‘We live our lives together’

Nonprofit ‘family’ bonds over more than just dance

Taking the first steps into the unknown usually presents the greatest challenges in any of life’s endeavors.

Back in 2020, Alyssa Gibson began searching for general information about the Greeley area to get a glimpse of what her new life could look like if her husband landed a job in the city. There was also one particular activity she sought out: dance.

Gibson’s search for dance opportunities led her to the Colorado Dance Collective, a nonprofit at 532 12th St., Greeley, with a mission to bring dance into the lives of adults who always wanted to dance or danced years ago but never found a place to rekindle their love for it.

The nonprofit offers five different styles or companies of dance: ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, and swing, stage and social. Gibson is the director of swing, stage and social, while Wendy Sosa, the founder and executive director, directs the ballet company.

Both women are hard at work this month organizing the nonprofits’ premier event: the Hip Hop Madness Showcase on Saturday, March 23 at the Millennium Event Center, 815 10th St., Greeley.

At the event, the community can see the Colorado Dance Collective in all its glory, they said.

Two Denver dance instructors, Amanda Leise and Gina Medina, are helping prepare dancers for the event.

“It was this idea that started very small and has grown into something really huge,” Sosa said.

Gibson, originally from Oregon, has a robust background in dance including seven years of performing musical theater in New York as a dancer, singer and opera singer. She graduated with a degree in opera performance from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. While in New York, she also spent two years in the American Musical and Dramatic Academy’s certificate program.

In early December 2020, Gibson arrived in Greeley with her family. A few months later, Gibson unknowingly met her second family: her Colorado Dance Collective family.

Gibson remembers being “terrified” when she first walked into the studio.

“I come from the New York dance scene, and it is all serious and a little doom and gloom sometimes and very judgemental,” she said. “Coming in as a veteran dancer having taken 10 years off — had kids in the meantime — I didn’t know what I was walking into. (I) immediately realized it was a big dance family and not a competitive, judgemental, space that I feel often in other dance studios.”

Sosa cultivated the collective’s family atmosphere back in July 2009. Sosa, who grew up in New Hampshire, arrived in Greeley in 1996 when she transferred to the University of Northern Colorado. She graduated a year later with a bachelor’s degree in art with an emphasis in dance.

After college, Sosa started working at a local dance studio where she implemented its ballet program. She stuck with the studio for 17 years.

While growing up in New Hampshire, Sosa participated in an organization similar to the one she founded 15 years ago.

“I realized that Greeley didn’t really have much like that as far as adults, and what do our kids do once they graduate from high school if they still would like to perform?” Sosa said. “Dance just kind of gets left by the wayside, and I figured we need a place for these young adults to continue having dance in their life.”

Like Gibson, Sosa has an esteemed history with dance dating back to when she was 14 years old when she signed her first professional dance contract while living in the Northeast. From there, she toured with the Boston Ballet Theater. She studied at the School of Ballet Hartford in Connecticut where she earned her performance and teaching certification before attending UNC.

Sosa said other company directors in the organization also have a rich history with dance. Most importantly, she added, they share core values at the nonprofit and have the foresight to expand the nonprofit’s reach.

“I always ask when new people come in and they have kind of both sides of the coin — they have the creative and the bossiness side — is: are you interested in being on our (Colorado Dance Collective) board?” Sosa said. “We’re not going to grow unless we have people throwing ideas at the wall.”

Gibson, who sits on the board of directors, said it took a few months after her first class before she found her footing to do more within the organization. In January 2023, Sosa asked Gibson to join the board.

Like other board members, Gibson started slinging ideas at the wall. One of those ideas came to life in January of this year: the Taste of Downtown. The event allowed residents to explore downtown Greeley businesses in a scavenger hunt-like manner during a “down” month for most businesses.

Once she got a bigger role within the organization, Gibson started seeking out mothers in the area to inform them of what was happening with the nonprofit, which paid off. She said about six mothers are dancing in one of the companies.

“It’s been incredibly fulfilling,” Gibson said of her board service.

The freedom to toss out ideas without judgment and the overall family bond have exceeded Sosa’s wildest dreams.

“We’re going to know each other forever,” Sosa said. “We go out for family dinners. We all went out and celebrated Valentine’s Day together. We’re at each other’s birthdays. We’re at each other’s weddings. We’re at each other’s anniversaries. We’re at each other’s baby showers. We’re at each other’s graduations. We live our lives together.”

The camaraderie at the nonprofit derives from dancing and the time spent together outside of the studio, but the secret sauce to everything, as Sosa divulged, is the abundance of nerdiness.

“We’re all secretly super nerdy here,” Sosa said.

The tip of the nerdiness begins with the love of Harry Potter. Gibson said Sosa bestowed Gibson with her Harry Potter house: a Slytherin.

Sosa uses terminology from the fictional series to teach ballet techniques, and that’s just the start. Sosa said they dress up and go to the Colorado Renaissance Festival during the summer, with plenty of frolicking.

They discuss Lord of the Rings and play board games together, and, as if that weren’t enough, Dungeons and Dragons campaigns are the norm, they said.

“We’re like big children. We play together outside,” Sosa said. “We can go and just unwind and be ourselves together. Isn’t that crazy pants?”

Growing up, Gibson was playing Magic: The Gathering and other fantasy games with her friends. She said her husband is a World of Warcraft player, and their family has multiple D&D campaigns ongoing at their home. She added the nerd bond at the nonprofit highlights the atmosphere and paints a picture of each individual vividly.

“I think anyone who is willing to jump into those games and experiences has to not take themselves too seriously,” Gibson said. “We’re a bunch of tattooed, graceful, nerds.”

Just a few years ago, Gibson took her first steps into what would become a second family. A family that has its arms wide open for more members. All it takes is making the first step.

“If you enjoy dance, if you’re curious about dance, if you want to be a witness to dance, you should come and look at our studio,” Sosa said. “Come into our space and just experience it.”

“We’re all there just for the love of it. So come join us,” Gibson added.

A full list of events and dance company information can be found at coloradodancecollective.com.