THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412070129
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
TATTERCOATS LTD. will make the season a little brighter this weekend with a production that features talented Chesapeake performers. The regional dance theater and workshop based in Virginia Beach is presenting an original seasonal ballet, ``How the Children Found Christmas.''
The production, written and choreographed by the school's founder Gail Barnes, includes the talents of several young Chesapeake dancers: Kalle Medhurst, 14; Hannah Flauaus, 13; Noelle Flauaus, 8; Sarah Parker, 15; Jeremy Parker, 13; and Meghan Branch, 8.
But the show also includes the talents and efforts of an entire Chesapeake family, the Martins of Kemps Crossing: mom Susan, 41, with her kids, Seth, 17; Leah, 15, and Jared, 10. The clan has been with Tattercoats for more than eight years.
All of the Martin kids are students at Atlantic Shores Christian School in Virginia Beach. So how did the family get involved with dance and Tattercoats?
``After we moved to this area my daughter Leah saw a Tattercoats production when she was 7 1/2,'' said Susan Martin, who plays a ``large baker lady'' in the production. ``She became interested in dancing and began to take classes.''
After Leah enrolled in Gail Barnes' dance sessions, mom said she remembered her dance days when she attended Penn State University and caught the dance bug again. So she finally asked Barnes about classes for adults.
``They didn't have classes for adults but Gail allowed me to learn with the younger students,'' Martin said.
Martin said soon she moved up to the school's advanced classes, where she found she was about the same size as the students.
``It was very challenging. It was all I could do to keep up with these very flexible and developing young dancers,'' she added.
Soon the family's youngest member, Jared, joined the school, and then Seth came around.
``Four years ago, when Seth was about 12, he was helping as a stage manager in a Christmas ballet,'' Martin said. ``He had a small cameo dancing role and being part of the action got him interested. He began to take classes, and that spurred his interest in dancing.''
Martin said she could see the classes helped her oldest son's muscular development, flexibility and coordination for football.
Ironically, it is Martin's youngest son who plays her ``husband'' in this new holiday production. Mom said the pairing of her and Jared was a natural and helped her son with the role.
``We argue a lot on stage, point fingers at each other and make faces,'' she said. ``It's a lot of fun. And working with me has increased his confidence and has made him comfortable with the production. Plus it allows me to spend more time with him.''
Martin said a lot of credit should also go to Gail Barnes, who allows her students to develop at their own pace.
Martin said Seth plays a jeweler who dances a pas de deux in a dream sequence while daughter Leah performs a rather jazzy number in the same scene.
``Being together in Tattercoats is a common interest we all share,'' Mom said. ``We do it together and it give us our challenges, challenges we work out as a family.''
But what about David Martin? He's the family's patriarch who works as a pastoral counselor at the Genesis Treatment Center, a Christian wing of the Virginia Beach Psychiatric Center. Does he feel left out?
``He's thrilled we're together with Tattercoats, and he's very supportive with everything we do,'' Susan Martin said. ``Sometimes I think he feels like a ballet widower, but I still can't get him into a pair of tights.'' MEMO: Tattercoats Ltd. presents ``The Children Who Found Christmas'' Friday at
8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday, both at 2 p.m. All productions take
place at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts, 2200 Parks Ave.
Tickets, $8 for adults and $6 for children, are available by calling
420-6611.
THE NUTCRACKER BALLET/ 12
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by PETER D. SUNDBERG
From left, Seth, Leah, Jared and Susan Martin rehearse a scene from
``How the Children Found Christmas,'' a Tattercoats Ltd. production
that is set for this weekend at the Virginia Beach Center for the
Arts.
by CNB