"distinctive, interesting work ... a vibrant alternative"

August 10, 2005 performance, reviewed by Connell McGrath

The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is one of a handful of American ballet companies that are successfully transforming ballet into a contemporary form. They returned to Jacob's Pillow this week to wide acclaim. They are a company of 11 classically-trained dancers who, while continuing to dance in the ballet vernacular, are doing it with a more pronounced physicality and without certain ballet staples such as dancing en pointe.

"Sinatra Suite" - Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
photo by Basil Childers

They began this performance with a very strong work called Left Unsaid (2003) by Nicolo Fonte. This is a 25 minute work for six dancers set to pieces from Johann Sebastian Bach's Partita No. 2 in D minor (including the wonderful Allemande and part of Chaconne), and the Sonata No. 3 in C major. The music is so strong and beautiful making a perfect match to set to ballet (unfortunately no attribution is given by the company to the very accomplished violin playing). Mr. Fonte strikes a nice balance between emotion and technical dance. He has three men in black suits dancing with folding chairs and three women in blue athletic-looking leotards. In some parts of the work, he keeps motionless dancers onstage, apparently witnessing or spotting the work. Toward the end of such movements these witnesses will perform some small gesture such as holding the chair for one of the dancers. There is also a pleasing contrast between the older, known, baroque music and this new, unknown movement.

The weakest piece of the evening was L'Apres-midi D'un Faune (2001) choreographed by Thierry Malandain to the famous Debussy piece by the same name. Danced solo by Sam Chittenden (as the Faun), it includes incongruous props such as big white puff balls made out of taffeta and an enormous tissue box (from which the Faun actually pulls a sheet-sized handkerchief that he dances with for part of the work). The piece is funny, but not quite funny enough. The most interesting aspect of it is the combination of traditional pantomime-storytelling through ballet refreshed by more contemporary movement.

Next came the Sinatra Suite (1984) by Twyla Tharp. This is a duet danced on review night by Katie Dehler and Seth DelGrasso to four or five Frank Sinatra standards. The overall style of this piece was high-ballroom-dancing with some neat and ballet tricks thrown in. These were pleasing pieces, very reminiscent of the George Balanchine Gershwin suite called Who Cares?, but with slightly more depth of movement and a fresher contemporary feel. However, dance set to such music can only go so far in terms of depth. Of note was somewhat violent to do a to That's Life and the solo by Mr. DelGrasso to Sinatra's One More for the Road.

The last piece of the evening was also by Twyla Tharp called Sweet Fields (1996) set to hymns from William Billings in the Shaker tradition, and The Sacred Harp. Billings takes some of the familiar Shaker hymns and makes them into polyphonic, harmonized music quite beautifully sung on this recording (no attribution is given by the company to the singers). This is a substantial and very beautiful effort by Twyla Tharp. She strikes a fine balance between sacredness, playfulness and mystery.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is claiming its place as part of the next-generation of American contemporary ballet. They are performing distinctive, interesting work, and giving dance audiences, and in particular ballet audiences, a vibrant alternative to more traditional "story" ballets.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
The Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival - Box Office: (413) 243-0745.
Online ticketing: jacobspillow.org.