Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laurel Winton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Laurel, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our mission at Dance Aspen is to enrich the Roaring Fork Community through locally based curations of high caliber dance. Through strengthening the local arts presence, we believe that our community will not only fully embody the cultural identity it has been known for, but grow into a uniquely inspiring place to visit and live.

In our current social climate, where rapid technological advancements and economic pressures often take center stage, it is of paramount importance to keep the arts alive and to protect local arts and innovation. The arts play a vital role in enriching society and preserving the essence of human creativity and expression.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I remember very vividly my first time seeing a ballet performance. It was the Nutcracker and I had not ever been so captivated by anything as grand and magical as those ballerinas in their tutus and tiars. I was hooked, and when I stepped onto the stage for the first time myself, I knew this was what I wanted to do when I grew up.

I gave up a normal teenage life, studying at strange hrs of the mornings and evenings so I could train in dance most of my day and graduate early so I could start my professional career as a ballerina. I was luck enough to dance for some of the best companies in the world including San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and the North American Tour of the Broadway production of “Dirty Dancing”.

When the pandemic happened and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s resident comapny (the company I then worked for) closed it’s doors for good, our community faced a serious risk of loosing an important cultural asset and I had to figure out a way to preserve and grow the art that I had dedicated my life to…

I am the founder of DanceAspen, which specializes in producing groundbreaking dance performances that push the boundaries of traditional dance forms. We curate and showcase original choreographic works, blending various dance styles, multimedia elements, and innovative concepts. Additionally, we offer free dance education programming and educational workshops to nurture emerging talent and engage with the local community.

Our primary focus is on solving the problem of limited opportunities for professional dancers and choreographers to experiment and create. We provide a platform for artists to collaborate, innovate, and share their unique visions with a receptive audience.

What sets us apart is our commitment to innovation and artistic freedom. We’re not bound by tradition, and we encourage our artists to explore uncharted territory in the realm of dance. We also deeply value our local community, making dance accessible to all and fostering a sense of cultural vibrancy in Aspen.

I’m most proud of the incredible talent we’ve nurtured and the artistic journeys we’ve embarked upon together. Witnessing dancers and choreographers evolve and create mesmerizing works of art has been incredibly rewarding. I’m also proud of the positive impact we’ve had on the Aspen community.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When the pandemic took it’s hold in 2020, it became clear that the world was changing…and one of those changes was in the world of performing arts. At the time, I was a professional ballerina with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and had spent my whole life training to get to that level. I was living in Aspen, CO and it became clear that the dance company was not going to re-open. Along with my colleagues I not only was out of a job but had no means of pursuing a dance career in our community….we had lost our purpose in our community…

I had to pivot to stay in Aspen, and I had to create the opportunity to reinstate the art presence that had been lost….so I founded DanceAspen, and built a nonprofit company to generate funding for local artists of the highest caliber.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I first started DanceAspen, we had no funding. I had to find a space for us to dance in….the obstacles of not only sourcing a dance studio in Aspen was hard, but with no money, I had no leverage.

I kept looking until I found a little garage band that was open a couple of times a week with nobody using it. The owner agreed to lend us the space for rehearsal and that’s where we danced and created the first works of the company until we came across a bigger space and raised some funds.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.danceaspen.org
• Instagram: @dance.aspen
• Facebook: DanceAspen
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDc80ar6kbE

Image Credits
Beau Pearson Rosalie O’conner