The Vail Dance Festival returns this season from July 25 to August 5 with 14 performances in a season with new artists and rising stars! We are thrilled to welcome Melissa Toogood as Artist-In-Residence, along with companies Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, DanceAspen, BalletX , A.I.M. and individual artists from renowned companies, including New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Philadelphia Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet.
Kyle Abraham’s company, Abraham.In.Motion will make its Festival debut in a performance at the Vilar Performing Arts Center, and Michelle Dorrance and Ephrat Asherie will perform their new piece, “The Center Will Not Hold.” New dancers to the Festival this year include American Ballet Theatre’s Chloe Misseldine; Royal Danish Ballet principal dancer Ryan Tomash; New York City Ballet’s Dominika Afanasenkov and Naomi Corti; and independent dancers Rachel Lockhart (MJ: The Musical) and Zack Gonder (Twyla Tharp’s Diamond Jubilee national tour). New choreographers for 2025 include Robert Battle, Gianna Reisen, and My’Kal Stromile
Join us as an essential part of the creative magic, helping to bring together over 150 dancers, musicians, composers, and choreographers to our celebrated Festival. Now in our 37th season, the Festival has become synonymous with creativity and innovation. Under Damian Woetzel’s visionary leadership since 2006, we have commissioned over 130 world-premiere dance works, fostering unique collaborations between artists of various dance genres to push the art form’s boundaries. This focus has cemented the Festival as a leading voice for new choreography in the United States and a destination “where the stars come to shine in new and unexpected ways.”—The New York Times.
Your support allows us to continue pushing dance boundaries and nurturing established and emerging artists. Enclosed, you will find an exciting roster of unique opportunities to support the creation of new works, key performances, music, and education outreach initiatives. We look forward to working with you to align your funding goals and passions with these customized giving opportunities. Thank you for your support and for making the Vail Dance Festival the best in Colorado and around the world.
Susan Campbell
Vail Dance Festival Committee Chair
Martha Brassel VVF Senior Director, Philanthropy
FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITING
Opportunities listed may be underwritten in part or in whole. Casting is subject to change.
Opening Night
$75,000
An all-star Opening Night samples and celebrates what is to come at this year’s Festival, with performances by stars of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and other celebrated individual artists, along with an appearance by Alonzo King LINES Ballet. The program features a range of choreographic works demonstrating the ambitious reach of the Festival, from works by iconic choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins to dances by today’s leading creative voices, including Michelle Dorrance and Pam Tanowitz.
July 25 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Alonzo King LINES Ballet
$75,000
Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet has been a major creative force in dance since its founding in 1982 by acclaimed choreographer Alonzo King. The beloved company returns to Vail with an evening featuring two recent works by King: Ode to Alice Coltrane, honoring the legendary spiritual and jazz icon, and Mother Goose, King’s recent collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony that delves into the enchanting world of Ravel’s 1912 suite Ma mère l’Oye
July 26 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
UpClose: Song & Dance
$60,000
The combination of song and dance is timeless, with a rich history that constantly expands. Hosted by Festival Artistic Director Damian Woetzel, UpClose features Festival stars taking on classic and contemporary pairings of songs and dances in rehearsal and performance mode in a variety of dance styles, from ballet and modern dance to street styles, tap, and more.
July 27 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Balanchine Celebration
$75,000
The genius of George Balanchine takes center stage in a program of dance masterpieces under the stars, featuring brilliant artists from companies including New York City Ballet, Colorado Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. The evening will include the pioneering choreographer’s groundbreaking work Apollo with New York City Ballet’s Roman Mejia making his role debut in the titular role, and India Bradley in the role of Terpsichore. Also featured will be Balanchine’s bravura Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and his classic Concerto Barocco set to Bach’s Double Violin Concerto.
July 28 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Paul Taylor Dance Company
$75,000
Since its founding in 1954, the Paul Taylor Dance Company has been a groundbreaking force in American modern dance and has been described by The New York Times as “one of the most exciting, innovative, and delightful dance companies in the entire world.” Last seen in Vail in 2018, the company returns with a tribute to its founder, the late Paul Taylor, on what would have been his 95th birthday. The program salutes the American dance icon with a repertory that includes Company B, a seminal piece of Americana that recalls the turbulent era of the Great Depression through the hit songs of the Andrews Sisters, and a 50th-anniversary presentation of Taylor’s masterpiece Esplanade, described by The New Yorker as “a mythic dimension on ordinary aspects of our daily lives.”
