AURORA - Brian Bender owns a brand-new business in a very old building on East Colfax Avenue, where he's coaching some kids in a tough sport - ballet.

"Dancing is a full-contact sport," he said.

Bender's studio, Dancer's Advantage, also offers folk and modern jazz dance instruction.

He's holding classes in one room while installing flooring in others in what used to be a One Stop Rio Mart at Fulton Street.

In a back room, Bender has stacked bars that once protected windows from people wanting to break in.

"Bars aren't a very welcoming sight to 4- and 5-year-olds," Bender said during a break in an advanced class.

He built a dance floor out of wafer board on a frame of 2-by-4s on one side of the building. He fashioned portable ballet railings out of plumbing pipe - unused, of course.

Plans call for a reception area and two more dance studios, including one for peewees, said Della Westerfield, who teaches West African dance.

Bender danced 13 seasons for the Alberta Ballet and Royal Winnipeg troupe in Canada and the Colorado Ballet here.

He had a dance studio in Park Hill, but was looking for a new spot when he heard of the Aurora Arts District.

He hopes to draw young people from the area. And he really hopes corporate sponsors or private citizens will donate money to pay for scholarships as well as other stuff he needs, such as mirrors.

Bender said teaching ballet to others is his way of paying back those who helped him.

"I was teaching a martial arts class. I was 17. And a woman said I should try ballet," the Salina, Kan., native said.

So he went to a local studio to check it out.

"The first class, it was all girls," he said. "I was hooked."

OK. So Bender has established he wasn't dumb. But it was actually what the girls were doing rather than the percentages in his favor that was more appealing to him.

"I was pretty much a kind of tough guy," he said. "Then I went in there and realized I had nothing. It's extremely challenging to get good enough to be adequate, to push yourself beyond perceived limits."

So he worked hard.

"I played football and baseball. I worked on our farm," he said. "This was the toughest thing I'd ever done."

He worked hard enough to get a full ride to Creighton University in Omaha to study dance. Then he went to a summer program in Banff, Alberta. The Alberta Ballet Co. hired him on the spot.

He moved to Colorado in 1988.

"My aging parents in Kansas asked me to move closer to home," he said. "I didn't find a good reason to say no. They'd never asked anything of me."

He's retired from dancing professionally. Now he does spins and twists to demonstrate the technique to his students.

He choreographs by voice, telling dancers the moves he wants them to perform.

Registration for fall classes begins Monday.

"I want to give dancers a chance to live the dream that I was given," he said.

When Gary Massaro listens, people talk. massarog@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5271

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