The Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop gives dancers the chance to train with a professional company as well as work with some of Boulder’s best dance teachers. The youngest dancers in the workshop are fifteen, but most are college age or older. This is not a beginning level workshop. The classes are geared towards pre-professional dancers, but as long as a dancer has had a few years of technical training, the classes should be manageable.

The 2017 workshop takes place on CU Boulder’s campus from July 24th– August 5th and people from all over the country to take ballet, modern, hip-hop, jazz and tap from teachers in Boulder and from the workshop’s yearly resident company.

For many of the dance styles, dancers can also choose to participate in repertory, which prepares dancers to perform in a show at the end of the intensive. This year, the performance is on August 4th and will feature the student and instructor choreography. There will also be a performance on August 5th that will feature the resident dance company.

The 2017 intensive also offers a commercial dance audition for Celebrity Cruises Productions. This gives dancers the opportunity to gain audition experience and the chance to perform on cruises.

Registrations for the workshop is only twenty-five dollars and this drops the class rate down to fifteen dollars a class. However, if you just want to drop-in without registering, the price is nineteen dollars a class. Also, you can still register during the intensive. Also, it is encouraged that students interested in the workshop audition to be placed in the levels that are best for their skill level. Any drop-ins will be placed in level III, unless given prior permission from an instructor.

The Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop is a good way to get a feel for the dance offered in the Boulder community. Here is a video of a performance piece from a previous year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTPY3QPcnS0

Julia Bartlett
Julia Bartlett is a Massachusetts native who traded the ocean for the mountains. She is currently a graduate student at CU Boulder pursuing her MFA in Creative Writing. She seeks to make her MFA interdisciplinary by taking choreography courses as well as writing workshops. She has created dances that have involved locking herself in closets, slashing lipstick all over her body and becoming a nature spirit. Her work has been performed at CU Boulder and the Riverside Events Center. She is also a certified Reiki practitioner and is building her practice in Boulder.
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