Goldberg Sheila and Randee Goldstein Andrea Graham Harriet Guggenheim Lee Gurney Ranne and Bryan Hay Faith and James Kirk
Jennifer Kraft Galit and Lior Masa Beth Merenstein Maggie Miller Deanna Simon Linda Sperber Leslie Tjarks Charlotte and Carl Worster Mira Zevin Zim Consulting Inc. In Honor of Sally Murray Nancy Schulein In Honor of Joanne Posner Mayer Anna and John J. Sie Foundation In Honor of Dr. Barbara R. Reed Terry Amicone Susan and Paul Anderson Margaret Bane Marilyn and Roland Bernier Barbara Breslin Noreen and David Dahl Matthew Dolgos Corrine and Philip Doty Virginia and John Freyer Brooke and Thomas Gordon Bonnie Hanson Diane and Henry Ipsen Claudia Miller Susan Richardson Sandra and Mark Siegel Marilyn and Jerry Snyder Betty and Lloyd Steinmann Nyia Jane Tikker and Wayne Nielsen Gaynell Van Buhler Marilyn and James Wilson Jean and John Wingquist Moving Into the Future Capital Campaign Leaders Annie Achee Stephen Adler Annemarie and Ryan Anderson David L. Andrews Anonymous The Anschutz Foundation Lisa Levin Appel Liz and Bill Armstrong Jean and Hugh Armstrong Marcia and Rick Ashton Colorado Ballet Auxiliary Auxiliary Sugarplum Alums Bob Bach Brent and Melanie Kopperud Backes Ellen Balaguer and Mark Chase Bardsley Foundation Cheryl and Frank Barone Holly Baroway and Erik Cederlund Dennis Barrett Bayswater, LLC Colleen and Brian Becker Craig R. Benes Marjorie and John Berman Lafawn Biddle Boettcher Foundation Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Borgen Family Foundation
Colorado Ballet • ALICE (in wonderland) 15
Supporters of Colorado Ballet Melissa Bragg Martha Brassel Janis and James Brewster Gleneen and Joseph Brienza Priscilla Brookens Craig Brown Sandra Brown and Gil Boggs Karen Bruggenthies Susanne and James Buchanan Roman Bukary Ellen Bywaters C.J. Meyers Co. Llc Carson-Pfafflin Family Foundation Chambers Family Fund Crystal and Brett Childs Lia and Stephen Clarke Craig Clayton Deborah Clendenning Patricia and Terry Colip Jennifer Collins and Brian Sherman Community First Foundation Cami Cooper Lawrence Corff Corrigan and Rice Fund Casey Cortese Cheryl and Anthony Cotter Christine and Scott Crase Wendee and Michael Crowley Virginia Danna San Daugherty-Durall Christin and Scott Day DCP Midstream Matching Gifts Program DCPA Ushers Mary Jo and Vernis Deming Denver Ballet Guild Doug and Pam Kelsall Family Fund Carla Dore/Workplace Resources Dee and Bruce Douglas Louise J. Douglass Debra Duke Patricia Duncan Sarah Eichenbaum El Pomar Foundation Patricia and Christopher Elliott Sandy Elliott Rosemary Ellis Steven Ellstrom Exxonmobil Foundation Kaye Ferry Fidelity Foundation John and Maureen Tarrant Fitzgerald Barb and Stu Fonda Jayne Ford Janis Frame and Sanford Zisman Cynthia Frandsen Sigrid H. Freese Judge Ann and Ford Frick
