ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, December 15, 1996              TAG: 9612160088
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A-1  EDITION: METRO 

SPINNING A TALE ON THEIR TOES

LENGTH: Short :   22 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  ERIC BRADY Staff. Dancers with the Southwest Virginia 
          Ballet practice during their dress rehearsal of "The Snow Maiden" at
          Olin Hall on the campus of Roanoke College in Salem on Saturday. 
          "The Snow Maiden" is a story from Russian folklore originally told 
          to Tsars and Tsarinas by storytellers. In 1873, Alexander 
          Nikolayevich Ostrovsky, a Russian playwright, approached Peter Ilich
          Tchaikovsky, composer of "The Nutcracker," about writing music for 
          his new play on "The Snow Maiden" folktale. On May 23, 1873, "The 
          Snow Maiden" premiered in Moscow. The dance company's final 
          performance in Salem this afternoon at 3 is sold out. color.