Gwen Bowen School of Dance Arts . Denver, CO 50 Years of Ballet Tap Hip Hop Jazz Flamenco

by Amy Allen, Washington Park Profile

Miss Gwen Bowen, Creative Director and founder of "Arts For All" and a respected local dance teacher for over 50 years was honored recently as a recipient of the prestigious Dance Teacher Award for 2004, at ceremonies held during the annual Dance Teacher Summer Conference in New York City.

Miss B," as she is affectionately known to her current and former students, graduated from Denver Public Schools (DPS) and the University of Denver, Prior to opening the Gwen Bowen School of Dance Arts more than half a century ago, she taught in DPS as well as at Metropolitan State College. She has choreographed over 120 operas, musicals and ballets, and Ms. B continues many classes.

Always at least as concerned with the development of her students as people as much as dancers, "Miss B" finds her joy in a student who comes in "shy and lacking confidence, and then you see them realize, 'Hey, I can dance!'"

The "Dance Teacher" Summer Conference was presented by Lifestyle Media, publisher of Dance Teacher, Dance Spirit, Pointe, European Dance News and Stage Directions magazines.

The votes are in for the 2004 Dance Teacher Awards! The honorees are Gwen Bowen, Hortensia Fonseca, Nina Marlow, Jo Rowan and Marty Spraque.
by Lisa Arnett, www.dance-teacher.com

With nominations from students, parents, friends and fellow teachers pouring into the DT offices earlier this year, picking just a few teachers for the 2004 Dance Teacher Awards was a difficult task, to say the least. Our distinguisned selection panel, which included teachers, professional dancers, artistic directors, convention coordinators and dancewear manufacturers, selected these five standouts for above-and-bevond contributions to their dance communities. (For the first time, we had a three-way tie in the private studio category.) All five honorees were recognized during an awards ceremony at the 2004 Dance Teacher Summer Conference in August.

Bowen School of Dance Arts
Denver, CO
Private Studio

Seeing her students grow physically and emotionally is what keeps Gwen Bowen motivated to teach classes six days a week at her Denver studio. "When you see a student come in who is shy and lacking confidence, and then you see them realize, 'Hey, I can dance!' the soul satisfaction makes it worth a million," she says.

Bowen, who earned a degree in education from University of Denver, taught in Denver public schools and at Metropolitan State College before opening Bowen's School of Dance Arts in 1953, where she continues to teach 24 classes a week in ballet, jazz and tap. Her studio accommodates all levels, from preschool to adult beginner to pre-professional. She has taught at numerous dance conventions and is a life member of Dance Educators of America, among other organizations. She has choreographed more than 120 operas, musicals and ballets. Bowen's teaching, which focuses on proper alignment and placement across all genres of dance, stems from her own experiences. "My feet were ruined by improper training," she says.

Bowen is also a regional director of National Dance Week. For 2006 she has created A Week of Dance, a program for local Denver public schools in which students learned and performed dance during class time. She is also creative director of Arts for All, an organization that brings dance into public school classrooms during and after school; the group is currently raising funds to establish an arts center to be shared with the Denver metro area.

Dance Teacher Summer Conference News

"When you see a student who is shy and lacking confidence and then you see them realize, 'Hey, I can dance!' the soul satisfaction makes it worth a million," says Bowen, who opened her Denver studio in 1953 years ago.Bowen continues to teach 16-24 classes a week in tap, jazz and ballet. She has taught at numerous dance conventions and is a life member of Dance Educators of America, among other dance education organizations. Throughout her career, she has choreographed more than 120 operas, musicals and ballets. Bowen is also founder and artistic director of Arts for All, an organization that brings dance into the K-12 classroom. The group is currently raising funds to establish an arts center to be shared with the Denver metro residents.