Ottilia Fuermann Virginia E. Fuller Melissa and Mark Garland Gates Family Foundation Pamela and Barry Gatz Guy and Charlotte Geoly Hilary Gerlach Naji Ghorayeb Laura Goodman Karen Goodson Paul E. Goodspeed Robert Graham Great West Life and Annuity Insurance Company Mary Groote Dr. Gary and Ellen Hahn Peggy Hale David and Mary Meade Hammond Joshua Hanfling Robert Hanfling Montine Hansl Margaret S. Hansson Anna Lee Hartman Pam and Duke Hartman Helen and Matthew Hayes Noel and Terry Hefty Janet K. Helberg Krystal Hicks Anne and James Hillary Debra and Orville Hinerman Christine L. Honnen Mary Anna and Sonny Hutchinson Kaye and Vernon Isaacs Pam Jadlos Kathy and Donald Jaksa Janus Foundation Bobbie Jaramillo Alice and Steve Jennison Ken Jones Christy Jordan and Christopher Little Auna Jornayvaz Charlot Karesh Stuart and Gail Kassan Kevin Kauffman Shea Kauffman Ross Kazer Carolyn King Susan Knight Don and Mary Lou Blackledge Kortz Jennifer Krueger Chandra and Robert Kuydendall Henny and Bert Lasley Launch Advertising Patricia Laverty Hillicia Lee Kathy Barrett Lee Peggy Lehmann Pam Leland Libby Anschutz Brown Foundation Gretchen and Charles Lobitz
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Denise and James Sanderson Rosemary Sargent Jeanne and Dick Saunders Howard Sayette David Scanavino Suzan and Gary Schlatter Patricia and Scott Schmid Ruth Schoening The Schramm Foundation Arthur L. Seiden Semple Brown Design, PC Lisa Sherry Marlene Siegel Olive Slotta Jeff Smith Lisa and Bill Snider Ryta and Steven Sondergard Rita and Brad Sonnenberg Vicki and Harry Sterling Holly Stevens Nancy and Thomas Stevens Kari and Daryl Stewart Michele and Raymond Stinnett Susan and Stephen Struna Mary Studlick Eleanor and Michael Sullivan Sonja Talley Tango Gigolo Jocelyn Terwilliger Norma and Brad Townley Lucile and Harry Trueblood Debbi and Bill Tryon John Uppendahl Julie C. Van Camp Lydia Vanderburg Klasina Vanderwerf Lynn M. Veit Kerry and Gary Vickers Jennie M. Virgilio Dr. Clyde Edward Waggoner Patricia and Edward Wahtera Cinamon Watson and Christopher Paulson Linda Weiler Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC Wells Fargo Foundation Elaine Weng and Thomas Malley Salina and Blair Whitaker Katherine and Michael Whitcomb Beth and Dan Whittemore Marla Williams Joyce and James Wilson Linda Wolcott Risa Wolf-Smith and Don Smith Robert Wright Stacy Wright Dr. Raymond and Mrs. Bernice Yost Linda and Eugene Young Joanne Zboyan
Gifts In Kind $10,000+ Eide Bailly LLP Lifestyles Catering
$2,500+ Epernay Lounge Fern Bowman High Noon Entertainment Maria Mosina
16 ALICE (in wonderland) • Colorado Ballet
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$250+ David L. Andrews Francisco Estevez Photogrpahy Metropolitan Building Maintenance, Inc.
