David Taylor has been professionally involved in the Colorado dance community for the past fifty-three years. He began choreographing in 1976 during the course of a twelve- year dance career, and since then has created over one hundred original works. In 1979, he founded the David Taylor Dance Theatre, for thirty-two years one of the Rocky Mountain Region's most well-known and respected dance organizations, and Denver’s original contemporary ballet company. As the principal choreographer for 27 years, Mr. Taylor's unique creative focal point became a fascination with the ritual of ancient cultures, metaphysical concepts, and multi- media collaborations which served to put DTDT on the map nationwide as a company to watch. He received the City and County of Denver's first Individual Artist Fellowship Award for Dance in 1987, the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1997, the Carson- Brierly Dance Library’s “Living Legends of Dance” Award in 2006 and became a member of the International Dance Council in 2013. Mr. Taylor is also a recipient of four National Endowment for the Arts grants and a Western States Arts Foundation Tour West grant and his productions of “The Nutcracker” and “Rainforest” have been presented throughout the United States. Mr. Taylor is also an authority on dance history and sacred dance and he continues to conduct workshops and lecture demonstrations on these subjects for both statewide and national organizations. Currently, he also serves as the Artistic Director Emeritus and an upper level ballet program faculty member at Denver Ballet Theatre, teaching ballet technique and dance history. Mr. Taylor founded his new company, the Zikr Dance Ensemble, in 2009. With a roster that features some of the nation’s finest ballet-trained and contemporary dancers along with a totally unique repertoire, the company has been met consistently with standing ovations and critical acclaim. Zikr Dance Ensemble’s significant growth over recent years has resulted in presenting both a full Spring and Fall Season in the Denver metro area along with touring throughout Colorado and New Mexico through its highly successful Rural Colorado Community Tour Program.