A new ballet studio is opening in downtown Longmont, the Centennial State Ballet nonprofit announced Wednesday.
The organization chose the Longmont Creative District for its new school — an area where dancers can thrive, said Moriah Sullivan, board of directors president for the nonprofit.
“Finding studio space in that area has been a goal of ours for quite a few years, and we have been looking, looking, looking — so we were pretty excited to stumble on this and realize our little dream,” Sullivan said.
Centennial State Ballet was created more than a decade ago, but the Longmont nonprofit has never had a “home base,” she explained.
“It’s the very first time that Centennial State Ballet will be able to offer classes,” Sullivan said. “We have always rented space only for rehearsals, and we’ve pulled our students from other ballet schools, because we’ve only had the performance aspect … we’re adding our training ground and our student base to our organization, so we’re expanding our nonprofit.”
The newly leased studio, at 350 Terry St., Suite 110, will officially open for a summer intensive training session June 5, but a public open house will be held from 4:30-7 p.m. on Friday.
“We want to welcome everybody and show them the cool space we have, and bring all our dancers together in our community,” Sullivan said.
Open house attendees will be offered guided tours of the facility, the chance to participate in a raffle and the opportunity to purchase tickets to the organization’s upcoming gala “The Little Snow White.”
Registration is open for the new school’s eight-week summer intensive ballet program, which will also offer cross-training with Pilates, Bollywood, hip hop, jazz, tap, modern and aerial classes.
“We believe that a well-rounded student is trained in every area of performance,” Sullivan said. “Every week will be something different, but there will always be ballet during their week.”
Flexible classes will be offered for students ages 3 to 18, with the older dancers training more intensely in ballet and strength conditioning, she explained.
In addition to a range of dance skills, students learn about perseverance and hard work, Sullivan said.
“Training nurtures a student’s character,” she said. “I really feel like an education in ballet, and that ability to be there every single day, shows up throughout life.”
Centennial State Ballet dancers perform in “The Nutcracker” every holiday season in the Niwot High School auditorium, a fall showcase every September in Longmont’s Stewart Auditorium and a gala event every spring.
Longmont is a very supportive community for Centennial State Ballet, Sullivan said. Many performances sell out, and there are always plenty of volunteers, organizations and agencies helping the nonprofit, which offers scholarships to dancers who may not otherwise be able to afford classes.
“We have some wonderful relationships we’ve made with the St. Vrain Valley School District, the arts district, the creative district, the chamber — in Longmont, we’ve got friends everywhere,” she explained. “It’s been a pretty great community.”