“Damian Woetzel has become one of the foremost impresarios of American dance” –The New York Times
Celebrating 10 years with Artistic Director Damian Woetzel
Photo © Patrick Fraser
Early Fan Club ticketing is available in February 23 and public tickets on sale March 1, 2016. VAILDANCE.ORG | #VailDance
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SHARON WEHNER CELEBRATES 20TH SEASON WITH COLORADO BALLET
P
rincipal dancer Sharon Wehner has spent her entire career with one Company—the Colorado Ballet. “In the beginning, I really didn’t set out to be a principal dancer…I didn’t set out to have a long career with one company,” said Wehner. “I just wanted to do good work and be the best dancer I could be.” She started dancing at age three in the San Francisco Bay Area. When she was 19, she auditioned for several companies, received three offers, and decided upon Colorado Ballet because she had heard good things from one of the company members, who was her teacher’s former student. The director at the time also mentioned that he was looking for a partner for one of his lead dancers, indicating the chance for greater opportunity once she joined the company. Now 20 years later, Wehner marvels at how many different experiences she has lived and danced through, from a young junior company dancer fresh out of school, to a long-time veteran. Wehner feels she grew up as a dancer and artist at Colorado Ballet. Although Wehner had not planned to spend her entire Sharon Wehner in The Sleeping Beauty. career with one company, she was always excited about Photo by Jim Boland. Colorado Ballet’s repertory and loved her colleagues. “I enjoyed the work and the people who were coaching me. For me, it must feel like the ground here is still fertile, I’m cultivating good dance and good art, and my work is also relevant to the community. Inside my soul, I have to feel like I am growing as a dancer, and ultimately as a human being. That’s why I stayed for 20 years.” During her career, Wehner says that there have been many roles that she loved delving into. Nearly every role she has danced has been its own little gem, but there are a few that have felt truly special. “Dancing Juliet was one of them,” said Wehner. “Romeo and Juliet was the first ballet that really moved me. I think I was maybe nine when I sat mesmerized in the auditorium and realized what power a ballet could have on an audience. I was young, but I felt it, and I could feel everyone around me sharing in this powerful, heart-opening experience. And when I finally had the opportunity to embody Juliet myself, it was like a dream come true.” Other career landmarks included dancing the iconic roles of Giselle and the Cowgirl in Rodeo. However, many of her most memorable highlights involved experiences during the rehearsal process. She said she loves simply being in the studio and refining her craft under the guidance of the many generous and skilled coaches, choreographers and guest artists over the years. 24 Colorado Ballet
Sharon Wehner in Giselle. Photo by Francisco Estevez Photography.
Wehner says that the perception of ballet in Denver has changed in many ways during her time in the Company. When she first joined the company, she remembers talking to a neighbor about what she did for a living and when she told him that she was a ballet dancer, the neighbor asked, “But what’s your job? Are you in school?” He could not fathom that someone could make a career as a ballet dancer in Denver. She said that it was frustrating because she had come from an area rich with arts and culture. But since that time, she believes the perception in Denver has changed. “I think if someone asks now what I do and I say I’m a ballet dancer with the Colorado Ballet, it actually means something to them. It is wonderful how the community has changed in relationship to Colorado Ballet and to the arts.” Wehner said the organization itself has also changed. She joined the company with a different director, most of the dancers and administrative staff have changed, and many of the more experienced dancers she looked up to in the Company have retired. The Company unionized during her time here and the Ellie Caulkins Opera House was renovated. Today, she feels like the company is on an upward trajectory. “I have witnessed the Company go through many ups and downs and even some scary times when the economy was struggling,” said Wehner. “It’s been wonderful to see the company go through all of that and then come out stronger.” In the future, Wehner hopes that as a physical artist, her body will continue to support her creative drive. But, she does not take anything for granted and strives to live in the moment. “It’s not like some careers that you can do when you’re 70, although, I have seen dancers dancing in their 70’s,” said Wehner. “As dancers, we have to take it ballet by ballet, year by year, day by day. Every day, you come into the studio and you start the same way. You plié. You start with pliés.” According to Wehner, 20 is just a number. “It’s like how people talk about age. There is a kind of balance I try to maintain—looking back, and looking forward at all the dancing I still want to do, and then just being present and feeling like this is also just another season and an opportunity to grow as a dancer. It all comes down to loving what you do. It’s really just about love, in the end.” For more information on Sharon Wehner’s 20th season, please follow the stories and watch videos about her on our social media channels. Colorado Ballet Principal Dancer Maria Mosina is also in her 20th season at Colorado Ballet. She was featured in the La Sylphide program. Top: Sharon Wehner and Koichi Kubo in Configurations. Bottom: Sharon Wehner in Rodeo.
Colorado Ballet 25
OFFICIAL SPONSORS OF COLORADO BALLET Colorado Ballet applauds its official sponsors of the 2015-2016 season
D E N V E R
B A L L E T
G U I L D
Young Dancer Workshop Two Sessions available Session 1: June 13-24, 2016 Session 2: June 27-July 8, 2016 The Young Dancer Workshop is an introduction to more serious dance training. Students will receive a daily ballet class along with additional classes in character, modern, choreography and pre-pointe. Each day will wind down with a lecture series, stretch and conditioning class or dance film.
