It's widely held that good things often come in small packages.

If the specific category just happens to be dance, then we know all too well that small, well-disciplined dance troupes -- with both classical and modern skills -- more often than not win our hearts.

That's not to say that organizations like San Francisco Ballet and Joffrey are a bunch of pikers. Au contraire!

It's just that every now and then along comes a small band of marvelous dancers determined to offer up eye-popping choreographic treats that will have tongues wagging for weeks on end.

Such was the case Friday night when a little-known ensemble, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, raised dance consciousness and thoroughly entertained an enthusiastic albeit small crowd at Napa Valley Opera House.

If more dance fans had been in the house, I think the applause for the exceptional 10 dancers and support staff would have been heard all the way to Calistoga. Yes, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is that good.

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet was born in Colorado in 1995 when Bebe Schweppe, founder of Aspen Ballet School and Aspen Ballet Company, invited Tom Mossbrucker, then principal dancer with The Joffrey Ballet, and Jean-Philippe Malaty, then with Joffrey II, to form a professional ballet company.

In 2000, the troupe partnered with the City of Santa Fe, N.M., and now performs seasons in both communities. Mossbrucker is artistic director and Malaty is executive director.

Aspen Santa Fe tours extensively around the country, averaging 50 performances per year. In addition, the company organizes an annual five-week summer dance festival that features the finest American contemporary dance, with companies such as Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Pilobolus Dance Theatre and Mark Morris Dance Group.

The small company has earned enthusiastic reviews from major dailies like the New York Times and Boston Herald and is often lauded for its rugged athleticism and diversity.

This gifted troupe of young dancers grabbed our attention with its opening work Friday night, the choreographic handiwork of Taiwan-born, Marin County-raised Edwaard Liang. Originally commissioned by Nederlands Dans Theater II, "Flight of Angels" is both lament and rite of passage. The score, by John Tavener, reportedly was inspired by a line from Shakespeare's tragedy, "Hamlet" -- "May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."

The New York City Ballet soloist's pas de deux was exquisitely performed by a chiseled Sam Chittenden and an elegant Katie Dehler. Sculpted lines pointed up Dehler's leggy elasticity while Chittenden's undulations brought a sensual bent to the coupling. Both passion and redemption appeared to be on the agenda in this rich blend of spiritual song and dance. Chittenden and Dehler were both mesmerizing here.

Set to pieces for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach, Nicolo Fonte, a New York choreographer with an international profile, provided a well-crafted comment on relationships in transition. Initially set for six dancers, instead a quintet served up clean lines and playful couplings that suggested attractions by members of the same and opposite sexes.

Folding chairs at times figured prominently in the work, and, at others, were set on the sidelines where dancers could observe the passing scene. I liked the way the dancers connected and, well, disconnected emotionally and physically throughout the 15-minute work. Even the costumes for this piece provided subtle subtext -- Seth Delgrasso and Luke Willis in black business suits, Katie Dehler and Katherine Eberle as scantily clad vixens. A sensual pas de deux by Eric Chase and Katie Dehler provided added spice.

Just prior to intermission, Brooke Klinger and Seth Delgrasso teamed up for Twyla Tharp's mid-'80s salute to the music of Ol' Blue Eyes, "Sinatra Suite." Tharp's work was originally a vehicle for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Elaine Kudo. Kudo staged the work for Aspen Santa Fe Ballet.

Klinger and Delgrasso pointed up the choreographer's clever manipulation of ballroom dances, from mock-tango footwork in "Strangers in the Night" to the two-step animus of "That's Life." Delgrasso's seemingly impromptu, loose reflection of what might have been (on "One for My Baby") brought the work to a glorious conclusion.

Finland's Jorma Elo created an intricate, invigorating work for four women and two men, "Pointeoff", suggested by the fact that no one is on pointe during the technically demanding piece. Set to Ferruccio Busoni's piano adaptations of Johann Sebastian Bach compositions, "Pointeoff" underscored the ensemble's athleticism, as dancers shifted weight and changed direction with abandon in an ever-changing tangle of bodies. Once again, the pairing of Dehler and Chittenden anchored the work, with Lauren Alzamora, Katherine Eberle, Brooke Klinger and Luke Willis adding to the aggressive tenor of the piece.

The evening concluded with a pas de deux from Gerald Arpino's "Light Rain," a work associated with the Joffrey Ballet. Set to Douglas Adams and Russ Gauthier's throbbing score, Katherine Eberle and Luke Willis provided sensual rhythmic precision in this sizzler. Voluptuous to say the least, Eberle's contortions to the exotic drum rolls raised the temperature in the hall for sure, and Willis proved a perfect foil with breathtaking, intertwining muscular moves. This one sizzled.

Thanks to Napa Valley Opera House's Evy Warshawski and staff for bringing such incredibly talented dance companies to wine country. Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is but the latest in a series of impeccable small dance ensembles to come our way. I only wish more people had been on hand for ASFB's local debut the other evening. Rippling bodies in seemingly reckless lifts and tosses -- who could ask for anything more? It would be nice if Aspen Santa Fe Ballet could put Napa Valley on its annual tour. Bet we could fill the hall next time around.