Thu 4/14/22

The two new principal dancers at the Colorado Ballet will perform the elegant but notoriously demanding “Theme and Variations” ballet at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House this month. The modern classic, which has challenged dancers for 75 years, is commonly considered the most difficult ballet to perform. 

The Colorado Ballet’s Jennifer Grace and Mario Labrador will dance the grueling “Theme and Variations” to the last movement of Peter Tchaikovsky’s (CHI-kov-ski’s) Orchestral Suite Number 3. It begins with a slow opening followed by fast-paced variations and high energy finale. Colorado Sun freelancer Mark Jaffe calls it a 100-yard dash that lasts for 21 minutes. He caught up with Grace, Labrador and Colorado Ballet artistic director Gil Boggs as they prepared for Friday’s opening.

<p>The two new principal dancers at the Colorado Ballet will perform the elegant but notoriously demanding &ldquo;Theme and Variations&rdquo; ballet at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House this month. The modern classic, which has challenged dancers for 75 years, is commonly considered the most difficult ballet to perform.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Colorado Ballet&rsquo;s Jennifer Grace and Mario Labrador will dance the grueling &ldquo;Theme and Variations&rdquo; to the last movement of Peter Tchaikovsky&rsquo;s (CHI-kov-ski&rsquo;s) Orchestral Suite Number 3. It begins with a slow opening followed by fast-paced variations and high energy finale. Colorado Sun freelancer Mark Jaffe calls it a 100-yard dash that lasts for 21 minutes. He caught up with Grace, Labrador and Colorado Ballet artistic director Gil Boggs as they prepared for Friday&rsquo;s opening.</p>

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