Tickets on Sale Now for Fancy Footwork, Colorado Ballet's Dancer-Produced Performance Series

Proceeds support the Next Step Fund to help dancers prepare for their career transitions

Denver, CO (March 3, 2025) – Colorado Ballet’s annual dancer-led production Fancy Footwork returns this April as dancers and dance lovers come together for a good cause.

For over a decade, Fancy Footwork has existed as a dancer-produced and choreographed performance, open to both Company and Studio Company members, and takes place in April following the close of the Colorado Ballet MasterWorks production. All proceeds (from ticketing, donations, and the Silent Auction) go towards the Next Step Fund, a grant created to financially support and facilitate career change for Colorado Ballet company dancers, ideally to help them realize their transition plan well before reaching that milestone moment.

This year’s production of Fancy Footwork features new works from three Colorado Ballet dancers, and includes original costumes, set & lighting design, and an original composition with live music.

Colorado Ballet extends credit and gratitude to Demi-Soloist Sean Omandam for his instrumental work in founding and creating the Next Step Fund and Fancy Footwork in 2011. Omandam decided to start the fund because he wanted dancers to feel empowered in their professional lives so that “the moment they take their final bow, they’re ready to take their next steps off the stage and into pursuing their passion of choice with some financial support.” From 2011 to 2025, Omandam produced the performances each year; however, he will retire from dancing with Colorado Ballet at the end of this season. With his departure from this role, Principal Jennifer Grace and Soloist Jeremy Studinski are taking over leadership of this program as co-producers with Grace starting this year, while Studinski has been a Co-Producer of Fancy Footwork since 2023.

Since the inception of Fancy Footwork, Colorado Ballet has always provided support and resources to enable its success; however this year for the first time, Colorado Ballet organized and allocated a specific production budget to further build this program and support its success going forward. “Fancy Footwork remains an important production that Colorado Ballet offers, and as we aim to foster an ever-increasing holistic approach to supporting our dancers, we recognize the value and importance of helping to make their Next Step Fund as successful as possible, and of supporting this incredible experience and opportunity for them to create and host an intimate program choreographed by the dancers,” stated Executive Director Sameed Afghani.

While the most common use for the grant is to cover the cost of continued education and/or further training/certification in adjacent fields such as Pilates, Gyrotonics, or yoga, some dancers may also use the funds to start or improve a business, or to acquire resources and assets needed to further other entrepreneurial endeavors.

Colorado Ballet’s Fancy Footwork fundraising goal for this year’s Next Step Fund program is $30,000; help reach that goal by purchasing a ticket to a performance, giving directly to the Next Step Fund, or donating to the Silent Auction.

“This is a truly unique production and grant model that gives our dancers the confidence to shine on their own and for them to have pride and agency in taking the next steps in their careers,” reflected Artistic Director Gil Boggs.

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 65 years of excellence. As a world-class professional company serving over 100,000 national and international patrons, Colorado Ballet presents 58 performances annually to sold-out audiences in the 2,000 seat Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The Company’s 40 professional dancers and 22 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 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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