ASFB launches Summer Performance Series

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s bold vision of bringing in top global choreographers to set distinctive works on its virtuoso dancers is once again being realized this summer as the dance company presents performances in its pair of home cities: Aspen, CO and Santa Fe, NM.

Known as one of the chief ballet ensembles in the American West, ASFB is not only presenting performances by its own dancers this summer, but also three guest companies.

First, ASFB officially launched its exciting summer season with its dancers performing a mixed bill in Aspen on July 8 and Santa Fe on July 15. This bill includes Los Angeles-based choreographer Cherice Barton’s Eudaemonia and the world premiere of Dream Play by Brazilian choreographer Fernando Melo. It will be performed three more times this season – in Aspen on July 20 and August 18, and in Santa Fe on September 2.

Second, ASFB is also making a point this summer to host various guest companies, in turn painting a thrilling picture of the diverse landscape of dance around the world. First, it will bring Compagnie Hervé Koubi to Santa Fe on July 23 and Aspen on July 26. Twelve men hailing from Algeria and Burkina Faso will perform What the Day Owes to the Night (Ce Que le Jour Doit à la Nuit), choreographed by the French-Algerian Hervé Koubi. This hour-long work fuses elements of hip-hop, acrobatics, street and modern dance. In a similar melding of influences, the score blends traditional Sufi music alongside J.S. Bach and Hamza El Din & the Kronos Quartet to create an emotionally intense, almost ritualistic performance.

Then Aspen audiences will be exclusively treated to performances by Compagnie Marie Chouinard of Montréal and stars of the New York City Ballet. On August 4, Compagnie Marie Chouinard will present two ballets, both choreographed by company namesake, Marie Chouinard. Performed with live accompaniment, Chouinard’s 1999 work 24 Preludes by Chopin will present a jubilant, yet solemn work. Her 1993 work The Rite of Spring will reexamine Stravinsky’s unforgettable score in an avant-garde visual spectacle.

Stars of American Ballet will return August 12 after a sold-out Aspen debut in 2014. Hand-picked and directed by New York City Ballet Principal Daniel Ulbricht, this group of elite dancers from NYCB and American Ballet Theatre will perform a varied program featuring works by Ulysses Dove, George Balanchine and Kenneth MacMillan.

Tickets for all summer series performances went on sale to the public in late May. To see whether tickets are still available online, visit www.aspensantafeballet.com.

Note that all Colorado performances take place at the Aspen District Theater and all New Mexico shows are presented at The Lensic, Santa Fe’s Performing Arts Center.

Photo: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s Joseph Watson jumping in Cherice Barton’s Eudaemonia. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.