ASPEN/SANTA FE BALLET, Capitol Theatre, additional performance Saturday, 7:30 p.m. (355-2787).
Shadow and light. Those opposites make for an interesting, dynamic work called "Noir Blanc."
The Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet brought Moses Pendleton's "Noir Blanc" to the Capitol Theatre last night. The work is amazing. It's a moving optical illusion that incorporates black light and two-toned costumes.
At times, the dancers look as if they are floating on air. Other times they look as if their bodies are splitting in half. Add an eyeful of transparent and sometimes moving projections and you have a surreal trip into someone's wildest imagination.
Then again, Pendleton is the co-founder of Pilobolus and Momix. And his mind-bending style is stamped all over this wonderful work.
"Noir Blanc" is placed in the middle of the ASFB's program, which is sponsored by Ballet West as the opening of its 2005-06 season. The other two works are Nicolo Fonte's "Left Unsaid" and Trey McIntyre's "Like a Samba."
"Left Unsaid" opens the evening with its high energy and limber choreography.
Breathtaking lifts, catches and sometimes body-altering extensions capture the audience's attention from the get go. The technical transitions are smooth and the dancing is tight, with not a lot of room for mistakes.
As for the closing work, "Like a Samba," well, it's a Brazilian jazz lover's dream.
The title, taken from the Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto collaboration "Girl from Ipanema," does the style right as a lively and confident girl mesmerizes two dancers and, of course, the audience.
The dreamy choreography by McIntyre, one of the most in-demand choreographers in the dance world today, is whimsical, stylish and easy on the eyes.
This work also uses, for a brief time, anyway, the use of light and shadow, and other Gilberto songs. The dancers dance in front of illuminated squares and seemingly burst out onto the stage.
Subtle hip swaggers and ballroom-like hip swivels highlight this classically based ballet.
The Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, co-directed by Jean-Phillipe Malaty and Tom Mossbrucker, is a delightful treat from Ballet West. And seeing former University of Utah ballet students — Sam Chittenden, Katie Dehler and Brooke Klinger — in the company makes the experience that much better.
E-mail: scott@desnews.com