For ages 9-12 not yet on pointe At Colorado Ballet’s home at the Armstrong Center for Dance
coloradoballet.org/youngdancerworkshop
Official School of
Colorado Ballet 26 Colorado Ballet
Photo by A. Campbell Photography
1075 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, Colorado
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Colorado Ballet 27
28 Colorado Ballet
BIG THINKS are happening here!
Discover the MAC story at
www.montessoriacademyofcolorado.org
Contact us for information and a tour of our school!
303.623.2609
www.montessoriacademyofcolorado.org
2500 Curtis Street | Denver, CO 80205
Carmina Burana
MAY 20-22 FRI-SAT 7:30 T SUN 1:00
Andrew Litton, conductor Audrey Luna, soprano Andrew Skoog, tenor Matthew Worth, baritone Colorado Symphony Chorus, Duain Wolfe, director COPLAND Appalachian Spring ORFF Carmina Burana
coloradosymphony.org T 303.623.7876 box office 1000 14th St., Denver, CO 80202 mon-fri: 10am - 6pm T sat: 12pm - 6 pm
Colorado Ballet 29
ANCE D R O F R E T N E C TRONG EVENT RENT THE ARMSS & THEATER FOR YioOreUntalRs foNr wEorXksThops, auditionsr,, STUDIOArmstrong Center for Dance offerFes stDrudive also features a black box theate
n at 1075 Santa new home - the er for Dance! Colorado Ballet’s ents and more. The new locatio xt event at the Armstrong Cent ev ne parties, special sal & event space. Host your rehear
Colorado Ballet
GOLF tournament Monday, June 6, 2016 Lakewood Country Club 1:30 pm Shotgun Start coloradoballet.org/golf
30 Colorado Ballet
2016 We believe in a better life through dance. Spend your summer with CCD and experience the difference. June 20 - July 29 Summer camps for beginning and intermediate dancers ages 3 - 13. Learn more at ccdance.org/summer June 20 - July 30 Summer Intensive for advanced dancers ages 12 - 22. Learn more at ccdance.org/summerintensive
Registration begins March 7 303.466.5685 Just off of Hwy 36 in Broomfield
Images by Misha Photography
Tradition. Exploration. Transformation.
The Armstrong Center for Dance There is still time to buy a brick or a seat in our Black Box Theater and support our new home!
The Chiropractor for COLORADO BALLET Mention Colorado Ballet and 20% of all new patient exam fees will be donated back to Colorado Ballet.
303.504.4800 www.shapirochiro.com SE Denver location: 3515 S. Tamarac Dr. Suite 120 Denver, CO 80237
Highlands location: The Freyja Project 3456 Tejon St. Denver, CO 80211
coloradoballet.org/newhome Photo by David Lauer Photography
Center Stage Come join Colorado Ballet’s Young Patrons! Join our dynamic group of young professionals and enjoy amazing season long benefits such as: •
Five completely free events per season
•
Discounted tickets to all season productions
•
Opportunities to meet with the dancers
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Events include several behind-the-scenes events at the ballet and after parties
Register and enjoy all the benefits Center Stage has to offer! 2016-2017 Membership Info Coming Soon...
