During the past 11 years, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet has earned a national reputation for combining rugged athleticism with fluid sensuality.
This weekend, the tightknit troupe of 10 dancers will make its St. Louis debut at Edison Theatre. Performances, sponsored by Dance St. Louis and the Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series, begin at 8 p.m. April 27-28 and 2 p.m. April 29.
Aspen Santa Fe is renowned for its daring, eclectic repertoire, which ranges from 20th-century classics to new works by many of today’s foremost European and American choreographers.
The Edison Theatre program will begin with “Sans Detour” (Without a Detour), a whirlwind descent into darkness by choreographer Dominique Dumais, a former dancer with The National Ballet of Canada. With passages ranging from lyrical to hotly emotional, “Sans Detour” shows off the strength of the troupe’s women, juxtaposing slow, rippling phrases with angular body positions and reckless lifts and tosses.
The program continues with “Pointeoff,” an intricate yet exhilarating work created for Aspen Santa Fe by Finland’s Jorma Elo. Set to Ferruccio Busoni’s piano adaptations of music of Johann Sebastian Bach, “Pointeoff” is aggressive in speed and attack, careening through athletic movements and ever-changing tangles of bodies.
The program concludes with “Noir Blanc” (Black White), a magical work — also written for Aspen Santa Fe — by Moses Pendleton. Using a scrim, projections, ultraviolet light and black-and-white costumes, the dancers create a series of seemingly impossible illusions, appearing to break every known law of physics.
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet was born in Colorado in 1995 when Bebe Schweppe, founder of Aspen Ballet School and Aspen Ballet Company, invited Tom Mossbrucker, then principal dancer with The Joffrey Ballet, and Jean-Philippe Malaty, then with Joffrey II, to form a professional ballet company.
In 2000, the troupe partnered with the City of Santa Fe, N.M., and now performs seasons in both communities. Mossbrucker is artistic director, and Malaty is executive director.
Aspen Santa Fe tours extensively around the country, averaging 50 performances each year. In addition, the company organizes an annual five-week summer dance festival that features the finest American contemporary dance, with companies such as The Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pilobolus Dance Theatre and Mark Morris Dance Group.
The School of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet conducts pre-professional dance programs in both cities, along with extensive education and outreach programs focusing on Mexican and Native American cultures
Prior to each performance, Mossbrucker will present the talk “Speaking of Dance” in Edison’s Lambert Lounge. The talk begins at 7:15 p.m. April 27-28 and 1:15 p.m. April 29. Michael Uthoff, Dance St. Louis artistic and executive director, will host the April 27 talk. Sally Brayley Bliss, Dance St. Louis executive director emeritus, will host the April 28-29 talks.
For more information, call 935-6543 or visit edisontheatre.wustl.edu.