Chairman
Mary Sours is a Denver native born into a large Hispanic family. She retired as the Swansea Elementary School principal after spending 30 years working with at risk students. Mary’s love for ballet began when her two daughters, now adults, started taking classes as children. She had the opportunity to provide this dance experience for her students when she partnered with director, Ilena Norton, to offer affordable classes at Swansea Elementary School. Some of Mary’s interests as a board member include having a culturally inclusive company and making an effort to reach out to as many Colorado communities as possible.
Vice-Chairman
Janet MacFarlane – toured Europe with the short-lived Los Angeles Ballet. She attended the School of American Ballet under George Baldachin, taking company class with the great ballerinas Maria Tallchief and Melissa Heyden. As Mr. Ballanchine did not select her to join the company after one year in SAB, she attended Barnard College and later Stanford Law School. She practiced law in Denver and is now retired. She is a founding member of Ballet Ariel Board of Directors.
Secretary
Barb Watson is formerly a research nurse at the Denver VA Medical Center, and is a dance and arts supporter.
Treasurer
John Richardson is a Senior Principal for Insight Enterprises’ Cloud and Data Center Transformation Consulting Services group. John has been principal bassoon of Stratus Chamber Orchestra since 2002 and is a founding member of Gossamer Winds. He has been on the board of Ballet Ariel since (year), and has also served on the boards of Augustana Arts and Colorado Mahlerfest.
Members
Ilena Norton is founder and director of the Ballet Ariel Company since 1998. She has produced and co-choreographed many original ballets for Ballet Ariel including A Tale of Molly Brown, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, and Ballerina by Degas. The Ballet Ariel Director has a Bachelors Degree from Stanford University and postgraduate education from Yale University and the Univ. of Colorado in health and psychology. She is current enrolled in the graduate certificate program in nonprofit management at the Univ. of Colorado.
Peter Strand has danced with several companies: Oakland Ballet, Minnesota Ballet, Granite State Ballet in New Hampshire, Micheal Mao Modern Dance Company, Les Ballets Trocaderos de Monte Carlo, the Connecticut Ballet, and as a principal for “Pirouettes” International, the Lexington Ballet (KY), and The Quad Cities Ballet. Locally, he has danced with Zikr Dance Ensemble. Currently, he is the Department Chair for the Multimedia Graphic Design program at Pikes Peak State College and designer/photographer for Ballet Ariel.
Sharon Wehner enjoyed a fulfilling 22-year career as a Principal Dancer with the Colorado Ballet and has had the opportunity to travel the world as a guest artist, working with companies and renowned choreographers throughout her field. She currently performs as a freelance artist and teacher and recently made Denver Dance Center the home of her Dance and Movement Coaching business. Sharon loves working with people of all ages and abilities to find more health, vitality, and joy in their bodies through modalities such as ballet, yoga, Dance for Parkinson’s disease and mobility challenges, and the GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® methods. She runs a mentoring program for teen and pre-professionals to help aspiring dancers develop holistic mind-body practices that support their dance journeys. Sharon is also a certified sports nutrition coach and member of the International Association of Dance Medicine.