University of Denver Spring 2025

ALUMNI STORIES

Photo courtesy Tyler McAuley

In addition to learning skills and best practices on how to run a nonprofit and develop programming, she says, “I had been told I was a good writer, but this program took it to the next level. I learned how to better articulate myself, when to keep it brief and when to elaborate, and how to use research to support my ideas.” While taking classes, Fraser-Hoffman was also serving as dance captain for “The Lion King” and as a “swing,” which means she had to learn multiple roles and step in when another cast member was unable to perform. “I had to release my perfectionism,” she says. “It was a matter of finding a rhythm that worked for me and accepting that this is a lot of work. I took what I could out of it, didn’t beat myself up about what I couldn’t do, and always communicated with the professor if I needed help. That’s what kept me on a path.”

Photo courtesy Dirty Sugar

with physical and mental challenges in the Bronx and surrounding areas. Fraser-Hoffman serves as chief artistic officer and program director for dance. Finding her rhythm Fraser-Hoffman was thinking about the foundation and her future career in the arts when she chose the arts and cultural management program. “I can’t dance forever, and this seemed like a perfect mix of all the things I would need to sharpen my skills for what’s next,” she says. “It just felt right. And I’m a Sagittarius— if something feels right, I’m going to do it.” She appreciated the asynchronous format and enjoyed her classes—especially event planning, social change leadership, and arts and culture entrepreneurship—but the program also challenged her.

Today, she’s still in “The Lion King,” working for the Paige Fraser Foundation and teaching modern dance at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan. She also recently directed a short film in partnership with a medical review journal, collaborating with dancers, including those with disabilities, and choreographing dance sequences inspired by poems about different illnesses over the years. She says she is thrilled to help bridge the gap between art and medicine and she looks forward to continuing that work. “Getting my master’s degree strengthened my belief in dance and art as a tool and vehicle for change,” Fraser-Hoffman says. “Even though it took me four years, I’m so grateful that I committed to finishing it because I walked away with so much more than I had when I started.”

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UNIVERSITY OF DENVER MAGAZINE | SPRING 2025