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The company began modestly with seven dancers. Growth was organic. Friends in the field - Gerald Arpino, Trey McIntyre, Septime Webre, Dwight Rhoden - offered start-up repertoire. Moses Pendleton's highly popular Noir Blanc was a seminal event for the young ASFB. It launched a tradition of commissioning new works and an open, exploratory style emerged as Mossbrucker and Malaty tapped the creative scene in Europe where classical ballet was breaking from its boundaries. The athletic and adventurous American dancers found themselves at a crossroads of dance history with the divide between ballet and modern dance dissolving.
In 2000, the Aspen/CO based ballet company forged a dual-city relationship with Santa Fe/NM, broadening its scope and lending crucial revenue diversification. Under this hybrid business model, a roster of arts activities took wing year-round in both cities with performances, education, presentations and community outreach: within this innovative structure, ASFB celebrated its 20th anniversary season in 2016.
The company fostered the early careers of now in-demand global dance makers like Nicolo Fonte, Jorma Elo, Jacopo Godani, Cayetano Soto, Alejandro Cerrudo and others, with works by late 20th century masters - William Forsythe, Jill Kylian, Twyla Tharp - rounding out the repertoire.
Based for over twenty years in the American West, ASFB now sits at the vanguard of its field, brandishing a strong national reputation. Repeat engagements at the American Dance Festival, Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Joyce Theater, The Kennedy Center, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and Wolf Trap testify to the company's popularity and ability to please audiences. Overseas, ASFB has embarked on international tours to Brazil, Canada, France, Greece, Guatemala, Israel, Italy, and Russia. Premier funders - National Endowment for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts/ National Dance Project, The Schubert, Wolf Trap, Jerome Robbins, and the Princess Grace foundations – having supported ASFB's growth.
Bernard Schmidt Productions, Inc.
International artists from around the world, at the crossroads of tradition and innovation!
ASPEN SANTA FE Ballet (USA)
Bernard Schmidt Productions, Inc - click to Contact Us
400 West 43rd Street, #34L New York, N.Y. USA Tel/fax: 1-212-564-4443
ASPEN SANTA FE Ballet now enters its third decade with an undiminished creative drive. New dancers, new dance voices and a solid infrastructure characterize the company, which is looking forward to greatly develop its international touring: the ever-evolving ASFB looks to a bright future with energy and optimism, returning again to The Joyce Theater during March 20-24, 2019 for its 9th New York City season, with a live music program featuring the renowned concert pianist Joyce Yang.
In 1996, ASPEN SANTA FE Ballet Founder Bebe Schweppe invited Tom Mossbrucker, a former principal dancer with The Joffrey Ballet, and Jean-Philippe Malaty, to create a ballet company in Aspen/CO: a unique, multidimensional arts organization developed rapidly from the ballet school that Schweppe had established in the Rocky Mountains.
