{"id":3388,"date":"2026-08-04T15:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3388"},"modified":"2026-08-04T15:36:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:36:10","slug":"dance-like-everybodys-watching-colorado-ballets-gil-boggs-on-20-years-of-tumult-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3388","title":{"rendered":"Dance like everybody\u2019s watching: Colorado Ballet\u2019s Gil Boggs on 20 years of tumult, growth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colorado Ballet can handle the weight.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not a metaphor, said artistic director Gil Boggs, who\u2019s marking his 20th year leading the state\u2019s top dance company. In fact, it\u2019s the product of disciplined, balanced steps \u2014 one after the other. Boggs has been busy this year with, among other things, redesigning parts of Colorado Ballet\u2019s Denver headquarters, including combining two smaller studios into a big one because they were spilling out of their former spaces.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe have to put some beams down in the basement to support all that, so it\u2019s going to take a little bit,\u201d Boggs said of the building at 1075 Santa Fe Drive, where the company moved 12 years ago. \u201cBut it\u2019s a good project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colorado Ballet is known for its classical performances at the historic Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Denver Performing Arts Complex, where its annually sold-out \u201cNutcracker\u201d shows take place. But the company offers nearly 60 different performances across five shows each year, reaching 100,000 people.<\/p>\n

And like other performing arts groups, from Opera Colorado to the Denver Center Theatre Company, the ballet must balance audience favorites and more challenging pieces to stay relevant, Boggs said. While that\u2019s been a constant concern, Boggs\u2019s wide-armed approach has worked well. He\u2019s seen a consistent uptick in audiences, programming and revenue that finds the nonprofit remarkably more limber than when he started the job on March 31, 2006.<\/p>\n

His wins include growing the 65-year-old company\u2019s annual budget from $6.2 million to $15.5 million, and reaching 40,000 people each year through educational and outreach programs at 300 schools and organizations, the company said. Under his leadership, the ballet has also increased the number of dancers from 27 to 40 and mounted 19 world premieres.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis kindness and humbleness are remarkable in a leader of his stature,\u201d said Colorado Ballet trustee Merry Logan.<\/p>\n

Colorado Ballet can be seen next at the Vail Dance Festival, where it will perform in the Aug. 9 \u201cColorado Dances\u201d program along with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance. Robinson and her world-touring ensemble are a close partner of the ballet over the last two decades, and one that just unveiled its own $25 million renovation and addition at its Denver headquarters.<\/p>\n

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Colorado Ballet continues to try new things. Ahead of its 2026-2027 artistic season, which runs from October through April with titles such as \u201cDon Quixote\u201d and \u201cThe Wizard of Oz,\u201d it announced free and pay-what-you-can programs for tickets. One is for schools and nonprofits, and another sets aside one performance of each show for patrons to choose their own price.<\/p>\n

That welcoming stance is a product of years of hard work and focus, Boggs\u2019s dancers say. He\u2019s steered the ship not only through the recession of 2007-2009, when the company nearly folded, but also through COVID in 2020 and 2021, when most artistic companies couldn\u2019t even perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn his position, he must be many things at once: a director, a conductor, a navigator, a businessman, a gardener nurturing talent, and even an inventive adventurer,\u201d said Maria Mosina, a dancer turned Ballet Master with Colorado Ballet. \u201cAbove all, Gil is a visionary. He understands the deeper meaning of everything that happens within the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Growing up in Atlanta, Boggs began his dance career with the Atlanta Ballet, and joined American Ballet Theatre in New York in 1982. There, he was promoted to soloist dancer in 1984, and principal dancer in 1991. He stayed there for 17 years, but also danced with top outfits such as the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends, and worked with choreographers such as Agnes de Mille, Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Merce Cunningham.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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But when Boggs was recruited to lead Colorado Ballet, he was working in the golf industry in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have movement of the body in common. You know, form <\/em>and technique<\/em>,\u201d he said. \u201cSome days you don\u2019t hit that pirouette, or that golf shot, but repetition helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

The job instantly rekindled his love of dance and brought him close to tears in those first days, he said, overwhelmed by \u201cthe beauty of it all.\u201d He got to work improving sets and adding staff and dancers. But it was a battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first got here, someone said, \u2018You know, this company owes a lot of money. How are you going to fix it?’\u201d he recalled. \u201cAnd my response was \u2018quality.\u2019 If it\u2019s there, people will come, and they will recognize it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the recession, Boggs was forced to cut the company\u2019s budget by a few million dollars, he said, and was urged to get rid of the live orchestra. He experimented with different productions, some bringing in a mere $250,000 for a performance run, which is not exactly enough to hang a pair of ballet shoes on, he said. Productions needed to be selling more like $800,000 to $900,000 worth of tickets to shore up the company, and the landmark \u201cNutcracker\u201d alone makes more than $3 million in an average year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shows we started doing catapulted us in a repertory direction,\u201d he said, referring to classics that have become part of Colorado Ballet\u2019s bread and butter. \u201cWe expanded from four to five productions a year, and did a tour with (Denver dance companies) Wonderbound and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance in 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collaboration is key in Denver\u2019s nonprofit artistic scene, and Boggs sees other companies as complementary, not competition. They have shared instructors and programs, and their academies \u2014 Colorado Ballet\u2019s has 1,200 students alone \u2014 have become valuable recruitment pools for Colorado\u2019s next generation of professional dancers.<\/p>\n

But he takes nothing for granted about the company\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a struggling organization, you don\u2019t take as many risks with your programming,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re in a financial position where we can. And if it doesn\u2019t work out? So be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you go<\/h4>\n

\u201cColorado Dances,\u201d with Colorado Ballet and Cleo Parker Robinson Dance<\/strong>. 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, at Vilar Performing Arts Center, as part of Vail Dance Festival. 68 Avondale Lane in Beaver Creek. Tickets: $71.50-$115.50. Visit vaildance.org\/event\/colorado-dances for more.<\/p>\n

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Colorado Ballet’s Gil Boggs on 20 years of tumult, growth. Balancing artistic rigor with fundraising, audience growth keeps Boggs and company on their toes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-news","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nDance like everybody\u2019s watching: Colorado Ballet\u2019s Gil Boggs on 20 years of tumult, growth - Colorado Springs Moverss<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=3388\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dance like everybody\u2019s watching: Colorado Ballet\u2019s Gil Boggs on 20 years of tumult, growth - Colorado Springs Moverss\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Colorado Ballet's Gil Boggs on 20 years of tumult, growth. 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