July 29 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Watching Dance with Heather Watts
$20,000
Legendary Balanchine ballerina Heather Watts hosts an interactive exploration of dance repertory through live demonstrations with Festival artists and historical video footage.
July 30 // Vail Mountain School Theatre, Vail
Festival artists take a bow at the Opening Night of the 2024 Vail Dance Festival. Photo by Christopher Duggan.
The George Balanchine Trust. Photo by Erin Baiano.
Paul Taylor Dance Company in Paul Taylor's Esplanade at Lincoln Center in 2024. Photo by Whitney Browne.
FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE UNDERWRITING
The Center Will Not Hold
A Dorrance Dance Production
$37,500
Following her sold-out performance at last year’s Festival, acclaimed tap dancer Michelle Dorrance returns to the Vilar Performing Arts Center with The Center Will Not Hold, a new production created by Dorrance and Ephrat Asherie. The evening-length show features a collective of singular performers deeply rooted in many street, club, social, and vernacular dances and features original music composed by Donovan Dorrance, performed live by extraordinary drummer and percussionist John Angeles.
July 30 // Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
Dancing in the Park
$40,000
Dancing in the Park returns to the Town of Avon at the performance pavilion at Nottingham Park for a one-of-a-kind and participatory performance for dance fans of all ages. Free and open to all, the program features BalletX, Colorado Ballet, and Festival artists as well as a performance by the Celebrate the Beat Celebration Team.
July 31 // Avon Performance Pavilion at Nottingham Park, Avon
International Evenings of Dance
IE1 // $75,000
IE2 // $60,000
IE3 // $70,000
The International Evenings of Dance, which since 1993 have brought a succession of extraordinary artists to the Vail stage, continue the tradition with dancers making their Festival debuts, including American Ballet Theatre principal dancer Chloe Misseldine and Royal Danish Ballet principal dancer Ryan Tomash. Returning dance stars will include Broadway and ballet star Robbie Fairchild; American Ballet Theatre’s Isabella Boylston, Catherine Hurlin, Calvin Royal III, and James Whiteside; New York City Ballet’s Chun Wai Chan, Joseph Gordon, Sara Mearns, Roman Mejia, Mira Nadon, Tiler Peck, and Unity Phelan; tap dance icon Michelle Dorrance; modern dance force Melissa Toogood; and street dance pioneer Lil Buck. These dance stars will be joined by rising artists, including Dominika Afanasenkov, Olivia Bell, Gilbert Bolden III, India Bradley, Naomi Corti, and KJ Takahashi from New York City Ballet; Royal Danish Ballet’s Philip Duclos; Philadelphia Ballet’s Mayfield Myers; independent dancers Stephanie
Terasaki, Rachel Lockhart (MJ: The Musical), Zack Gonder and Daisy Kate Jacobson (Twyla Tharp Dance), and Spencer Lenain, Kayla Mak, and Emiko Nakagawa who are all former Vail Dance Festival ScholarsIn-Residence and are now emerging young artists in the professional dance world. See some of the brightest stars in dance today in role debuts, classic repertoires, and contemporary styles and genres.
August 1 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
August 2 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham
$37,500
The critically acclaimed contemporary dance company A.I.M by Kyle Abraham makes its Vail Dance Festival debut! Led by Princess Grace and MacArthur Award winner Kyle Abraham, the company is celebrated worldwide for its engaging and dynamic performances galvanized by black culture and history. The program will feature Abraham’s homage to Nina Simone, entitled If We Were a Love Song, and Abraham’s celebrated solo Show Pony, along with other recent works.
August 3 // Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek
NOW: Premieres
$65,000
NOW: Premieres is the Festival’s annual showcase of newly commissioned dance works, all making their debut on one legendary night performed by an extraordinary cast of dancers and musicians. This season’s choreographers include Robert Battle*, Michelle Dorrance, Justin Peck, Gianna Reisen*, Bobbi Jene Smith, My’Kal Stromile*, and Melissa Toogood. *Festival debut.