Tracy Jones by Francisco Estevez Phtography
32 Colorado Ballet
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BOULDERBALLETSCHOOL
2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 CLASSES
Growing up through Boulder Ballet is more than learning ballet steps. It is a beautiful watercolor of friendships, role models, artistry, confidence, life lessons, and nurturing of spirit through dance. Largest ballet program in the region Award-winning, dedicated faculty Ages three to adult Beginner to professional Many performance opportunities At the Dairy Center for the Arts
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303.443.0028 www.boulderballet.org Colorado Ballet 33
STAFF DIRECTORY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Gil Boggs
Managing Director– Operations and Finance Mark Chase ARTISTIC Ballet Mistress Sandra Brown Ballet Mistress Lorita Travaglia Music Director & Principal Conductor Adam Flatt Associate Conductor Catherine Sailer Company Pianist Natalia Arefieva ADMINISTRATIVE Accounting Manager Janina Blue Accounting Associate Jesse Henson DEVELOPMENT Corporate Development Officer Susan Stiff Senior Major Gifts Officer Allie Coppeak
Faculty Dana Benton Lillian Brace Kathi Crum Jennifer DePalo-Peterson Nick DiBattista Chris Harris Katie Johnson Toni Marie Martin Roberto Munoz Maria Olano Sardi Diane Page Carolina Pahde Jayne Persch Heather Prokhnitski Viki Psihoyos Sayaka Ruggles Erika Sandre Mieke Scripps Robert Sher-Machherndl Summer Templin Kevin Gaël Thomas Lorita Travaglia Igor Vassine Teresa Anne Volgenau Sharon Wehner John Williams, “Mr. Tap” Lisa Wolf
Development Assistant Kelly Craugh
EDUCATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Director of Education Samantha Hyde
Grant Writer Tricia Schmuki
Education Programs Manager Jo Marie Hazelton
PUBLIC RELATIONS & MARKETING Public Relations and Marketing Manager Sanya Andersen-Vie
Education Faculty Julie Anderson Alison Beyers Chrysta Brown Emily Bryan Jennifer GaNun Renu Gupta Molly Huempfner Katie Johnson Michelle Kinny Michelle Pugh Erika Sandre Siobhan Stocks-Lyons Whitney Waugh Kayla Xavier
Marketing Associate and Graphic Designer Mary Pettit TICKETING AND DATABASE Ticketing and Database Manager Taylor Clark Group Sales Agent Molly Epstein Ticket and Academy Representatives Lauren Cregan Bonnie Kobzoff ACADEMY Academy Director Valerie Madonia Academy Business Manager Julia Patterson Junior Division Coordinator Kathi Crum
34 Colorado Ballet
PRODUCTION Technical Director and Production Manager Pete Nielson
Managing Director– Advancement Mark Hough Wardrobe Dressers Monica Rose Joe Tompkins Jeffrey Parizotto Makeup Artist Kari Kisch Wardrobe Assistant Ann Warner Master Carpenter Emeritus David Jackson Property Master Emeritus David Jaramillo Master Carpenter Mark Duran Assistant Carpenter/ Head Flyman Michael Duran Lighting Director Patrick “Red” Howard Master Electrician Susan Osborne Property Master Toni Steelmon Pyrotechnition Micki McDanel Drivers/Production Assistants Robert J. Harris David MacEachen Company Physical Therapist Mieke Braun Scripps MPT, DPT Assistant Physical Therapists Sarah Graham, MSPT Donna Osbaugh, PT, DPT Acupuncturist Lorita Travaglia, L.Ac, Dipl. CHM Chiropractor Dr. David S. Shapiro Massage Therapist Mike Dahlie, LMT Dahlie Therapeutic Massage, LLC
Production Stage Manager/ Facilities Manager Vitali Prokhnitski
Company Photographers Allen Birnbach Mike Watson
Company Manager Brandi Glass
Company Videographer David Andrews
Wardrobe Manager and Costume Designer Shirin Lankarani Wardrobe Assistant Manager Elijah Meader
PROUD SPONSOR OF
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36 Colorado Ballet
OPEN THE WORLD’S DOOR
Global-mindedness opens the world’s door at the International School of Denver. ISD teaches an international bilingual curriculum in French, Mandarin, Spanish and English from preschool to 5th grade, and students seamlessly integrate or can begin their ISD journey directly in our IB Middle Years Programme, 6th -8th grade. Accepting applications on a rolling basis for the 2016-2017 school year. Email admissions@isdenver.org for more information or to schedule a tour today!
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL of DENVER
www.isdenver.org Colorado Ballet 37
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