The music swelled to a finale. The Prince and Princess clasped hands and strode forward to acknowledge the thunderous applause, flanked by the Lilac Fairy, the evil witch Carabosse and the elegant couple who’d danced the Bluebird variation. The rest of the onstage cast included skilled actors, Boulder Arts Academy dance students, a group of delighted children, and some of Boulder Ballet’s strongest soloists.

With the spring production of Sleeping Beauty, Boulder Ballet’s new artistic director John Prinz made two things clear: He has high ambitions for his company, as well as the skill, artistry and passion to help it achieve them.

Prinz grew up in Chicago, Illinois, but at age 15 went to New York to study dance at Joffrey School of Ballet, and later the School of American Ballet, where he attracted the attention of famed director George Balanchine. In 1963, at age 17, Prinz was accepted into New York City Ballet and Balanchine immediately give him solo roles and groomed him to be a star.

“Balanchine was on the level of Mozart,” Prinz says. “He never made mistakes. He knew exactly what to do with a dancer. He created choreography that fit your personality and your body, and it was easy. It was you.”

But as much as he loved performing in Balanchine’s brilliant, elegantly choreographed productions, Prinz was also drawn to the great story ballets being mounted by New York’s other major ballet company, the American Ballet Theatre. “There was a side of me that wanted to do La Sylphide and Giselle,” he says. “I wanted to act on stage.”

The young danseur made the switch to American Ballet Theatre, garnering leading roles and partnering some of the era’s greatest ballerinas. Then his career came to a shattering halt when Prinz snapped his Achilles tendon. Although devastated by his injury, his long recovery led to teaching. “I was always a natural dancer,” Prinz says. “Now I had to think about every muscle and tendon. I could look at a dancer having trouble and understand and correct the problem. My injury led me to a whole new career.”

Prinz didn’t have to start from scratch with Boulder Ballet. Formed in 1990, the company generally stages two ballets (one being the Nutcracker) every year. For a long time, Boulder has been home to excellent ballet teachers, including Boulder Ballet co-founder Barbara Demaree, Ana Claire, who teaches at Boulder Arts Academy, CU’s Robin Haig, and Rebecca Jancosko. But Boulder Ballet’s productions were sometimes uneven. Often, only one or two adult dancers were featured amid a throng of students of varying abilities. Although performances always contained pleasurable moments, the company showed little sense of evolution or growth. Talented teenagers would invariably move on in search of better professional opportunities.

When Demaree’s daughter, Kristen, first met Prinz in London, Demaree was retiring as Boulder Ballet’s artistic director, but Prinz wasn’t interested in assuming the job. He did, however, agree to a 1999 guest appearance and oversaw a production of Cinderella for the company. Soon afterward, he accepted the artistic directorship. In January, Prinz and his wife, Julie Cronshaw, now ballet mistress for Boulder Ballet who trained at Royal Ballet School in London and who danced and taught on two continents, moved here with their infant son. The town suits their lifestyle, Prinz says. “We’re vegetarians and we’ve been involved with the spiritual side of things for a long time.”

Prinz says his goal is to create an excellent small, professional company and school that serve both the company and community. He’s delighted with the town’s resources - Macky Auditorium, Boulder Ballet’s technical staff and the Boulder Philharmonic - and believes he’ll be able to attract and retain fine dancers, helping them reach their potentials. Eventually, he hopes to stage some Balanchine works, attract contemporary choreographers and present both bigger story ballets and smaller works. Sleeping Beauty’s sold-out audiences indicate Boulder is ready to support those goals.

“The opportunity to direct Boulder Ballet kept coming my way and I rejected it a few times,” Prinz muses. “But when something keeps knocking at your door, you’re supposed to take it. I’m supposed to be here and I have a job to do.”