NYC Dance Happenings- Aspen Santa Fe

If you miss the sunrise in the mornings, you can be sure to catch it watching Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. From February 17-22, this Colorado dance company graced The Joyce stage once again. Three New York Premiere's and a off-kilter Forsythe piece, Aspen has taken bright light city by the jugular, skewing their own interpretation of neon locales. "Petal", Aspen's first number choreographed by Helen Pickett, was even more seasonal than its title's implications. As the black curtain rose, the stage was lit with the most magnificent yellow the East coast has seen in a while. This candy-yellow displayed an immediate gleaming warm tone, bringing dreams of sunflowers and crayons to life. The company became the rays, extending and twerking like the battery of our world. Philip Glass's music thrusted the eight dancers to their breaking points; Wiggling their ankles and whipping pirouettes (both on and off Pointe) with the audacity of the Aspen mountains, Santa Fe has come to be seen and heard.

Todd Elmer's incandescent lighting is like the perfect day; beginning with a welcoming sunrise, dimming at noon alongside the charming viola's, and imitating an astonishing sunset with bright pinks and purple hues. While the dancers run less than enthusiastically, it's hard to pay attention to anything else but their muscles. Enhancing uniform, juicy calves and web-woven back muscles, Elmer aids in scintillating way past the box office.


Aspen might possibly be replicating "Aspen Yellow" in "Petal"- providing accessibility of the western mountains to their New York audience.


"Chameleon", choreographed by Itzik Galili, reminded me of my days at The OSU Gesturing Factory. There sat, on 5 bright green, modish chairs, positioned in a straight horizontal line, five ladies of the company. "Chameleon" is a woman, the women are chameleon's- shape-shifting and squeezing their faces to fit every mold a man could possibly want. Wearing nothing but black leotards with sheer v-neck's and satin Pointe shoes, the women hardly ever left the chairs; yet their physical engagement put Venus and Mars theories to rest.

At a particular moment, the women could have been mannequins, poised and ready for window shoppers, they puckered their lips and pointed their toes to impress. Yet, the next crux would disgust the female lizards, issuing the shaking of heads and knee-displacement- as if to echo their own aghast expressions. Lauren Alzamora was the queen of reflections, sitting and dancing right in the center of the five reptiles. Once you watch her it's hard to distract your gaze. Alzamora's body language, facial expressiveness, and pure technique is enough to make Balanchine come back from his grave- may he R.I.P. Ms. Alzamora's is the bait, and we are the fish being reeled in by her dark stare and poignant extension. Her body is that of a Olympic swimmer turned dancer, etching her muscles in the black downstage space.

"Chameleon" reminded me of the beginning of "Sugar", choreographed by Ohio State alum, Adriana Durant. In "Sugar", the dancers gestured as if staring into a mirror, fixing stray hairs and lip-gloss stains. Both Durant's cast and Aspen Santa Fe dared to ask the question, "Who is the fairest of them all?" Though the quintet refrains from acknowledging each others presence, their is a certain level of comparative-ology that ensues throughout Galili's vision.


A note on "Slingerland Pas De Deux", a duet created by William Forsythe in 2000 (Aspen's third piece): I have never seen such a cool tutu in my life. Forsythe take the picturesque image of a ballerina and contorts the colors of the bodice and materials of the skirt to work within his twisted world. His demure pink and washed-out orange hues are mellow and dim- like the color bled from the costume rack before the show. However, the muted colors do the dancers only justice, illuminating their technique and relationship. Forsythe's tutu dances with the dancer in increment waves, as it is sewn and crafted to do just so. Appropriately removing the stiffness and snobbery from the ballet, Forsythe makes a statement on the culture and tradition with just a skirt. As Ms. Katie Dehler's foot goes for an arabesque, her skirt tips the opposite way- balancing her proportions and imagery. I think the Cheshire Cat would have something to say about this.


Check out Aspen Santa Fe's last piece of their program, "1st Flash":