Aspen – The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s repertoire might have been familiar during its performance Monday evening, but just about everything else was different.
Normally, the 10-member company presents an ambitious summer series. But because its usual venue is closed for renovation, the ballet was forced to forgo its seasonal offerings.
To at least partially fill the void, the company made its overdue, wildly successful debut at the Aspen Music Festival before an enthusiastic, packed audience in the 2,000-seat Benedict Music Tent.
Alan Fletcher, who took over in March 2006 as the music festival’s president, has made collaboration a priority, and this program was one of the first fruits of his efforts.
In his introduction, he said he hopes the two groups can work together even more closely, and there is talk of the festival co-commissioning a ballet – all welcome developments.
Although the tent was designed as a concert hall and has no wing space, it worked fairly well, with the dancers appearing unfazed by the minor adjustments they had to make. So the stage could be properly lit, the performance began at the unusual time of 8 p.m. to allow for at least partial darkness to fall.
Besides giving both the music festival and ballet a chance to broaden their audiences, this collaborative event allowed the two to capitalize on the entity that unites them – music.
Typically, the ballet performs with recorded music, but Saturday evening, it had the benefit of some of the festival’s fine artists providing onstage accompaniment. Live music gives dance a more immediate, organic feel, as was evident Monday.
The ballet chose two audience-pleasing works that challenge traditional notions of dancerly beauty and flow, and it performed both with typical technical brilliance and flair.
In “Left Unsaid” (2003), choreographer Nicolo Fonte finds unexpected grace in deliberate awkwardness. Much the same is true in Jorma Elo’s “Pointeoff” (2006), with its off-center, off-balance movement.
The evening’s only downside was the questionable inclusion of musical selections at the beginning and end. Although the performers were first-rate, this audience was here to see dance, and at least a third left before the concluding musical work.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
