Support Needed for Ali Jaramillo

As the Colorado dance community, we are so good at coming together when necessary. Well, it is now necessary! A beloved member of our community has been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. Alison (Ali) Jaramillo, co-owner and co-director of Littleton Ballet Academy received a double mastectomy within a few weeks of her diagnosis. On October 7th, Ali started her chemotherapy treatment. After that, she will have to go through radiation. Despite having a long journey ahead, if you know Ali, you know that she is one tough cookie. She was back teaching her beloved students just 3 days after her double mastectomy as she knew that seeing her students would make her happy! 

You may remember back in 2018, when Ali heard the news of Colorado Ballet’s Principal dancer Francisco Estevez’s second cancer diagnosis, she immediately wanted to do something to show support. Thus, she is one of the founding members of Dancers for a Cause (DFAC), a nonprofit in which dancers from all over Colorado come together to perform a benefit performance. The first year, DFAC raised funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, along with helping Francisco with his treatment bills. Last year, DFAC donated directly to The Children’s Hospital of Colorado. DFAC was becoming a wonderful, annual event bringing artists together for great causes, until Covid hit.

Ali would never ask for help. And those who know her know that even doing this GoFundMe would result in some push back. But we won!

Ali has endured a lot of out of pocket expenses already, and with her further treatments, it’s only the beginning of what she’ll have to pay.  We’re asking you, our dance community and anyone who knows and loves Ali like we do, to come together to support her and make her journey as painless as possible. We understand that with the impact Covid has had on our economy, a lot of people are suffering financially. But no matter how big or small a contribution, it is still a meaningful and thoughtful donation and will go a long way in supporting Ali through this fight. 

As this is Breast Cancer Awareness month any monies leftover after paying for Ali’s medical expenses will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

 Thank you in advance for your generosity!