COLORADO BALLET

Denver

News: There were many unique elements in Colorado Ballet’s signature fundraiser, The One Gala, yet if guests were asked to pick a favorite, it’s safe to say that the 500-plus attendees would agree that it was the performance of Yoshihisa Arai’s “Bolero.”

Gala chair Douglas Richards explained that Arai, a world-renowned dancer and choreographer, created the 15-minute piece for the Joffrey Ballet during the COVID-19 pandemic and that Colorado Ballet was the first company to perform it outside of Chicago.

Gil Boggs, Colorado Ballet’s artistic director, credits his wife, Sandra Brown, the company’s ballet mistress, with bringing “Bolero,” set to the 1928 score by French composer Maurice Ravel, to Colorado Ballet. “When we first saw it, she told me we had to do it,” Boggs recalled. “I said, ‘OK, but it’s on you.’ ”

The prolonged standing ovation it received at The One Gala validated their decision.

In addition to The One Gala, performances of “Bolero” were part of the three ballets featured in Ballet MasterWorks, a series of performances that closed out Colorado Ballet’s 63rd season.

The One Gala occurred on April 18 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. In addition to the “Bolero” performance, festivities included a cocktail reception, a live auction by The Gala Team’s Debbie Scheer and dinner. The evening concluded with martinis, a dessert buffet and dancing.

Raydean Acevedo, whose longtime support of Colorado Ballet was recognized when the company named its training academy in her honor, was the gala’s Angel Sponsor. A lifetime member of the Colorado Ballet board of trustees, Acevedo is the president and chief executive officer of Research Management Consultants, Inc., a $10 million information technology services and environmental engineering firm. The Raydean Acevedo Colorado Ballet Academy is Colorado’s premier ballet training institution. It awards some $150,000 annually in need-based and merit-based scholarships to students who wouldn’t otherwise be able to study there.

Colorado Ballet’s executive director, Sameed Afghani, and board co-chairs Brent Backes and Michelle Moorman-Applegate joined such fellow trustees as Denise Sanderson, Merry Logan, and Jane Netzorg in welcoming guests that included emeritus trustees Lisa Levin Appel and Christin Crampton Day. Crampton Day is also the executive director of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts.

Dancer-choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson was there, too, along with Chris Ross, senior vice president at U.S. Bank, with husband Ed Cannon, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Denver; Stephanie Forbes Donner, CEO and chief legal and people officer for Inspire Clean Energy; Andrew Feinstein, CEO and managing partner for EXDO Development, and wife Sarah McCarthy; Sean Murphy, honorary consul for the Republic of Malta, and his wife, Jocelyn; and Allie Coppeak, who is on the committee for the 2024 Vail Dance Festival.

About the organization: Colorado Ballet is dedicated to presenting exceptional classical ballet and contemporary dance through performances, training, education, and community engagement while inspiring and growing an increasingly diverse audience base.

Website: coloradoballet.org

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