February 20-21, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.
The Dance Barns | 1140 Alto Street | Santa Fe, NM 

NDI Notes About the Performance

In a vibrant desert village nestled between the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and fields of blooming green chile, red chile, and golden corn, a fiery little pepper named Chilito lives peacefully with his father, Don Chile Grande. Their lives revolve around growing, cooking, and celebrating the rich blend of flavors that make New Mexican food unlike any other — where every ingredient has a purpose and a place.

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But their flavorful way of life is threatened when Señor Cactus, the thorny ruler of the desert, places harsh new taxes on vital ingredients like water, sunlight, and soil rights, and declares that only chile matters — everything else is “just filler.”

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Featuring “Las Chilitas”, an original ballet by Rodney Rivera, and mixed repertoire by Melissa Briggs, Alex Langley, and Zak Ryan Schlegel.​​​