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Local dance studios host spring recitals in Breckenridge

Krista Driscoll
kdriscoll@summitdaily.com
Natalie Cuadrado, Isabella Pestello and Olivia Roy dance in the subway on a February trip to New York City. Alpine Dance Academy will present its spring recital, “New York, New York,” on Saturday, May 16.
Courtesy of Alpine Dance Academy |

If you go

What: “New York, New York,” Alpine Dance Academy spring recital

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, May 16

Where: Riverwalk Center, 150 W. Adams Ave., Breckenridge

Cost: $10 for adults, $5 for students, children 4 and younger free

More information: Tickets are available at the door, cash or local check only. Visit http://www.alpinedanceacademy.com.

What: “Dance at its Peak,” Summit School of Dance spring recital

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, May 16, and 4 p.m. Sunday, May 17

Where: Summit High School auditorium, 16201 state Highway 9, Breckenridge

Cost: $15 for reserved seating, $10 for adults, $5 for students

More information: Tickets can be purchased at the door or reserved ahead of time by calling call (970) 668-3975. Visit http://www.summitschoolofdanceco.com.

Dance season is coming to an end in Summit County, which means the donning of sequins, toe shoes and tutus for spring dance recitals.

Summit School of Dance

The spring season at Summit School of Dance commenced with the opening of a new studio in Breckenridge and will culminate in a pair of recitals on Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, at the Summit High School auditorium in Breckenridge.



The award-winning CO.motion Dancers, who have traveled to four regional competitions this year, will perform several dances that have won them gold and high gold trophies, including the opening number “Come Get It,” plus “Fancy Flappers,” “On the Porch,” “Rather Be” and “Different.”

“They’re a pretty diverse group,” said Melanie Frey, director of the Summit School of Dance. “There’s a couple of older students with a crop of younger students in there this year. There’s the ability of the older girls to bring the new girls up to level and up to par, and it has created a really nice, cohesive group that are all really good friends, too. The big girls have taken the younger girls under their wings.”



The recital features all ages of performers in routines from classical ballet and tap to jazz, contemporary and hip-hop. Tiny tots will dance with their teddy bears and rock out as dinosaurs and ladybugs, Boys Club will perform as construction workers, and there will be appearances from mini Miss Americas, Cool Kids and musical theater performers.

Also included in the lineup is Junior Co.motion, a group of dancers who competed at five competitions this year and will perform their award-winning “Thneedville,” a dance that took a first-place high-point award at the Showbiz Regional Competition in Denver. Frey said her students are looking forward to the recital.

“It’s about every student in the studio and how hard they’ve worked, from the tiniest ones, who couldn’t jump or skip in the beginning and are now up onstage and doing things, feeing very confident about what they are doing,” Frey said, “to the older girls who continue to grow and are dancing more emotionally connected to their pieces.”

Alpine Dance Academy

Alpine Dance Academy will present its spring recital, “New York, New York,” on Saturday, May 16, at the Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge. Rather than just bringing to stage a collection of routines, the studio has created a storyline that weaves through the production, tying together each of the performances.

“It’s about a group of kids who graduate from something — you can use your imagination, high school, college, dental school, whatever you imagine,” said Kelly Monahon, director of Alpine Dance Academy. “They go off and they become different things like doctors and waitresses, and three girls don’t really know what they want to do, so they get on a bus and go to New York.

“They explore and they visit China Town, Little Italy, Wall Street, Central Park. They go to a Yankee game and see the Statue of Liberty, and they go to auditions and try to make it as dancers — and they all kind of end up finding their niche in New York.”

Alpine Dance Academy provides instruction for ages 3 through high school in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop, pointe, acro (acrobatics) and musical theater, and each of the classes will have a part to play in the ensemble.

“Tap 2 is doing a tap dance with baseball bats, and they are representing Yankee Stadium. They are doing ‘Center Field,’ by John Fogerty,” Monahon said. “One of the girls from the musical theater class is singing the national anthem before the baseball game.”

The modern dance class will represent Wall Street with a sharp, business-inspired routine dressed in suits and ties, and contemporary ballet will perform another fast-paced piece to represent taxis traveling through rush-hour traffic. The New York City Ballet will have its place in a performance of “Jewels.”

The spring recital provides an opportunity for the dance students, including senior soloists Bryan Nelson, Kaelin Kaczka, Natalie Cuadrado and Isabella Pestello, to showcase their talents and the work they’ve put into the routines.

“A lot of athletes have games throughout the year, and dancers work extremely hard all year long, and this is the one time they get to be onstage and show what they’ve accomplished,” Monahon said. “Other than parents who watch from the hallway, a dance studio isn’t really conducive to people coming in and watching them in class, so this is their big moment. They’re very excited.”


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