How Dance Aspen quickly gained a deep reputation, bringing top choreo to Vail Dance Festival

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet’s touring company carried the mantle for contemporary Colorado dance for more than two decades, and carried it far, headquartering itself in its two namesake cities but touring across the country where its skilled troupe and innovative movement won wide acclaim.

The pandemic put an end to all that. The international shutdown of performing arts venues put pressure on the organization and its finances. ASFB, as it was known, decided to eliminate its touring company, and to focus on its role as a dance school and presenter of other companies’ works. The loss to Colorado culture was notable.

But, as we have all learned over the past two years, art is resilient, and so are the people who make it. Out of the ashes of ASFB now comes Dance Aspen, a new outfit founded and run by the dancers the old company left behind.