Family Remembers Slain Ballet Arizona Dancer Through Scholarship Fund
PHOENIX, AZ — The household of slain Ballet Arizona dancer Colleen Buckley Hoopes plans to honor her reminiscence with a scholarship fund to assist younger individuals who share her ardour for dance.
Hoopes was shot to loss of life by her husband, Christopher Hoopes, in the course of the evening on May 20 of their dwelling in Tempe, in accordance with police.
Hoopes joined Ballet Arizona in 2017 as a company dancer and in addition labored as a trainer for The School of Ballet Arizona.
“From the time Colleen auditioned [at Ballet Arizona], I saw her total love for dancing and her intense desire to succeed as a dancer that never left her,” Ballet Arizona Artistic Director, Ib Andersen mentioned in an announcement. “She was a kind, considerate person who set an example of how to be. She wanted so much. Colleen will be greatly missed and remembered.”
Hoopes’ household is establishing the scholarship fund in Colleen’s identify on the Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester New York, the place she educated in her youth. Hoopes grew up in Rochester.
The scholarship is supposed for younger dancers, “who have the same passion for dance, work ethic, drive and kindness that Colleen had, to spread her light,” in accordance with Ballet Arizona.
In a Facebook publish, the Draper Center mentioned it was humbled that Hoopes’ household devoted the scholarship to dancers coaching on the middle.
“Colleen was truly a bright light,” the Draper Center wrote. “She was a kind, and giving person, and a gifted, passionate, and dedicated artist. While at the Draper center she was a role model for so many.”
The middle went on to say that Hoopes by no means missed an opportunity to go to the Draper Center when she was again visiting the realm, and added that she was an inspiration to its subsequent era of dancers.
Those who wish to donate to the scholarship fund could make checks out to “Draper Center for Dance Education” with “Colleen Buckley Scholarship” within the memo line. Checks could be despatched to Draper Center for Dance Education, 1326 University Ave., Rochester, NY 14607.
