Joffrey Ballet awards scholarships to two Gunnison dancers

On July 24, the Joffrey Ballet, described as "one of the premier dance companies in the world today," announced full-tuition scholarships for two local students to study in their summer 2027 dance camps.

Both young women are currently students at Gunnison’s High Attitude Dance Academy (HADA). Cameron Meeuwsen, about to be a dance major at Loyola Marymount University, will be attending a Joffrey Summer Intensive. Campbell Downum, age 16, will be attending the Joffrey Jazz & Contemporary program. Dancefinder.net described dance intensive camps as “highest-stakes training—the door to pre-professional company contracts, conservatory placement, and college BFA [Bachelor of Fine Arts] pipelines.”

The announcement culminated a rigorous three days of dance led by Bradley Shelver, Artistic Director of Contemporary Ballet Studies, as part of the Gunnison Orchestral and Vocal Academy (GOVA), which had also featured personnel from the Metropolitan Opera and singers and musicians from around the United States.

Eleven students from the dance academy, and four from the Crested Butte School of Dance, worked with Shelver and his colleague Camryn Stafford. Instructors Brenda Moreno and Lillyanna Lock described the “incredible opportunity” as their dancers were “introduced to new avenues of movement and deepened their understanding of professionalism,” and “experienced the impact of a world-renowned dance organization. HADA owner-teacher Crystal Ashe agreed, saying that it was “inspiring to watch a great teacher teach and move the dancers in ways they aren’t used to.” But she also noted that students were ready for the opportunity, “because at HADA we teach the same technical standards as the Joffrey does.”

It’s one thing for teachers to say what they thought students learned and, at times, quite another to hear the student version. But in this case, Meeuwsen echoed her teachers: “The experience strengthened my confidence and helped me grow as a dancer, preparing me for the next chapter of my dance journey.” And similarly, Downum said, “It was such an honor to train with these inspiring professionals. I am especially grateful to have been selected as a Joffrey Scholarship recipient. Thanks to HADA, I have learned the importance of hard work, respect, and professionalism, and I am so excited to continue to grow and challenge myself at the Joffrey workshop.”

Shelver was impressed with all the dancers, highlighting their work ethic, their openness to learning material outside their comfort zone, and their willingness to both challenge themselves and to challenge and support one another. “That's not something you can teach easily—it comes from character,” he said. He went on: “And perhaps most important, they were curious, and curiosity is what allows an artist to keep evolving throughout an entire career.”

Twelve-year-old Marlowe Sagahum, an academy student, performed the only dance piece during GOVA’s student showcase that included music and theatrical monologues, a piece that was thrilling and technically challenging. Of the experience of studying with Camryn Stafford, she said, “The Joffrey workshop taught me how to think of ballet in a new and exciting way, and Camryn helped me to improve my movement quality.”

In a dance showcase a few days later, Shelver and the fifteen students offered a glimpse into their time together in a program that moved between sample moments from a workshop to group dance exhibitions. He explained both the techniques and discipline involved in each of the numbers – and one of the pieces was, in effect, choreographed by the students themselves. he had given them a challenge and divided them into small groups to create their choreography for the idea; each group presented their piece, and from these pieces, Shelver “picked bits and moments,” and rewove them into an exciting dance that they had still been rehearsing up until 30 minutes before their performance.

The students’ movement was intricate, beautiful – and athletic. Shelver mused, “A professional dancer combines the strength of a gymnast, the endurance of a distance runner, the explosive power of a basketball player, the balance of a figure skater, and the precision of an Olympic diver. A dancer isn't just executing difficult movement; they're also telling a story, interpreting music, connecting emotionally with an audience, and making split-second artistic decisions while maintaining extraordinary physical control. That's an incredibly demanding combination. I think if sports fans watched dancers train, they'd have enormous respect for the level of athleticism involved.” Not to mention the teamwork a piece demands.

The Joffrey Ballet leaves behind a new understanding of dance for our community; technique and creative self-awareness for 15 young dancers; and an extraordinary opportunity for two of them. We will look forward to seeing what Cameron and Campbell bring home with them next summer.