Watch this story tonight at 6:30 p.m. on Denver7.
BROOMFIELD, Colo. — Wearing ballet shoes and moving to the rhythm of the music brings joy to those of all ages at Colorado Conservatory of Dance (CCD). The dance company has been around for over 30 years, but right now, the nonprofit is facing financial hardship and is at risk of closure.
Sandra Parks, executive and artistic director for the Colorado Conservatory of Dance, explained how the nonprofit got into this challenging situation. She said there have been drops in enrollment and a lack of transparency from past leadership over the organization's financial situation.
"The main reason was [that] we lost about 30% of enrollment," she said. "When I became the artistic director, which I was aware of, I knew the enrollment went down, but I didn't know how much."
Currently, the nonprofit is trying to raise $150,000 by the end of July to keep its doors open. Parks explained that the dance studio has already cut back on costs and tried to increase enrollment in the programs.
"We did try many different marketing strategies, having a referral program and really tried as much as we could," Parks said. "... Why is that enrollment not increasing? Ultimately, I think it's due to the impact of [the] pandemic."
Over the past three decades, the nonprofit has offered a variety of classes so students could perfect their skills. The organization has served over 9,000 people each year, and now it is left fighting to stay open.
"Unfortunately, our former leadership did not share a very clear financial situation with our board, so I think it was a lack of the information lead to a lack of planning and when I was appointed as the ED and AD in the summer of last year, I finally got to know all these details and, trying to figure out a plan or different ways of planning. So, we did develop a five-year business plan to bring CCD forward, but the plan will probably not see it in action if we don't raise a good amount of funding," Parks said.
Abbey Sterling and Taylor Portillo became friends through CCD and over the years have perfected their talents in the world of dance. Both are planning to attend college in the fall and pursue degrees in dance.
"I think this is such a wonderful place," Sterling said. "I mean, I've grown up here, and I've been here forever, so it's really sad to see that this is happening because I think it's such a wonderful place. I think more people should come here."
While these two have dedicated their life to dance, they have also seen how the nonprofit has been impacted over the years.
"I think there's still a lot of younger kids starting out dance, but I think as they get older... I think COVID caused the enrollment [to] drop and it hasn't fully recovered from that," Portillo said.
Besides dancers, the organization has also impacted people like Sue Sakai, who has designed the costumes for the dancers for decades.
In the video below, watch as Sue Sakai describes her designs for the dancers.
The nonprofit has also touched the lives of parents like Ashlie Adam, who is also a dancer and sees firsthand the positive impact the Colorado Conservatory of Dance has on her children.
"My daughter has friends here, so the threat of having that community be stripped away from us, it's emotional, it's hard," Adam said. "So that's why we're here. So, we're fighting because we are not giving up without a fight. It's really (an) important, valuable thing to all of our lives to have this safe place that we all feel safe, that we all feel loved."
Currently, there is a campaign on Colorado Gives to save Colorado Conservatory of Dance, and there is also a 5K fundraiser race planned for June 14 to help the nonprofit.
