Colorado West Performing Arts Company — The Joy Of Ballet On The Western Slope
As the Western Slope arts scene rapidly grows, Colorado West Performing Arts Company (CWPAC) is taking to the stage with hopes to shine a light on performing arts.
“Colorado West Performing Arts Company is the first professional ballet company on the Western Slope,” shares Theresa Kahl, executive director of CWPAC. The company produces four full stage ballet productions per season and organizes multiple outreach opportunities.
Photos by Callie Newby.
“We want to share the joy of ballet with the Western Slope,” says company dancer Katherine Grace-Shamburek. “Dancers from Western Slope communities would have to leave and relocate to other cities if they wanted to pursue a career performing ballet,” she says. “Now, CWPAC is making the opposite happen and bringing in talented dancers from outside Grand Junction to grow a company that is based in and intended to serve Western Slope communities. This allows children and families the opportunity to go to the theater and see favorite fairytale characters, like Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan, in real life. It gives dance students on the Western Slope role models who they can look up to.”
Zephan Holt, a company dancer originally from Oregon, shares, “I have only been here for a couple of months, and I already have seen how much this company has inspired the younger generation and how much it is appreciated by the older generations. It is a great feeling to see how much impact we as a company have in our local community.” While CWPAC does perform the classics, the company also has an emphasis on performing many different styles such as modern, contemporary ballet and jazz.
CWPAC also prioritizes representing diversity in dancing. “CWPAC is about breaking stereotypical norms that come with dancing. Every one of our dancers was hired based off their talent but also [for] their passion,” Kahl expresses. “We want our audiences to relate with what they watch, believing that will make them connect more and more with what is onstage.”
“We want to share our love for our craft with everyone. Ballet was not meant to be solitary. It was meant to be shared with audiences,” CWPAC company dancer Valerie Garcia emphasizes. “Everyone involved with Colorado West Performing Arts Company has a love of dance, of expressing ourselves through movement and music.”
With each performance, Colorado West Performing Arts Company aims to create connection and joy. The opportunity to be whisked away to a world of imagination and magic is just down the street, and that, whether you’re a seasoned theater goer or a first-timer, gives Western Slope locals and visitors alike a reason to rejoice.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
Nutcracker
Dec. 16-23, 2023 — Robinson Theatre
The Little Mermaid
Feb. 23, 25, 2024 — Avalon Theatre
March 2-3, 2024 — Montrose Pavilion
Originally published in the Winter 2023 issue of Spoke+Blossom.