Boulder Ballet

A nonprofit organization

Boulder Ballet celebrates its 41st season! 

Join us for an extraordinary year of transformative art that brings power, passion, and play to center stage. Your support keeps our company dancers creating new productions, provides scholarships to aspiring students, and brings our educational outreach program to Title 1 schools and more.

Recent Boulder Ballet Highlights:

  • We've had an incredible start to our season. A big thank you to everyone who joined us at the Chautauqua Auditorium and/or at the Lakewood Cultural Center! As the fall season officially unfolds, we have much to look forward to. One event we always eagerly anticipate is, The Nutcracker.
  • Boulder Ballet Wins 'What's your peace award' in October 2023. We had the privilege of receiving a prestigious award at Mental Health Colorado's annual Tribute event, celebrating our contribution to the well-being of Coloradans. We are truly honored and deeply grateful for this recognition.
  • Boulder Ballet’s recent initiatives include launching an after-school program in a Title One elementary school, free community meditation classes, and bi-lingual ballet classes in partnership with I Have A Dream and PLAYpass.

Testimonials

“I found my home. I don’t think there is anywhere else where I could be my authentic self” ~ Catherine Lasak – Company Artist (on joining Boulder Ballet on 2023) 

Boulder Ballet has won "Best of Boulder Live Dance Group" every year for over ten years. "With performances that range from elegant, classic fairy tales to contemporary stories of imagination, power and love, ballet is a mixture of athleticism and grace. Boulder Ballet takes the audience into different worlds through its rich interpretations of the human story. Since the 1980s, the company has been enriching the whole region with their mix of classic and contemporary shows, while pursuing innovation, programmatic growth and an attention to quality that really makes these dancers shine. With programs all year long, Boulder Ballet always has a unique theatrical performance just waiting for you to experience." ~Boulder Weekly, 2019

"Boulder has much to be proud of with its resident production of The Nutcracker." ~Denver Post 

"Quintessential Nutcracker - whimsical and delightful." ~KUNC Radio

Mission

Boulder Ballet delivers excellence in artistic expression and ignites a passion for dance through cutting-edge performance, high-caliber training, inclusivity, and community outreach.

Background Statement

The Ballet Arts Studio was founded in the 1970s as the Ballet Arts Studio of Boulder by Larry Boyette. In 1982 Barbara Demaree and Wanda Tierney took over the studio and started the first performing ensemble, then named Boulder City Ballet. In 1985, the name was changed to Boulder Ballet Ensemble, and in 1995 the present names Boulder Ballet and Boulder Ballet School were adopted. Our rich history includes bringing classical, contemporary, and uniquely theatrical ballet to venues that range from Estes Park to Highlands Ranch. Boulder Ballet typically performs in Chautauqua Auditorium, Macky Auditorium, Vance Brand Auditorium, the Dairy ARTS Center, the Stanley Hotel, Lakewood Cultural Center and in outdoor venues in Highlands Ranch and Boulder. Last season, we were thrilled to make our debut at the Vail Dance Festival.

Since its founding, the professional company has been influenced by several notable artists, including Milenko Banovich (Zagreb Ballet), Robin Haig (Royal Ballet), and John Prinz (American Ballet Theatre). Subsequent directors Peter Davison, Ana Claire and Lance Hardin built on this strong tradition of artistic excellence through innovation, programmatic growth, and attention to quality. The past two years have featured works by well known choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Christopher Wheeldon, Amy Hall Garner, Amy Seiwert, Gregory Dawson and Sidra Bell. In 2022 Ben Needham-Wood was named Artistic Director, ushering in a new phase of growth for the company. The 2022-23 season features works by Twyla Tharp and Caili Quan, a reimagined Nutcracker, and the spring production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. In a typical season we offer 25 performances reaching 20,000+ people in the metro-Denver region including continuing collaborations with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and Longmont Symphony Orchestra.

Students of the Boulder Ballet School have excelled in a number of competitions, including the world's largest, the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP), where BBS students have won first-place awards and the regional Grand Prix (single highest award), and have been invited to perform in the finals among the world's finest young dancers. Former BBS students have gone on to study and dance with eminent companies throughout the world including American Ballet Theatre, Ballet West, Ballet British Columbia, Dutch National Ballet (Amsterdam), New York City Ballet, the Royal Ballet (London), and Sacramento Ballet among others.

Boulder Ballet is a founding resident organization of the Dairy ARTS Center in central Boulder.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Boulder Ballet

Year Established

2005

Tax id (EIN)

20-3447830

Category

Arts, Culture & Humanities

Organization Size

Large Organization

Address

2590 Walnut Street, Suite #10
Boulder, CO 80302

Service areas

Boulder County, CO, US

Douglas County, CO, US

Jefferson County, CO, US

Phone

303-443-0028

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