Life/Art Ensemble takes dance into the world

When many people think of starting a dance organization, they probably conjure up images of children or teenagers awkwardly guring out how to get their feet to do what their minds want them to. But Life/ Art Dance Ensemble got its start in 2009 with a di erent audience in mind.

“I am a registered dietitian nutritionist and my very rst job out of college was with Volunteers of America, Colorado Branch. I coran the Healthy Aging program there and we would bring nutrition, exercise, and fall prevention classes to low-income residences for older adults,” explained Jessica Riggs, artistic director and founder of Life/ Art. “I also learned that entertainment budgets at these residences weren’t high and that there was a lack of quality entertainment available, particularly for those who had impaired mobility or couldn’t a ord tickets to a show.”

And from that experience came the idea of bringing dance directly to older adults.

In the 14 years since its founding, the organization has expanded to o er contemporary dance performances all over the metro area.

“We work with live music and di erent creative concepts to take

Coming Attractions

dance out of the theater and move it into the world,” Riggs said. “We’re trying to expose people to what dance can be and collaborate with as many di erent groups as we can.” e metro dance scene can often be very siloed, Riggs said, so collaboration has become a crucial feature of nearly every project the organization engages with. Some examples include the annual Life In Motion: A Colorado Dance Film Festival, which showcases Colorado dance lm artists, and the Convergence event, which is a cost-sharing show featuring all kinds of local dance organizations, like Rocky Mountain Rhythm and Front Range Contemporary Ballet Company.

While summer is a bit of a quiet time for Life/Art when it comes to public performances, there’s always something to work on. e organization is currently preparing for this year’s Convergence performance and a dance haunted house, also slated for the fall.

But, in the meantime, the work with older adults never stops. at is due, at least in part, to the 2021 expansion of their program to feature inclusive dance classes taught in the DanceAbility method. According to Riggs, this allows the residents to be able to dance themselves, regardless of any physical limitation they might have.

“ ere are many physical, mental, and emotional bene ts to dance,” she said. “Our primary goal in serving older adults is to improve their quality of life, social and mental health, mood, and overall sense of well-being.”

Find more information about Life/ Art and its work at www.lifeartdance.org/.

Explore all the arts at Denver Fringe Festival

You never know what you’re going to see at the Denver Fringe Festival, but that’s what makes it such an adventure. e fourth annual event, which runs at 12 venues all over RiNo and Five Points from ursday, June 8 through Sunday, June 11, brings more than 150 performances to audiences thirsting for something original.

According to provided information, the festival will feature “eight original plays, six immersive experiences, a two-day KidsFringe with free shows for families, street performances” and more. With the aim of promoting access to the arts and showcasing diverse artistic voices, you really can’t go wrong. All the details can be found at https:// denverfringe.org/.

Films for Foodies kicks o with ‘Chef’ e clever folks at Denver Film, Dazzle and Denver Arts & Venues have gone and added to food,

About Letters To The Editor

Colorado Community Media welcomes letters to the editor. Please note the following rules: music and a night under the stars to an already great activity — a night at the movies. ey’re kicking o their Films for Foodies series on Tuesday, June 13 with a screening of Jon Favreau’s “Chef” at the Galleria @ Denver Performing Arts Complex, 1400 Curtis St. in Denver. On the music side, Raul Murciano’s Colorado Mambo Orchestra will be performing, and Fritay Haitian Cuisine, Areyto Puerto Rican Food and HipPOPs food trucks will be on hand serving food.

• Email your letter to Kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com. Do not send via postal mail. Put the words “letter to the editor” in the email subject line.

• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s newspaper.

• Letters must be no longer than 400 words.

• Letters should be exclusively submitted to Colorado Community Media and should not submitted to other outlets or previously posted on websites or social media. Submitted letters become the property of CCM and should not be republished elsewhere.

• Letters advocating for a political candidate should focus on that candidate’s qualifications for o ce. We cannot publish letters that contain unverified negative information about a candidate’s opponent. Letters advocating for or against a political candidate or ballot issue will not be published within 12 days of an election.

Get all the information for this delicious cinematic evening at www. artscomplex.com/events/summerat-the-arts-complex.

Clarke’s Concert of the Week — Cub Sport at the Marquis

It is di cult to put a nger on the kind of music Australia’s Cub Sport makes. ere are elements of electronic-based groups like Cut Copy, to be sure, as well as alternative-leaning pop like e 1975 and Walk the Moon. But really, their style is all their own. All I know is, their fth album, “Jesus at the Gay Bar,” is one of the year’s best thus far. It’s fun and funky and gets you moving but makes you a bit sad, too. It has something for everyone.

In support of the album, the Cub Sport will be performing at the Marquis, 2009 Larimer St., Denver, at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14. ey’ll be joined for the show by opener crêpe girl. Get tickets at www. livenation.com.

Clarke Reader’s column on culture appears on a weekly basis. He can be reached at Clarke.Reader@hotmail. com.

• Publication of any given letter is at our discretion. Letters are published as space is available.

• We will edit letters for clarity, grammar, punctuation and length and write headlines (titles) for letters at our discretion.

• Please don’t send us more than one letter per month. First priority for publication will be given to writers who have not submitted letters to us recently.

• Submit your letter in a Word document or in the body of an email. No PDFs or Google Docs, please.

• Include your full name, address and phone number. We will publish only your name and city or town of residence, but all of the information requested is needed for us to verify you are who you say you are.

• Letters will be considered only from people living in Colorado Community Media’s circulation area in Adams, Arapahoe, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson and Weld counties.

• Do not use all caps, italics or bold text.

• Keep it polite: No name calling or “mudslinging.”

