Scene from Alejandro Cerrudo’s ‘Silent Ghost’ by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (photo Rosalie O’Connor)
(BECKET, Mass.) – Aspen Santa Fe Ballet kicks off Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2016 with a program of works by choreographers including Alejandro Cerrudo, Fernando Melo, and Cayetano Soto in the Ted Shawn Theatre from Wednesday, June 22, through Sunday, June 26.
The program opens with Spanish choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Silent Ghost,” exhibiting Cerrudo’s haunting, sweeping choreography and innovative partnering. Cerrudo joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as a dancer in 2005, and was named the first resident choreographer of the company in 2009. His work has been described as “unforced, alert, yet slinkily relaxed energy” with a “lovely looseness” (Hedy Weiss, Dance Magazine) and is now represented in the repertory of world’s top companies including Nederlands Dans Theater and Pacific Northwest Ballet. “Silent Ghost” is set to a range of popular composers including the Icelander Ólafur Arnalds with costumes by designer and frequent collaborator Branimira Ivanova.
“Re:play,” Brazil-born Fernando Melo’s first commissioned work for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, focuses on the construction and reconstruction of a single scene, illustrating motifs through tightly choreographed patterns. Dubbed “innovative” and “resonant” by Andrew Travers of the Aspen Times, “Re:play” is performed by a cast of ten dancers with lighting design by Sean Johnson, and set to a score by several artists including cellist Zoë Keating, Brussels-based contemporary music ensemble Ictus, and Belgian Blindman Kwartet.
The program closes with Catalonian choreographer Cayetano Soto’s fiery “Huma Rojo.” Soto’s trademark ferocity and powerfully physical movement is paired with cheeky theatricality, an homage to “all the strong women in my life” as stated by Soto in an interview with Andrew Travers of the Aspen Times. The resident choreographer of Ballet BC, Soto has set work on companies across the globe in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S. “Huma Rojo” is set to colorful mambo music by fellow Catalonian Xavier Cugat with bold red costumes by Paris-based fashion label Maison Ullens.
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet made its Jacob’s Pillow debut in 2003 and has returned to perform in four subsequent Festival seasons, including its most recent appearance in 2014. Dancer Craig Black, now in his fifth season with the company, is an alumnus of The School at Jacob’s Pillow’s Contemporary Program in 2011 and was the recipient of the prestigious Lorna Strassler Award that same year.
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet was established in 1996 through the efforts of founder Bebe Schweppe inviting Tom Mossbrucker and Jean-Philippe Malaty to develop a small professional ballet company in Aspen, Colo. After making an agreement with a presenting organization in Santa Fe, the company changed its name to Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and now calls each city its home.
The combination of these two home cities, each known for the depth and breadth of its artistic community, creates a unique partnership and lends a strong dance presence in each area. The company’s repertoire includes works by renowned choreographers such as David Parsons, George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Trey McIntyre, Lar Lubovitch, and Twyla Tharp.
Executive director Jean-Philippe Malaty was born in France and studied at Europe’s prestigious L’École Mudra, Maurice Béjart’s first school in Brussels, and John Cranko’s Ballet School in Stuttgart, later traveling to America to study at the David Howard Dance Center.
Artistic director Tom Mossbrucker was one of the Joffrey Ballet’s most celebrated dancers with a 20-year career, performing in over 70 ballets under the direct coaching of founders Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. The company is “a class act, a classic act, and an extraordinarily engaging act: it’s the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet…the company has much of the pulsating energy of the old Joffrey Ballet,” wrote Clive Barnes of New York Post.
Performance and ticket information
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Ted Shawn Theatre
Wednesday, June 22—Saturday, June 25, 8pm
Saturday, June 25 & Sunday, June 26, 2pm
Free Pre-Show Talks with Jacob’s Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe are offered in Blake’s Barn 30 minutes before each performance
Free Post-Show Talk with artists from Aspen Santa Fe Ballet will take place immediately following the performance on Friday, June 24 at the Ted Shawn Theatre.
Tickets start at $45. Now on sale online at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, via phone at 413.243.0745, or in person at the Jacob’s Pillow Box Office.
Box Office hours: Wednesday- Saturday, 11am-8pm; Sun, noon-5pm; Tues, 11am-5pm
Pillow Members receive exclusive benefits. To become a Member, call 413.243.9919×125.
Jacob’s Pillow is located at 358 George Carter Road in Becket, MA, 01223 (10 minutes east on Route 20 from Mass Pike Exit 2). The Jacob’s Pillow campus and theaters are handicapped accessible.
Juan Siddi Flamenco Santa Fe (photo Rosalie O’Connor)
ALSO THIS WEEK:
Juan Siddi Flamenco Santa Fe
June 22-26, Wednesday-Saturday at 8:15pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2:15pm
Doris Duke Theatre
Led by dancer and Artistic Director Juan Siddi, the 14 dancers and musicians of Juan Siddi Flamenco Santa Fe present a program of flamenco dance and powerful live music. Founded in Santa Fe in 2008 and in artistic partnership with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet since 2014, the company’s “physical bravado” and “fabulous footwork” (Emmaly Weiderholt, Santa Fe Reporter), captures the form’s rich cultural heritage and infuses it with a unique, contemporary flair. Virtuosic musicians and vocalists, many hailing from Spain, heighten the dramatic power of this electrifying ensemble. Tickets start at $25.