Ballet Gift Shop, now in its 5th year, is a family-owned and operated company situated at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Englewood, Colorado. With the goal of helping ballet companies raise money for their performances, Ballet Gift Shop is dedicated to providing dance-inspired gift items at low prices so that ballet companies can truly profit. Years of experience in a variety of dance styles has given the designs at Ballet Gift Shop a true authenticity of form, line, and costume. With a strong desire to keep business in America, we strive to offer only American-made products. We manufacture many of these items in-house using as many American-made supplies as possible. We also work with a number of USA manufacturers and artisans to bring you a wider variety of dance gifts and keepsakes. What started as ornament designs for 36 characters from the Nutcracker Ballet, has grown to include over 180 different character designs from 13 performances and numerous dance styles in over 30 different product lines. We have helped raise thousands of dollars for dance performances since we began during the 2007 Nutcracker season. If you have any questions or concerns please contact us through our website or our blog. View Ballet Gift Shop in the Press Paul Coenen - Printmaker Paul Coenen is a Printmaker who lives and works in St. Louis, MO. Paul's prints have been shown nationally and internationally in juried printmaking exhibitions, as well as group and solo shows. In 2009, Paul was fortunate to have been an artist in residence at the Ragdale in Lake Forest, IL for one month and has been an artist in residence for several years at The Luminary Center for the Arts in Saint Louis. Paul has also been a resident at The Vermont Studio Center and The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, both in 2007. Paul's artwork is focused primarily in printmaking and drawing, primarily relief prints these days. His specialties also include Etching & Intaglio Printmaking and Lithography. Paul studied printmaking and art education at East Carolina University (class of 2003, BFA) and yet even more printmaking at the University of Wisconsin Madison (class of 2007, MFA).  Recent artwork can be seen at his informal blog, www.paulcoenenprints.com. You can also view Paul's CV here. Dottie Dillard - Photographer At a young age, Dottie Dillard studied ballet with Nina Stragonova and Lisan Kay at the Ballet Arts Studio in Carnegie Hall. She later was awarded a full scholarship with American Ballet Theatre where she studied with Dimitri Romanoff, Alexandra Danilova and other noted instructors. From ages 15 to 17, while continuing her classes at ABT, she was a member of the Ballet Company of Radio City Music Hall. She also was a principal dancer with the Denver Company of Ballet Theatre. Dottie is a self-taught photographer – originally with an emphasis on nature photography. She photographed her first ballet performance in 1997 and subsequently embraced dance photography with a passion that reflects her knowledge and love of that art form. Specializing in performance photography, she has photographed some of the greatest dancers in the world including several gold medal winners. Dottie has been a company photographer with Ballet Internationale which was under the artistic direction of Eldar Aliev who was principal dancer for thirteen years with the world renowned Kirov Ballet. Other ballet companies that Dottie has photographed include San Francisco Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Metropolitan Classical Ballet, and Washington Ballet. Her images have appeared in Pointe Magazine and she is a member of ASMP. She has won numerous awards in photography competitions – including several 1st place awards. She was one of 157 winners out of over 50,000 international entries in the American Photo Magazine contest 2004.