Thu 6/15

Ava Maybee: if we're being honest tour @ 6pm Ogden Theatre, 935 E Colfax Ave, Denver

Jason Boland & The Stragglers w/ Jeremy McComb @ 8pm Globe Hall - CO, 4483 Logan St., Denver, CO 80216, Denver

The Ephinjis @ 9pm Hi-Dive, 7 S Broadway, Denver

Fri 6/16

ILLENIUM: Trilogy: PreParty @ 7pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St,, Den‐ver

Featured

KGNU Presents TAARKA at Swallow Hill @ 8pm Swallow Hill, 71 E Yale Ave, Denver

Sat 6/17

Max Styler with Kyle Kinch & Erin Stereo @ 12pm X Denver, 3100 Inca St, Denver

Amorphous Presents: The Ampli�cation Tour @ 7pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Sun 6/18

City Park Denver Public Art Tour @ 10am Denver Arts and Venues, Varies Locations for Public Art Tours, Denver

Vibes In The Park: Continuing the Juneteenth Celebration - 21+ @ 8pm / $20 Summit, 1902 Blake St, Denver

Mon 6/19

Jack Kays @ 8pm Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St,, Den‐ver

Temples @ 8pm Bluebird Theater, 3317 E Colfax Av, Den‐ver

Grandson @ 8pm

Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St, Den‐ver

Tue 6/20

Black Moon Howl @ 8pm Mercury Cafe, 2199 California St, Denver

Featured

Rotating Tap

Comedy @ Landlocked Ales @ 8pm LandLocked Ales, 3225 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lake‐wood

Film On The Rocks: Black Panther @ 7pm Red Rocks Amphithe‐atre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison

Featured Featured

Post Animal @ 8pm Bluebird Theater, 3317 E Colfax Av, Denver

Featured Featured

Tai Verdes @ 7pm Red Rocks Amphithe‐atre, 18300 W Alameda Pkwy, Morri‐son

Stephanie Poetri @ 8pm

Globe Hall, 4483 Lo‐gan St, Denver

Comedian Jenny Zigrino: Jenny Zigrino in Denver! @ 8pm The Black Buzzard, 1624 Market St, Den‐ver

Lyn Lapid @ 8pm Globe Hall, 4483 Lo‐gan St, Denver

Wed 6/21

Downtown Denver Public Art Walking Tour @ 5:30pm

Denver Arts and Venues, Varies Locations for Public Art Tours, Denver

Lolita Worldwide: LADAMA at Levitt Pavilion with Lolita @ 6pm Levitt Pavilion Denver, 1380 W Florida Ave, Denver

Featured Featured

Arden Jones @ 7pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Whiskey Wednesday @ Stranahan's! - Presented by Rotating Tap Comedy @ 8pm Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey, 200 S Kalamath St, Denver Elf Power @ 8pm Lost Lake Lounge, 3602 E Colfax Ave, Denver walked away, leaving all the equipment above ground to rust and ow lines underground to leak.

“ e well operator declared bankruptcy and had to walk away and now we are trying to get it cleaned up,” Baca said. “Sites like this can stay toxic for years. e challenge for Adams County is that we are in the Denver Metro area and we are in a federal non-attainment area already. And when we have wells that emit toxic gases incessantly, it a ects our air quality. I know we are standing in a eld in unincorporated Adams County, but orphaned wells are found throughout Adams County, not just the unincorporated areas.” e process involves surveying the site with the latest chemical-seeking equipment, and Green eld’s Chris Rice demonstrated how they zero in on leaks with infrared cameras and a series of sensors that pull in the air and use lasers to determine their chemical makeup. ey can determine where the leak is coming from, what it’s leaking and determine how best to cap it and get the site cleaned up.

Adams County has a partnership with Civitas Resources, Greeneld Environmental Solutions and CarbonPath to nd those sites, determine if they are leaking chemicals and where and then get them cleaned up. ose companies are working together to clean up nearly 50 orphaned well sites around northeastern Colorado, including in Adams County.

“We can go use this project as a headline moment, an example for others, on a private-public partnership that we can use to tackle all the orphaned wells across the United States and, of course, across Colorado,” CarbonPath CEO Tyler Crabtree said. “What we do is provide additional a bridge to nd additional private funding to supplement federal dollars. Essentially, for every well that gets plugged up with federal dollars, we want to raise money from private citizens and corporations to do their part to plug another well site.” e state created the Orphan Wells Mitigation Enterprise in 2022, requiring well operators to pay a fee — $225 per well that produces more than 15 barrels of oil or 22 MCF of natural gas per day and $125 that produces less than that. It’s expected to generate $10 million per year to help clean up orphaned wells. e U.S. Department of the Interior has set aside another $25 million to help Colorado to locate and clean up the wells. Both of Colorado’s Senators, Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, have been strong advocates for getting the wells closed nationally.

“Getting a program like this was a high priority in the bipartisan infrastructure bill,” Hickenlooper said. “One way to get into that bill was to make sure we look at the entire nation and how much methane and other escaping hydrocarbons are getting into the air from those wells that are not producing anything.”

Weld, Adams and Arapahoe counties are responsible for the vast majority of oil and natural gas pulled from the Colorado ground — with Weld County outproducing everyone. In 2022, wells in Weld County produced 131.8 million barrels of oil and 976.9 million MCF of natural gas — 82% of all oil produced in Colorado that year and 51% of all natural gas. Adams County produced 9.6 million barrels of oil and 37.2 million MCF of natural gas in 2022, a distant second in Colorado oil production behind Weld and sixth place in natural gas behind Weld, Gar eld, La Plata, Rio Blanco and Las Animas counties.