Student dancers perform their pirouettes Student dancers perform their pirouettes (May 21, 2004)

Ballet academy's Spring Showcase this weekend

By Katie Vaughn

When the Pacific Ballet Academy presents its 14th annual Spring Showcase this weekend, audiences can expect much more than a dance recital. In addition to featuring expert guest artists, many of the Mountain View academy's students will be performing at professional levels.

Pacific Ballet students have been preparing for the showcase since February. The performance is included in the school's curriculum to familiarize the students with being on stage, said Pacific Ballet co-director, Marion Chaeff.

Chaeff said knowing they will be seen by audiences has an additional effect on the students.

"It encourages them to work hard," she said.

The academy provides instruction to nine levels of dancers from kindergarten through high school ages and offers three preschool classes. Over 280 students are participating in the showcase, Chaeff said.

"It's not the whole school, but a good percentage of it," she said. "Each class will do its own dance."

Guest dancers who are also performing include Lawrence Pech of the San Francisco Opera Ballet and James Strong of Ballet San Jose.

The Spring Showcase is expected to run two hours and to limit its length, no class performs in all of the three performances. Each show includes a variety of class levels mixed throughout.

Some pieces are short, such as a preschool class' ballet rendition of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," while others are selections from full-length ballets.

Chaeff said "Le Corsaire," a piece performed by one of the school's highest-level classes, will be the pinnacle of the Saturday night show. Students will present the ballet's original choreography, as opposed to movements simplified for students, while wearing classical short tutus in a bright red color.

"Le Corsaire" is an adventure story of pirates, slaves and harem women, but the scene performed in the Spring Showcase doesn't include these elements. Instead, the focus is on the dancers' movements, costumes and lively music.

"It's very flashy," Chaeff said of the piece.

The highlight of the weekend's matinee shows is "La Bayadere." Another of Pacific Ballet's highest-ranking classes performs a scene from "Kingdom of the Shades," a Russian ballet. In the piece, a warrior from India has a vision of his lover who has just been killed. Twenty dancers and seven soloists take the stage, and two perform a pas de deux, or dance between a man and woman.

Most of the women wear classical short white tutus with special touches such as crown headpieces with scarves that attach at their wrists and elbows. Through much of the piece, the dancers move in rows and lines.

"It's so thrilling to see the women do this dance," Chaeff said.

As in "Le Corsaire," Chaeff said dancers of "La Bayadere" will also perform the ballet's original choreography. She said the students are on par with professionals who have danced the piece and audiences should expect nothing less than that level of skill.

"It can be compared to a professional dance company," she said. "Our girls can look just as good."

Information

The Pacific Ballet's Spring Showcase is presented Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors. For tickets, call 903-6000.

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