Young dance company here with something to prove

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) is one of the smallest and youngest dance companies to be presented by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, which has been known for hosting legendary companies like New York City Ballet. That's a fact ASFB executive director Jean Philippe Malaty is well aware of."Chicago already has a great, rich dance scene. They really don't need another dance company," Malaty joked while chatting on the phone from Aspen, Colo.Nonetheless, this 12-year-old company of 10 dancers has a lot to prove in Chicago. Though it's ASFB's Windy City debut, it's actually a homecoming of sorts.There's a strong relationship between ASFB and Chicago," Malaty points out. Both he and artistic director Tom Mossbrucker danced with Joffrey Ballet companies (Mossbrucker was with the Joffrey for 20 years -- including the company's transition to Chicago from New York). And the company's very genesis comes from former Chicagoan Bebe Schweippe (whose husband is from the Shedd family that Chicago's great aquarium bares)."Bebe had this small ballet school in Aspen and this big dream of having a professional dance company," Malaty said. Since Aspen was world famous for its ski resorts and its summer music festival, Schweippe felt a dance company was something that was missing.Malaty says it was serendipity, since both he and Mossbrucker weren't planning to transition out of dancing just yet -- nor did they have any administrative experience in running a dance company. They also weren't choreographers, a switch from many American dance companies that are founded by dance makers with a distinct style and outlook.Still, the opportunity to found a company from scratch appealed to Mossbrucker and Malaty. With Schweippe's unending encouragement, they created a company that was more like a European repertory company that specifically focused on the dancers. Five years into its existence, ASFB joined with the city of Santa Fe as a way for the company to give its dancers more work -- and to give New Mexico it's only professional dance company.An added benefit of being based in those two arts havens is having strong philanthropic support from the community. ASFB counts many prominent donors and board members who have important relationships with Chicago-area institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Art and United Airlines Corp.Though small in size, ASFB can boast that it (along with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago) is one of a handful of companies that pays its dancers on a year-round basis with a 52-week contract. And though people always ask about which of its two hometowns ASFB spends more time in, Malaty is proud to say equally and neither. The number of ASFB performances in Aspen and Santa Fe is equal, but the company is actually on tour more weeks out of the year than they are in their namesake cities. "Last year we played 38 different cities -- which is a lot for a dance company," Malaty said, adding that the company's small size helps make the touring economical.What makes ASFB a company in demand is in its repertory created by some of the most in-demand and famous choreographers in the world. This is clearly reflected in ASFB's Chicago show.ASFB presents the Chicago premiere of Finnish choreographer Jorma Elo's "1st Flash" which set to the music of Sibelius' Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in d-minor. Elo recently set dances for American Ballet Theatre and one for Hubbard Street called "From All Sides" last season.ASFB's signature piece "Noir Blanc" created for the company by MOMIX chorographer Moses Pendleton is on the bill, a weird black-light piece featuring dancers in black and white outfits creating disembodied shapes. If the piece sounds familiar to Chicago dance fans, is because Pendleton later expanded "Noir Blanc" for his own company which played a few suburban Chicago cities last season.The final work is Tony Award-winning choreographer Twyla Tharp's rarely performed "Sweet Fields," which is set to choral Shaker hymns. ASFB is currently the only company that has the piece in its active repertory.For ASFB dancer Eric Chase, a former member of Hubbard Street II from 2000-02, returning to Chicago isn't as bittersweet as when he left. Like many Hubbard Street II dancers, Chase hoped at the time to make the move to the full-fledged Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. But ASFB proved to be just as dynamic with its choreographic repertoire and touring schedule. Plus there was the added bonus of living in Aspen."Whenever we go away, we come back and realize what a beautiful place you're living in," Chase said. "It's really a fun place to share with friends and family who come to visit."Aspen Santa Fe BalletWhere: Harris Theater for Music and Dance at Millennium Park, 205 E. Randolph Drive, Chicago When: 8 p.m. Nov. 17Tickets: $35-$55Phone: (312) 334-7777 or www.harristheaterchicago.org