During this week's "Innovations" programs, Ballet West dancers will perform a new work created for them by New York choreographer Nicolo Fonte.

Fonte came to Utah with cello music by Phillip Glass as his dance score and the basic structure for "The Immeasurable Cadences Within" in his head. But under his direction, each of the 12 dancers in the new ballet made contributions to the finished product.

"This was created for the special gifts of our Ballet West dancers," said Adam Sklute, the company's artistic director. "Having one new creation each year by an outside choreographer is so important, so enlivening for our company. The great classics are the hallmark and benchmark of what we do, but we must also keep the art form moving forward, keep it alive and keep the dancers engaged and part of the process."

Fonte considers his experiences as a choreographer's muse as crucial to his development as a dancer and choreographer. He wanted Ballet West dancers to feel the same sense of ownership as he does for work created on his body by Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato, his primary mentor.

That called for a willful letting go -- never easy for an artist. "If the dance is to develop organically with the dancers, it's a question of learning how to follow what's happening in the room," Fonte said. "I have to surrender some control and watch things as they develop before my eyes."

In Ballet West's studio, Fonte's words translated to action as principal artist Christiana Bennett responded to his partnering. The movements that arose naturally from her body were woven into Fonte's choreography for all six couples in the piece.

Bits and pieces of dance grew slowly as Fonte demonstrated, and various dancers responded; continuous repetition made the new movements stick. The process was organic, painstaking and fascinating.

"What I've admired in Nicolo's stuff is this sort of poetry he creates," Sklute said, "using the entire essence of the music and the dancers he's working with. It's unique to him, and very different and new. I love how he creates great dramatic tension and excitement -- and he does it purely with steps, choreography and music. That's the mark of a great choreographer."

Indeed, watchers who want to "understand" -- and yes, Fonte uses air quotes when he talks -- the new ballet will seek in vain.

"People have fear about their comprehension of contemporary ballet, but that's irrelevant," Fonte said. "Experience it for what it is. Let your guards down. Have a true experience of what is in front of you. It's not so important what I am saying, but the expertise with which I say it."

The program also includes three works by Ballet West dancers and "Red Angels," a dance created for New York City Ballet in 1994 by Ulysses Dove, a former dancer in the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, blending that company's focus on African-American dance idioms with classical ballet.