Estes Park locals and visitors alike will have the opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of 30 Estes Park Boys and Girls Clubs of Larimer County students who have been studying in a special program with Ballet Renaissance this summer. The students will perform this Wednesday at 7 p.m. on stage at Performance Park. The performance is one of a series of free outdoor summer concerts hosted by the Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park.
Estes Park Boys and Girls Clubs students will perform dances they have learned during 12 morning sessions taught on site at the Estes Park Elementary School by Ballet Renaissance Co-Directors and Estes Park residents Brianna Furnish and Radoslaw Kokoszka.
Kokoszka has crafted a special super hero dance for the boys and Furnish has staged an age-appropriate, beginning-level version of the Garland Dance from Sleeping Beauty for the girls. Most of the 30 students have never studied ballet before.
The program is part of a first wave of local Ballet Renaissance projects dedicated to Ayana Fernandez Portillo, the young Estes Park resident who lost her life in a tragic accident here in Estes on March 11. Classes were offered at no charge to students, and costumes (which include T-shirts and super hero masks for the boys, as well as ballet shoes, ballet tights and tutus for the girls), will be provided by Ballet Renaissance.
"Working with these students has been exceptionally inspiring," said Furnish. "The heart and soul of our program, and its mission, is reaching children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to benefit from the inspiration, focus, discipline and self-confidence that classical training provides. We are so inspired by these students and their progress."
The evening will also feature "An American in Paris," choreographed by Kokoszka earlier this year.
The performance is free and open to the public. Bring a blanket or a folding chair and join us on the lawn of Performance Park to support these wonderful students and their accomplishments.
Since 1986, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County (BGCLC) has been at the forefront of youth development, working with young people from disadvantaged economic, social, and family circumstances in Loveland and Fort Collins, since 1994 in Wellington, and since 2014 in Estes Park through a summer program. BGCLC currently serves over 3,500 youth in Larimer County each year. For more information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County and our programs, please call 970-223-1709 or visit www.BeGreatLarimer.org.
For more information about Ballet Renaissance, or to support this or other Ballet Renaissance outreach programs here in our local community, or to contribute to "Ayana's Hope," the new Ballet Renaissance tuition assistance endowment fund being established in honor of Ayana Fernandez Portillo at the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, please contact Ballet Renaissance: 970-480-7697 or email@example.com, or visit www.balletren.org.