The Colorado Ballet keeps on dancing

Now in its 49th season, the Colorado Ballet continues to delight Denverites with classical works such as Swan Lake and A Midsummer Night's Dream — and aspires to make this company of world-class dancers one of the most innovative choreographic showcases in the United States. The ballet company stages five productions each season, some contemporary works and sometimes world premieres.

Past performances have included Don Quixote, Beauty and the Beast and Apollo, choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine. The Colorado Ballet, accompanied by its own orchestra, has put on the spectacular Carmina Burana, as well as up-and-coming Edwaard Liang's experimental The Feast Of Gods, a celebration of the passions of a band of traveling gypsies. 

With an annual operating budget of $6.6 million, 32 professional dancers and an expansive repertoire, the ballet keeps looking for new ways to entice and exhilarate audiences.

Of course, it doesn't neglect tradition: You can count on The Nutcracker's arrival each year at Christmastime as surely as you can December's snows. Colorado Ballet's principal dancers, such as Koichi Kubo, Alexei Tyukov and Maria Mosina, trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, along with their soloists and Corps de Ballet, have brought the broken toy Nutcracker to life again and again in gorgeous and magical performances.

The ballet has outreach programs, too, sending dancers into schools, working with adults and sponsoring scholarships. It kicked-off the recent season with performances at the University of Denver's Newman Center. 

Usually, though, the ballet performs in the 2,225-seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House: part of the huge Denver Performing Arts Complex — the second largest such in the world, after the Lincoln Center in New York. The Ellie Caulkins Opera House also houses Opera Colorado.

Located in downtown Denver on a four-block, 12-acre site, "The Plex" houses 10 performance spaces, all under the umbrella of a single, 80-foot-high glass roof. These include the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Ballet dance Nutcracker Bolshoi Swan Lake Balanchine