Glenwood Springs Dance Festival
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The Glenwood Springs Dance Festival was founded in 1992 by Nova Loverro (Sprick), a former dancer turned non-profit founder and director. Nova (Andrea) moved from Manhattan to Glenwood Springs, Colorado 1984. Frustrated with the lack of access to dance, Nova began inviting friends out to perform in the small rural town about forty-five miles north of Aspen in 1990 to perform and offer master classes. Sheila Kaminsky, Barbara Roan, Mel Wong, and others were in residence. In 1992, she invited Doug Varone to teach and perform, and the following year, Doug Varone and Dancers company were in residence for a week. Varone's presence helped the festival grow from a local event to a significant force in the dance festival world overnight, with over 250 students from the East and West coasts attending the month-long residency. Other companies in residence included Contraband, Teri O'Connor and Dancers, Mark Dendy Dancers, Ralph Lemon, Daniel Nagrin, Milton Myers, Diane Grumet, Garth Fagan, Chris Aiken, and others. Colorado artists included Nancy Smith and Frequent Flyers, Cleo Parker Robinson Company, David Taylor, Kim Robards, Hannah Kahn, and others. All classes had live musicians, and the festival encouraged collaboration between musicians and dancers. The GSDF received rave reviews and numerous grants from the NEA, Westaf, and Colorado Council on the Arts for commission works and community "dance off stage" projects. The GSDF was unique because it occurred in a small rural environment away from a college campus. Public schools became studio headquarters, hotels became dorms, and restaurants catered meal plans for the incoming students. Unfortunately, the minor Western community did not understand the value of having contemporary dance in the community, and the festival closed its doors in 1998.