DanceAspen’s newest addition Aaron Smyth connects Aspen and Australia through performance art.
Australian native and DanceAspen principal guest artist Aaron Smyth
Aspen and Australia have long enjoyed a cozy relationship. Ski instructors have been making winter sojourns from down under to teach on our slopes for years. But our newest Aussie import has brought ballet shoes instead of ski boots.
DanceAspen (danceaspen.org), the upstart new company that was created to fill the void left behind when the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet was forced to disband during the pandemic, welcomes a trio of new dancers to the company for its second season of dance. Dancers Marian Faustino and Blake Krapels joined Australian native and principal guest artist Aaron Smyth in performances at the Wheeler Opera House for the September debut of New Horizons.
Smyth, who is well known for his athleticism as a dancer, brings an impressive résumé to DanceAspen along with an indomitable spirit. “In addition to his incredible talent, he has a unique entrepreneurial brain and a playful demeanor,” says Laurel Winton, executive director of DanceAspen. “I felt he was a good fit for the ‘big dream’ group that we are.”
Big dreams have defined Smyth’s dancing career to date. Born in Queensland, he came to the U.S. at the age of 17 to study at the American Ballet Theatre II in New York. “I was so passionate about dance, and all the important male dancers were here,” says Smyth in a recent interview about the experience. “So to make that leap to America was really magical.”
Smyth followed his early success with stints at the Royal Ballet in London and The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. And, showing his creativity, he has performed in the hit London West End stage presentation of An American in Paris and on the big screen with ballerina Misty Copeland in the Disney feature film The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. His character? Why, a Snow Cavalier, of course. “I had known Misty since my days in New York, so it was great to come full circle,” says the dancer.
While Smyth has been on the road for the past 14 years as a principal dancer in a number of prestigious productions, he is looking forward to his Aspen adventure and spending time with the DanceAspen company. “Dance has taken me around the world, but I love Aspen,” he notes. “It is so nice to be a part of such a high-caliber cultural community and have a role in a worldclass company.” Good on ya, mate.
Photography by: PHOTO COURTESY OF DANCEASPEN
