Aszure all over.

Canadian-born Aszure Barton, 30, has been a practicing choreographer for almost her entire life. Yet for many people she seems to have burst onto the American scene out of the blue. And soon there'll be no ignoring her.

This month and next, Barton and her flexibly populated group of dance virtuosi, ASzURe & Artists, will be resident in Spoleto and Jacob's Pillow. Barton and some of her dancers will also participate in Hell's Kitchen Dance, a tour program put together by Mikhail Baryshnikov. The performers include students from The Juilliard School and Tisch School of the Arts at New York University,, and the repertoire includes two Barton works. The program will also feature a duet, choreographed by New York City Ballet's Benjamin Millepied, in which Barton will dance with Baryshnikov. "His life is his Center," Barton said, speaking of Baryshnikov's new creative venture in Manhattan, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, where Barton and Millepied are the first artists-in-residence. "He wants to bring emerging artists together and present them." Barton has also found time to work on Broadway. (See "On Broadway," p. 116.)

Where did this dynamo come from?

"I popped out making dances," Barton said over hot oatmeal in a New York deli before a rehearsal. She used to dress up her two sisters, and the three would perform for their parents, she said. "Now," she added, "they both dance with me."

By 15, Barton had gone from devising home productions in her native Alberta to preparing barefoot dances for classically trained students in the Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Showcase at the National Ballet School in Toronto, where she was on scholarship. For a while, she danced in ballet and modern companies in North America and Europe; but her real career, she knew, was in choreography. She speaks emphatically of the devoted support she gets from Baryshnikov and from her family, who encourage her to follow her bliss. Still, she reserves top praise for her performers.

"I wouldn't be where I am without my dancers," she said. "They're really self-sacrificing for me. I pay them peanuts [now], but it was nothing in the beginning." Furthermore, "New York City is really expensive. It costs $5,000 to $10,000 to do a simple little concert."

ASzURe & Artists is, as Barton noted, "a project, rather than a dance company, so it changes quickly. Generally, it's between 8 and 11 dancers, often including me. I don't want to do all big pieces. I'm doing a quartet for Benjamin's group." The piece will be absorbed by A & A.

"A lot of people have wanted to help me," Barton continued. "But I don't want a company right now. I'm only starting. I feel that if I put a company together, my work will look like so many others." Her goal for the moment, she said, is to keep trying, "to change and evolve." She also wants to work in different media. She has already made two dance films with Vancouver-based filmmaker Daniel Conrad. The most recent, Afternoon of the Chimeras, was filmed in the Queen Charlotte Islands. "A helicopter dropped us and left us for four weeks," Barton said. "I had to generate [choreography] so fast, because of the weather, the perfect light, and hiking three or four hours a day. We survived."

Referring to her choreography, Barton said, "I'm just doing it from my gut. I keep changing dancers every project, so I'm challenged. People say to me, 'Oh, your dancers are such good actors.' It's because they're real! You really see what they're all about."

Hell's Kitchen Dance will be given June 8-11 at the Center for the Arts, University at Buffalo; June 15-18 at Zellerbach Playhouse, University of California Berkeley, and June 21-23 at Lobero Theater, Santa Barbara. ASzURe & Artists perform June 29-July 2 at Jacob's Pillow. www.jacobspillow.org.