August 4 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
Dance for $20.25 with BalletX
$65,000
An evening of dance at special prices featuring Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet company, BalletX, celebrating its 20th anniversary season, closes out this year’s festivities with a thrilling performance featuring Matthew Neenan’s acclaimed dance The Last Glass, set to the music of the band Beirut.
August 5 // Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail
1 The Center Will Not Hold at New York City Center's 2024 Fall for Dance Festival. Choreography by Ephrat Asherie and Michelle Dorrance. Photo by Christopher Duggan.
2 Dancing in the Park at Nottingham Park in Avon, CO as part of the 2024 Vail Dance Festival. Photo by Christopher Duggan.
by Kyle Abraham in If We Were a Love Song by Kyle Abraham. Photo by Maria Baranova.
Dance Festival. Photo by Christopher Duggan.
WORLD PREMIERES
The Vail Dance Festival strategically commissions new works each year, placing innovation and expansion at the heart of the Festival’s development. Artists benefit from enhanced creative focus in the Festival’s serene mountain setting, and all testify enthusiastically to the close-knit “laboratory” environment that fosters high-caliber artistic experimentation and cross-genre exploration.
Robert Battle
Robert Battle makes his first work for the Festival this season, building a cast from the extraordinary line-up of Festival dancers and musicians. Battle has been a leader in the dance world since his graduation from Juilliard in 1994 when he joined Parsons Dance Company and subsequently began choreographing for the company. He created his company BattleWorks in 2001, continued on to become Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater from 2011-2024, and now is a resident choreographer for Paul Taylor Dance Company in addition to creating projects globally.
Michelle Dorrance
MacArthur Genius fellow Michelle Dorrance returns to Vail in several capacities this summer: as a dancer participating in multiple performances, as the co-creator with Ephrat Asherie of the new show The Center Will Not Hold, and as the choreographer of a new work for NOW:Premieres which builds on the works she has been making at the Festival since 2016. For this season, Dorrance will co-choreographer a new work with Bobbi Jene Smith.
Larry Keigwin
Larry is familiar to Vail audiences from works he has created for the festival since being its first Artist-In-Residence in 2010, and he returns this year to create a joyous community dance work bringing together the professional artists of the Festival with the local Vail community. A fervent believer in the power of dance to unite people, Keigwin’s choreography erases boundaries through brilliant and witty choreography that is unifying and uplifting.
Rachel Lockhart
Lockhart is a 2023 Juilliard dance graduate, already making her mark on stages from the Metropolitan Opera to Broadway as an acclaimed member of Justin Peck’s Illinoise original cast. A Dancemagazine “25 to watch” artist for 2025, Lockhart makes her Vail Dance Festival debut this year as a dancer and choreographer, creating a group dance to bring together various artists to close the International Evenings of Dance Saturday performance.
Justin Peck
Among the world‘s most in-demand choreographers, Justin Peck returns to Vail this summer to once again create multidimensional works at the festival taking advantage of the range of dancers gathered in Vail from a wide variety of disciplines. This past year Peck premiered his latest work for New York City Ballet where he is Resident Choreographer. Acclaimed for his work on Broadway and film as well as ballet, his recent Broadway musical Illinoise won the Tony Award for Best Choreography.
Gianna Reisen
Following on recent works for the New York City Ballet, L.A. Dance Project, and other companies, Reisen makes her choreographic debut this year at the Vail Dance Festival with an intimate work for a small group of dancers.
Bobbie Jene Smith
A groundbreaking dancer and choreographer, Smith creates her third work for the Festival, following Mercy, created for the digital festival in 2020, and MASS, created for Sara Mearns for the 2022 Festival and subsequently seen in New York City to critical acclaim. This season, Smith takes on a new challenge, creating both individual work for a small cast and a co-choreographed piece with the choreographer and tap dancer extraordinaire Michelle Dorrance
My’Kal Stromile
Stromile is a 2018 Juilliard dance graduate, who has been performing with the Boston Ballet since graduation and developing a growing career as a choreographer. A mentee of the groundbreaking choreographer William Forsythe, Stromile has made new works for the Boston Ballet and other companies, including the fall of 2024 premiere for the Paris Opera Ballet. Stromile will debut this season in Vail Dance Festival, creating a new work for a cast of ballet dancers from multiple companies, including New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.
