DENVER BALLET GUILD

Denver

News: Forty-eight recent high school graduates – 32 debutantes and 16 Young Men of Distinction – were presented at the 2023 Le Bal de Ballet, a family-oriented celebration that has literally raised millions of dollars since its start 55 years ago.

Le Bal de Ballet is the Denver Ballet Guild’s signature fundraiser and each year the proceeds are distributed in the form of grants to nonprofit dance companies and programs that further the art of dance.

Westminster resident Maura Johnson chaired the June 10 event, where honorees included Kate Jordan Little, a five-sport athlete and state DECA president, is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School. The daughter of Christy and Christopher Little of Denver will attend the University of Colorado Boulder as a Boettcher Scholar, Leeds Scholar and U.S. Presidential Scholar. The daughter of Christy and Christopher Little, Kate will major in environmental science and business management/entrepreneurship as the first step toward her goal of becoming an environmental policy lawyer.

Once her studies are complete, Kate will be part of an eight-generation family legacy of lawyers and judges. And, in the event she would go into politics, she would be following the footsteps of her great-grandfather, the late Joe Little, who had been mayor of Cherry Hills Village from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s.

“It’s been quite a year,” Kate said, in what could be the understatement of the year.

In keeping with tradition, Le Bal de Ballet began at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House where honorees were introduced to an audience made up of families and friends by master of ceremonies Arthur Espinoza Jr. Afterward, it was on to the Sheraton Denver Downtown for dinner, dancing and entertainment tied to the La Belle Epoque theme.

Three sets of twins – Lila and Gavin Crowley, Faith and Lauren Good and Ella and Peter Kitt – and one set of triplets — Caley, Keely and Riley Walsh – also were among those presented. The Crowley twins, graduates of Heritage High School, are accomplished athletes. Lily will compete in Division 1 track and cross country and Texas Tech University while her brother will play Division 1 golf at Siena College in Loudonville, N.Y.

Others winning athletic scholarships to Division 1 schools are Reagan Digby (lacrosse, Duke University); Garrett Jobe (lacrosse, Queens University); Tommy Marsh (baseball, Tulane University); Tanner Morely (football, Colorado State University); Trey Stott (football, University of San Diego) and Addie Whitehouse (soccer, Santa Clara University).

Young Man of Distinction Joe Miller, a graduate of Cherry Creek High School and a member of the U.S. Drone National Team, will continue his studies at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Debutante Kendall Hougard, also a Thomas Jefferson High grad, dances with Colorado Ballet and will further her education at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Le Bal de Ballet always has a sentimental side to it. This year it came to bear in Emerson Helm, who wore the gown that her mother, Patti, had worn 25 years previous when she married Blake Helm. Emerson, a graduate of Cherry Creek High School, will attend the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

And, 16 of the honorees – Petra Augustine, Sutton Damiano, Reagan Digby, Riley Warner, Eleanor Goldstein, Savanna Hanley, Robert Jacoby, Garrett Jobe, Audrey Logan, Joe Miller, Luke Nelligan, Sydney Reavis, Elizabeth Storey, Morgan Tempel, the Kitt twins and Kate Little — were legacies: those with sisters, brothers, mothers and aunts who had been debutantes or Young Men of Distinction in previous years.

Also presented were Virginia Anderson, Lucy Cochran, Lauren Frankmore, Sophia Frei, Caroline Gibson, Megan Wei-Chung Ho, Jane Lauchli, Claire Millisor, Mary Patteson, Ashley Thomas, Riley Warner, Paige Wolf, Trace Beuhler, Willis Browning, Toren Knepper, Grayson Perkins, Reed Schneider, Aiden Shipman, Trey Stott and Archer VanSickle.

About the organization: Denver Ballet Guild is a volunteer-driven nonprofit whose 450 members work to promote and support the dance arts. The guild awards annual grants to local dance companies and sponsors the annual Showcase of Dance and the yearly Young Dancers Competition. Its fundraising efforts enable the guild to award over $180,000 per year to the Colorado dance community.

Website: denverballetguild.org

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