Ballet sets up GoFundMe to replace decades-old Nutcracker costumes



DENVER — The Colorado Ballet is about to begin its 59th season of "The Nutcracker." While it has been performed locally for nearly six decades, dancers have actually been wearing the same costumes for about half that time, according to KDVR.

"These sets and costumes we use at the moment, I believe they’re about 30 years old,” said Yosvani Ramos, a principal dancer with the ballet.

Ramos and Dana Benton are both performing in the upcoming edition of "The Nutcracker." The duo said most of the costumes are ripped, worn out and have a noticeable smell built up from decades of sweat.

"The costume always works, just maybe the smell follows you around the stage too much,” Benton joked.

Aside from the costumes, the sets are also more than 30 years old.

“Just one wrong move and you bump into the wing and something will split and we have to take it down and sew it back up!” said Gil Boggs, artistic director for the Colorado Ballet.

The Colorado Ballet has a $9.7 million annual budget. But most of that money is used to bring in new ballets and new choreographers.

According to Boggs, it will cost around $2.5 million to purchase new costumes and set pieces.

In an effort to help with that cost, the Colorado Ballet is doing something it has never done before: it created a GoFundMe page.

On the page, the ballet is asking for $100,000 toward the costumes and sets.

"The intent of GoFundMe was to get everyone involved and certainly not to take away from other people and their GoFundMe projects throughout the community,” Boggs said.

According to Boggs, several performance groups around the country have turned to GoFundMe for help.

"It would be the cherry on the cake to have a brand-new production of 'The Nutcracker'," Ramos said.

In a perfect world, the Colorado Ballet would have new costumes and new set pieces for its 60th anniversary of "The Nutcracker" next year.

If you would like to donate to the ballet’s GoFundMe page, click here.