Kurtis Aragon, the owner of Altitude Performing Arts, knows that Summit County is a stomping ground for winter sports athletes. He wants the county to be known for its dancers, too. 

Aragon’s studio, which has locations in both Frisco and nearby Alma, recently wrapped up what he says was its most successful season yet. The culmination came when eight of his 24 dancers qualified and competed for the prestigious Outstanding Dancer title at the New York City Dance Alliance national competition in Phoenix from June 25 to July 2. 

“We really just try to broaden the mindset for Summit County because in a community that’s fueled by winter sports, a dance studio can be seen as gimmicky or just cutesy or fun,” Aragon said. “But when I have eight of my 24 dancers that qualified for Outstanding Dancer and got to compete for the national title … that is a big deal.” 

Dancers can qualify to compete for the national title if they’ve previously been selected as an Outstanding Dancer finalist at a regional New York City Dance Alliance competition. Aragon’s dancers competed this year in regional competitions across the country, including Utah, Colorado, Missouri, Wisconsin and Tennessee. 

Regional finalists then attend the national competition, where they take classes in all styles of dance, compete solos and perform in an opening number with other qualifiers from across the country. After having watched the dancers over the week-long competition, judges then choose national titleholders in each age division — from minis to seniors. 

These dancers can become New York City Dance Alliance assistants, earning them the chance to travel across the country with the competition. They also can win scholarships and other prizes. 

“They’re really looking for the overall package,” Aragon said. “Somebody that’s marketable, somebody that has a strong technical foundation, somebody that’s versatile because the kids ultimately are competing for the chance to be a traveling assistant with NYCDA.”

He noted that assistants have to be able to work with some of the country’s top dancers, who teach various styles of dance through the competition.

“You have to assist Chloe Arnold in tap, and then you have to go assist Boy Boy in hip hop and then Andy Pellick in contemporary. You have to have that range,” he said, naming a few faculty members.

Aragon strives to teach his dancers just that — he offers classes in ballet, hip hop, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, tap, pointe, acrobatics and tumbling, as well as other specialized classes like improv and strength training.

He said that the work has paid off this season, noting that each dancer’s solo at nationals was the “hands-down best” he’d seen them do. 

While none of Altitude’s dancers won the national outstanding dancer award, Aragon said it highlighted the magnitude of talent on display in Phoenix and provided his dancers with invaluable training and experience. 

“I always tell my dancers: if you’re the best dancer in the room, find a new room,” he said. 

Altitude Performing Arts has been open in Colorado’s high country for four years, though Aragon previously owned and operated a studio in his hometown of Trinidad.

Being a fairly new studio in a county not known nationally for its dance opportunities, he said, has caused their success to be met with some surprise when they travel.

“Everybody’s like, “Who is Altitude Performing Arts and where do they come from?” Aragon said. “We’re only 4 years old and doing things that 20-year-old studios are doing. That’s a huge testament to how hungry these kids are, how talented, how driven, how passionate and how supported they are by their parents.”

But Aragon doesn’t want his dancers to leave Summit County with just dance experience. He says that his students’ training sets them up for life as an adult, both inside and outside of the dance world. 

“I feel if you can take the stage as a soloist specifically, (if) you can command your presence, I think you can do anything,” he said. 

Of the studio’s three graduating seniors this year, one has committed to a four-year university and two were accepted to dance programs in the northeast, sharing their Summit County training across the nation. 

For Aragon, those achievements mean as much as a national title. 

“I don’t want to just create outstanding artists or outstanding athletes,” he said. “I want to create outstanding human beings.”