
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 22, 1991                   TAG: 9103220462
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF DeBELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

FONTEYN TRIBUTE TO BENEFIT SCHOOL

Ballet star Fernando Bujones and an international array of other leading dancers will join forces Friday in a performance that is a tribute to the late Margot Fonteyn and a benefit for the Virginia School of the Arts.

"An Evening of Elegance" is set for 7:45 p.m. in the auditorium of Lynchburg's E.C. Glass High School.

The aim of the performance is to raise $50,000 for the 5-year-old school of the arts, which is in Lynchburg. Part of the money will be used to launch a dance scholarship in the name of Fonteyn, who was one of the premier ballerinas of the 20th century.

She died last month at the age of 71, and "An Evening of Elegance" is billed as a tribute to her memory.

The Virginia School of the Arts has 48 high school-aged students representing 18 states and Canada. Dance is the largest department, with 36 students, but there also are programs in music and the visual arts. A theater arts program will be launched in the fall.

There is an academic curriculum as well as arts training.

The Miami-born Bujones, currently associated with the Boston Ballet, is regarded as the heir apparent of ballet superstars Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Among his other accomplishments, he was the first American to perform with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.

Also performing will be Jennifer Gelfand, Bujones' partner at the Boston Ballet; Edward Morgan, a principal with the Joffrey Ballet; Darcey Russell and Robert Hill of London's Royal Ballet; Yan Chen and John Goding of the Washington Ballet; Yelena Pankova and Kirill Melnikov of the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad; Bridget Boutin of Ballet West; and Mark Cisler of the Cincinnati Ballet.

Members of the student dance corps of the Virginia School of the Arts will perform works choreographed by Petrus Bosman, director of dance at the school, and faculty members David Keener and Mark Schneider.

Friday's will be the second "Evening of Elegance." The first was last year.

The wide-ranging program includes both classics like "Le Corsaire" and "La Esmeralda" and newer works to New Age music and the tunes of Scott Joplin.

On Saturday morning after the performance, master classes will be taught at the school of the arts.

Tickets for "An Evening of Elegance" are available at $100, $75, $50 and $35. A candlelight champagne supper at Oakwood Country Club is included with the $100 and $75 tickets.

The number to call for information is (804) 847-8688.

by CNB