Colorado Ballet Celebrates Principal Dancer Asuka Sasaki's 20th Season
Denver, CO (October 10, 2024) – Colorado Ballet celebrates Principal Dancer Asuka Sasaki’s 20th season with the Company. This year, she is performing the leading role of Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Colorado Ballet’s 2024/2025 season opener.
This celebration honors an important milestone in Sasaki’s career as a professional dancer and is a testament to twenty years of passion, dedication, and commitment to her craft. “Twenty years feels like a long time, but it’s shorter than you think! I’m so grateful to have had so many years with the same company, and everything is like a good memory for me,” Asuka Sasaki expressed. “My first season was actually Sleeping Beauty! It was the first time I got to dance in the beautiful Ellie Caulkins Opera House, so it was very special.”
View Asuka Sasaki’s 20th season celebration video online.
“As my career has evolved, I’ve realized pure technique is not enough; I’ve had to work on my acting and my connection with a partner to really make the audience feel the storytelling, because each time I perform I want to make them excited too,” Sasaki explained.
Sasaki was offered a position with Colorado Ballet in 2005 as a member of the Corps de Ballet by former Artistic Director Martin Fredmann. In 2010, Artistic Director Gil Boggs promoted Asuka to Soloist and then to Principal in 2017. “Colorado Ballet is honored to celebrate Asuka and her 20 years as a dancer with the company. Her impressive rise through the ranks is the career trajectory that all dancers dream about,” stated Boggs.
During her extensive career with Colorado Ballet, Sasaki has worked with accomplished repetiteurs and choreographers, and has performed in numerous leading roles, such as Kitri in Don Quixote, Marguerite in Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, Firebird in Firebird, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, and Nellie in Val Caniparoli’s Jekyll & Hyde.
“Dancing in Don Quixote was my childhood dreams come true! When I was young, I watched the recording of the ballet every day, even multiple times per day. I just love it — the music, the choreography, the story, the costumes, everything,” recalled Sasaki.
“Asuka is the dedicated dancer that any artistic director could hope for. Her performances throughout the years have been magical and full of beauty. Colorado Ballet would not be the success it is today without Asuka’s artistry,” declared Artistic Director Gil Boggs.
The final 2:00 p.m. performance of Sleeping Beauty on Sunday, October 13, will include a special celebration of Asuka’s 20th anniversary season during the curtain call.
Learn more about Asuka Sasaki’s career highlights on the Colorado Ballet website.
SLEEPING BEAUTY PERFORMANCE DATES AND TIMES
Friday, October 4, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 11, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.*
Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, October 13, 2024 at 2:00 p.m.
*Audio described performance
TICKETS
Tickets range from $40 to $160. Visit COLORADOBALLET.ORG or call Patron Services at 303-837-8888 ext. 2 to purchase tickets.
To continue to reduce the number of ticket resellers, please purchase directly through Colorado Ballet via the website or phone number listed above. Tickets purchased through resellers may not be valid.
EVENT LISTING FOR SLEEPING BEAUTY
Colorado Ballet presents Sleeping Beauty
October 4-13, 2024 | Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Tickets start at $40 at COLORADOBALLET.ORG
Step into a dreamland where classical sensibility meets storybook magic as Colorado Ballet presents Sleeping Beauty. A fairy tale romance that culminates in the power of true love’s kiss, this iconic masterpiece dazzles with breathtaking variations, sumptuous sets and costumes, and Tchaikovsky’s enchanting score performed live by the Colorado Ballet Orchestra.
MORE UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS
The Nutcracker | November 30–December 29, 2024 | Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Casanova | January 31–February 9, 2025 | Ellie Caulkins Opera House
ALICE (in wonderland) | March 7–16, 2025 | Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Ballet MasterWorks | April 11–20, 2025 | Featuring George Balanchine’s Serenade, Jirí Kylián’s Petite Mort, and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room | Ellie Caulkins Opera House
ABOUT COLORADO BALLET
Presenting exceptional classical ballet and innovative contemporary dance through performances, training, education and community engagement, Colorado Ballet continues to inspire and grow an increasingly diverse audience base in Denver, Colorado. Established in 1961 by Lillian Covillo and Freidann Parker, Colorado Ballet is a non-profit organization celebrating 63 years of excellence. As a world-class professional company serving over 100,000 national and international patrons, Colorado Ballet presents over 50 performances annually to sold-out audiences in the 2,000 seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The Company’s 40 professional dancers and 25 studio company dancers come from all over the world. Colorado Ballet’s The Armstrong Center for Dance, a 35,000 square foot building, boasts eight state-of-the-art professional dance studios and amenities for the professional Company. Under the direction of Artistic Director Gil Boggs, Colorado Ballet performs classical ballet masterpieces, full-length story ballets and its critically acclaimed repertory production Ballet MasterWorks, featuring varied works from neoclassical ballets to world premieres. The Raydean Acevedo Colorado Ballet Academy serves over 1,200 students from toddlers to seniors each year. Colorado Ballet’s Education & Community Engagement offers programs to students and community members, making over 25,000 contacts and reaching over 200 schools and organizations annually. Participants come from a variety of backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses including youth, families, teachers, and people with and without disabilities. For more information, please visit coloradoballet.org.
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