WORLD PREMIERES CONT'D
Pam Tanowitz
Renowned choreographer Pam Tanowitz is one of the most acclaimed choreographers working today, with recent works at Britain’s Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Miami City Ballet this spring. Tanowitz returns to Vail for the 2025 season to do a solo, for the rising young artist Spencer Lenain. Tanowitz debuted in 2017 and has been a fixture at the Festival for many years.
Melissa Toogood
This year’s Artist In Residence at the Festival, Melissa Toogood, is a Bessie Award-winning modern dance luminary who was a protégé of Merce Cunningham and a member of his final company. Toogood created her first work for the Festival in 2023 and returns now to create a distinctive solo that will explore movement across genres.
Underwriters for new works will be recognized in perpetuity when the work is performed at the Vail Dance Festival. New works and premieres have gone on to be performed on stages by other artists around the world including Alonzo King LINES Ballet, BalletX, Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center, Los Angeles Music Center, Martha Graham Dance Company, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, San Francisco Ballet, and more.
RESIDENCIES
Each year, we offer a number of residencies to exceptional artists, allowing them to engage with the festival on a deeper level and grow artistically. These Residencies recognize the talent of our artists and musicians, allowing for an enhanced Festival experience year after year.
Artist-In-Residence
$25,000
Melissa Toogood
Scholar-In-Residence
$10,000
TBD
Leonard Bernstein Composer-In-Residence
$25,000
Caroline Shaw Multi-Instrumentalist, Vocalist
Quartet-InResidence
$25,000
Brooklyn Rider String Quartet
Please consider making an additional gift to our Community Arts Access Fund or Fund for Live Music & Composition. You may make a gift directed to a specific initiative or a general gift in any amount. Your support helps us create a vibrant Festival for our community and ensure equitable access remains a constant and growing part of the Festival.
MUSIC
Live music is more than an accompaniment to our performances but instead, is often a catalyst to choreographers’ imagination and an inspiration to dancers.
· Eliza Salem, Drums and Percussion · Joel Wenhardt, Piano
COMMUNITY ARTS ACCESS
Our Community Arts Access (CAA) program was introduced to further our commitment to making the arts accessible and available to everyone and expose dance and music to new audiences. CAA Initiatives include:
Celebrate The Beat // $75,000
The Celebrate the Beat (CTB) program enhances children’s physical health and well-being, inspires self-belief, and sets a standard of excellence that positively influences all areas of their lives. For at-risk youth with limited access to high-quality arts education, CTB’s dance curriculum can be transformative, teaching the art of dance and the art of the possible.
Free summer programming includes the Summer Celebration Team and Pop Hop Camp Summer Celebration Team offers students a 4-week camp that teaches history through music and dances of varying styles. Pop Hop Camp is a week-long arts education dance program designed to foster teamwork, creativity, and the joy of accomplishment through dance. Pop Hop Camp culminates in a performance at International Evenings of Dance I.
Internship Program // $25,000
Each year, the Festival engages ambitious graduate and undergraduate students to serve as members of the Festival team, working to support key areas of the Festival operations. These experiences offer an immersive opportunity to gain experience and knowledge of the arts and arts administration from some of the world’s greatest artistic leaders.
Ambassador Program // $10,000
Designed for 8th–12th grade students, ambassadors act as stewards of the Festival, working to spread the word and educate the community about Festival programming. Like the Internship Program, Ambassadors gain experience and knowledge of arts and arts administration and participate in a community service project.
Complimentary Pavilion Tickets and Free & Discounted Lawn Tickets // $2,500 per mainstage performance
We partner with cross-sector community organizations, including nonprofits, educational, religious, governmental, and other agencies, to distribute free pavilion tickets to each of the mainstage performances. Free lawn tickets are available to performances at The Amp for children 12 and under accompanied by a paid adult. Discounted $10 lawn tickets are offered to students and faculty.
Dancing in the Streets // $5,000
FREE FOR EVERYONE! We are thrilled to showcase incredible Festival artists and engage our community with three unique popup performances in Vail Village and Lionshead Village.
Please see the previous pages for more information on the free Dancing in the Park performance.
Peter Barclay Senior Director, Development Strategy and Operations pbarclay@vvf.org
Bailey Nelson Philanthropy Manager bnelson@vvf.org
Martha Brassel Senior Director of Philanthropy mbrassel@vvf.org
