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Week of December 8, 2022
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
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VOLUME 39 | ISSUE 20
Multi-million Sugar plum fairies come to Lakewood with the Nutcracker ballet dollar complex
promises help for Lakewood’s unhoused BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
shows because of that, they are both interesting and the choreography is very beautiful.” The production in Lakewood is a “fairly traditional” version, she said. The sugar plum solo and duet, for instance, draw from original choreography by Marius Petipa, she
Marshall Moody and Paul Johnson sat under a tree in Lakewood beside the roar of cars on West Colfax Avenue. It was a sunny September day. After losing his home in public housing, Johnson was wrestling with what to do next, while Moody took a break for the afternoon from hunting for a place to stay. Both have been unhoused, on and off, in Lakewood for years. “Police show up to tell you to leave, but don’t have an answer as to where we can go,” Moody said. “When (the city) does give you housing, it’s like a setup for failure,” Johnson added. A setup because of the difficulty of keeping to the rules at various shelters and public housing, such as curfews and not being allowed to have alcohol, and the lack of tolerance if they are broken. “I shouldn’t have to follow any more rules than others staying in the apartments have to,” Johnson continued. Now, in the cold, snowy, November weather, the Jefferson Center — a non-profit supplier of mental healthcare across the metro area — will soon be bringing what it says is a partial solution to Lakewood: a 40-unit permanent supportive housing complex. It broke ground on Nov. 29 and is expected to be
SEE BALLET, P12
SEE UNHOUSED, P2
Yoshiko Brunson as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Anton Iakovlev as her Cavalier in Ballet Ariel’s Nutcracker production in 2021. PHOTO COURTESY OF BALLET ARIEL
BY ANDREW FRAIELI AFRAIELI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Though the mice battling gingerbread soldiers will be doing a modern improvisation, “The Nutcracker” performance by Ballet Ariel at the Lakewood Cultural Center will be mostly traditional. A sugar plum fairy will rule the cold, sweet lands
and a little girl will meet a mysterious nutcracker on Christmas eve. Dance company founder Ilena Norton Ballet Ariel is known for modernizing classics. “For me, my style is to do things that are very beautiful and interesting to watch,” said Norton, who choreographed the Nutcracker production. “I think people enjoy our
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 14 | LIFE: PAGE 16 | CALENDAR: PAGE 19 | SPORTS: PAGE 24
WARM SPOT FOR WINTER PRODUCE
Packing container to bring farming downtown
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