Colorado Ballet Forced to Furlough Dancers and Reduce Staff Salaries in Response to Pandemic
DENVER, CO (September 2, 2020) – Colorado Ballet announced that its Company and Studio Company Dancers will be laid off until January 2021 in response to the ongoing global pandemic, which has forced the organization to postpone and cancel all performances until 2021. Additionally, the organization’s academy, artistic, production and administrative staff teams received pay cuts that will remain in effect for the foreseeable future.
As a performing arts organization that is unable to perform at the present time, Colorado Ballet has lost its largest source of revenue generation until live performances can be resumed. As such, the organization needed to make immediate adjustments to its business model to survive and ultimately to thrive in the post pandemic world.
With payroll representing the organization’s largest expense area, Colorado Ballet needed to reduce current payroll expenses in order to align its cost structure with expected program spend reductions. Salary reductions were implemented across the organization at all levels of Colorado Ballet’s artistic, teaching and administrative staffs.
“We are truly heartbroken that as an organization we’ve been forced to make this decision. While this reality is devastating for everyone at Colorado Ballet, we know that it is a temporary situation. We will get through this prolonged intermission together and we will return from this in a position of strength on the other side of this pandemic,” stated Artistic Director Gil Boggs.
“We value each and every person who works at Colorado Ballet and their respective contributions. Making these necessary reductions is not easy, nor was it done without consideration for its impact. However, in order to remain viable, the actions we are taking are meant to sustain our business, both now and in the future.”
Colorado Ballet’s Executive Staff along with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees will continue meeting on a regular basis to re-evaluate the organization’s current situation and associated progress, in order to continue navigating these challenging times in the best way possible.
RELIEF & RECOVERY FUND
With the cancellation of The Nutcracker and Ballet MasterWorks, as well as the postponement of Giselle to April 2021, Colorado Ballet is dependent upon fundraising as its primary source of income for the remainder of 2020. Considering this extreme need, they have launched a Relief & Recovery Fund. With a fundraising goal of $3 million, this fund will help to cover a significant portion of the loss of ticketed revenue, helping Colorado Ballet to emerge from this crisis as the strong company it has become over the past 60 years. Please consider making a gift today. Contributions will support Colorado Ballet’s dancers, Academy and Education and Community Engagement programs, and enable Colorado Ballet to return to the stage once performances can resume.
You can help Colorado Ballet during these extraordinary times by starting a fundraising campaign of your own. Go to: http://coloradoballet.org/reliefandrecovery to find out more about how you can help.
LATEST NEWS & DIGITAL FEATURES
To find out more about Colorado Ballet’s digital features and virtual programming, please visit coloradoballet.org and follow Colorado Ballet on Social Media for the latest updates. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube
60th ANNIVERSARY SEASON PRODUCTIONS
Single tickets for The Great Gatsby will go on sale December 1
The Great Gatsby | February 5 – 7, 2021
Ellie Caulkins Opera House
The Wizard of Oz | March 5 – 14, 2021
Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Giselle | April 9 – 18, 2021
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 60 years of excellence.As a world-class professional company, Colorado Ballet presents 55 performances annually to sold-out audiences in the 2,000 seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The Company’s 32 professional dancers and 21 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 and Community Engagement programming serves under-resourced students, teachers, families, people with disabilities and lifelong learners, reaching more than 35,000 contacts in 300 schools and organizations annually. For more information please visit COLORADOBALLET.ORG.
