Broomfield Community Spotlight Series #6: Danse Etoile Ballet (Brought to you by Natascha Lee Studios)

th installment of Community Spotlight is here and this week we are featuring Danse Etoile Ballet located in Broomfield, Colorado As previous ballet dancers ourselves, we at Natasha Lee Studios are beyond excited to feature a great local company, Danse Etoile Ballet, that puts on amazing performances that cater to both the art lover and families. To get to know more about Danse Etoile Ballet we talked with founder and owner, Marie-Jose Payannet. [caption id="attachment_3120" align="aligncenter" width="245"] Photo Credit: Photo provided by Marie Jose[/caption]

Can you tell us about Danse Etoile Ballet?

Danse Etoile Ballet is a non-profit dance organization founded by Marie-Jose Payannet. Dedicated to offering artists of all ages a place to refine their talent and an opportunity to perform. Since its first performance in January of 2005, Danse Etoile has produced original story ballets ranging from the classical to the contemporary and folk styles.

How did DanseEtoile Ballet get its start?

Incorporated in 2004 in service in 2005 for our first performances at the Dance is for everybody and the dairy center . We didn’t have a studio and rehearsed everywhere sometimes 9pm at night, Sundays, without heat…. Our first class was on an indoor soccer field.

When you were practicing on soccer fields and without heat did you think that you would ever be where you are today?

I had no idea. I was just focused on teaching and rehearsing the best I could for our first performance. One day at the time with a vision.

[caption id="attachment_3121" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Photo Credit: Macht[/caption]

How would you describe the mission of Danse Etoile Ballet?

Danse Etoile Ballet is dedicated to producing quality artistic performances, programs, and instruction, which will foster access to, and appreciation of dance and theater for new audiences.

What type of classes does Danse Etoile Ballet offer for different ages and skill sets?

By maintaining small class sizes, dancers of all ages are given individual attention and guidance tailored to their specific needs. The family atmosphere at Danse Etoile  provides a healthy environment where dancers feel comfortable to push themselves out of their comfort zones and reach new levels of success. The performance opportunities given to our dancers are un-paralleled to any other company. Dancers are not only expected to be technical in their art, but also be professional in their performance

Why is ballet an important skill to learn?

It is not ballet by itself. It is the all aspect of professional training in a safe, family like environment where students can strive to be their best, learn a hard physical discipline, learn a team effort as well as to be mentally strong when challenged, learn to perform in front of difference audiences and at different venues, volunteer, understand the importance of Arts in the community. Ballet is also a great way to stay in shape and not being bored as it gets challenging very quickly.

Interested in becoming a performer, or getting your children involved? Checkout their summer sessions that are now enrolling!

How does Danse Etoile Ballet positively affect the community?

Danse Etoile Ballet strives to produce three full-length performances every season. These performances are funded through local and national grants as well as local businesses. Each performance consist of three to four shows, held over a period of two days. Each show attracts an audience ranging from 150 to 400 people from Boulder, Broomfield and Denver counties. We feel that it is important for our community to be involved in the arts. Every performance we provide discounted and free tickets to organizations like the Girl Scouts, retirement communities, and other local non-profits. By sponsoring a performance, you enable us to continue allowing dance as well as the arts, to be accessible to our community. As well as producing full-length performances, we participate in community events such as the Boulder Creek Festival, Dance is for Everybody and the Broomfield Days. The company also performs in several schools as part of our outreach program. By sponsoring a season you are aiding us in our effort to educate the community on the importance of the arts.

[caption id="attachment_3123" align="aligncenter" width="408"] Photo Credit: Provided by Dance Etoile[/caption]

Can you tell us a little more about your kid-friendly/family performances? What should a family expect at a show?

All the performances we produced are fun to watch for everyone at different levels. They are colorful, unique, great music and choreography, often with a touch of humor, very lively. The theater is small and you can see well from everywhere, the kids can come and meet with the dancers and be inspired to dance.  It is somewhat intimate and you get really caught up in the performance. And the ticket price is cheap so even low income families can enjoy it.

At Natascha Lee Studios we love that Danse Etoile Ballet has performances that are catered to families and young audiences – it is amazing to get to expose kids to the arts, especially in this capacity of talent and entertainment value!

To learn more about Danse Etoile Ballet, click here to visit them online

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