THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 30, 1995 TAG: 9511300044
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
NORFOLK NATIVE Stacy Caddell has danced on stage with Mikhail Baryshnikov. Twyla Tharp choreographed a star vehicle for her. Caddell can even say she sung in Carnegie Hall.
This weekend - 17 years since she left for New York City - Caddell will perform in her hometown for the first time.
In a Virginia Ballet Theater holiday program, Caddell will dance the role of the sugar plum fairy in ``The Nutcracker Suite.'' Performances are set for 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Chrysler Museum of Art.
Called ``Nuts and Sweets,'' the program will feature Act 2 of ``Nutcracker,'' choreographed by VBT heads Frank and Janina Bove, plus ``Holiday Suites,'' classical dance to popular holiday songs.
``I feel nostalgic,'' Caddell said on Friday, taking a break during her first rehearsal. ``A part of me feels sad and a part of me is excited. I never thought I'd have this opportunity.''
Her partner will be Virginia Beach dancer Michael Barriskill, with whom she studied as a youngster. Both trained at Virginia Ballet, then known as Norfolk Civic Ballet and later as Tidewater Ballet.
Barriskill also has made a national career for himself, starring on Broadway in ``Cats'' in 1989-1990.
``I've known Michael all my life,'' said Caddell, who is in her early 30s. ``All of the people from that time and era, we know each other so well, in a way. We really did grow up together. And we went through a lot together.''
Yet she and Barriskill had never danced together.
``It's interesting. We had never touched each other,'' she said. ``But we've gone through it a couple of times. We're working out some of the partnering. Trying to feel each other's musicality and rhythm. Just working out those kinks. But I feel that we are well matched. I'm anxious to see where it can go.''
Barriskill, in his late 20s, said he felt in sync with his new partner too. ``As an artist, you're always looking for new and refreshing choices to make, especially with a `Nutcracker,' '' he said. ``You want to come up with new and exciting ways to interpret. And I think we came up with the same choices, even though we hadn't talked about it.
``We both feel like the steps are not as important as the delivery of them. You have to be a performer. And Stacy and I are natural performers.
``Growing up, we were the hams of the company.''
If Caddell felt sad in rehearsal, it was at least partly because of the absence of Gene Hammett, founder of the Norfolk-based dance school and company, who died in 1989. Hundreds of area dancers have launched careers as the result of Hammett's influence, she said.
``I think it was really his true love of dance. And, we were terrified of him,'' said Caddell, who went on to work with such major choreographers and taskmasters as George Balanchine and Twyla Tharp. ``He made us always strive for perfection. He hated mediocrity. Could not stand it. And that's something that stays with you for a long time.''
In 1978, Caddell left home at age 16 to study at New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet for one year. Balanchine then invited her to join New York City Ballet, where she remained a soloist for 10 years.
In 1990, she joined Twyla Tharp Dance Company. The two met when Tharp choreographed a piece for City Ballet, with Caddell as a soloist.
The switch in companies meant a change in dance styles for Caddell - from the classicism of City Ballet to Tharp's modern impulse.
``Her work is much more grounded, and centered very low,'' Caddell said. ``I really loved it. She makes good dancers into better dancers.''
In the early 1990s, Caddell toured for six months with the company, performing with Baryshnikov and Tharp in a piece called ``Cutting Up.''
``It was funny,'' Caddell recalled. ``I had no idea, really, of Misha's notoriety. He is truly a rock star.''
In Baryshnikov's company, the troupe was given free meals and wine. Photographers were ever present. Women cried to see him.
``It was amazing to see,'' Caddell said. ``And it was amazing to watch him and Twyla every night. I was really happy to be part of that.''
At one point, Caddell said she felt uncomfortable in the limelight. She avoided center stage.
Tharp told Caddell, ``Endorse the inevitable.''
``I wrote it down and thought about it,'' Caddell said. ``That really pushed me to a different place.
``Twyla saw me as a principal dancer, and she demanded that of me.''
Finally, Tharp choreographed a piece for her called ``The Exquisite Corpse.'' Caddell was cast as queen of the damned.
``It was incredibly challenging,'' she said. ``I felt I had to be so strong in this. I had to command the stage, and these people and their souls.''
In January, she danced the role on stage at the Kennedy Center. That same month, Tharp disbanded her troupe.
Since then, Caddell has been a free-lance performer. She has expanded her repertoire to include musical theater, film and opera.
She recently completed a film with City Ballet principal dancer Robert La Fosse titled ``Central Park.'' It's due for release at the next Cannes Film Festival.
She appeared in a recent one-night-only revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical ``Anyone Can Whistle.'' At New York's Carnegie Hall, Caddell was asked to sing as well as dance.
``It was kind of amazing to sing at Carnegie Hall - especially for a dancer who can't sing,'' she said.
In January at Metropolitan Opera, she will perform in a revival of Philip Glass' recent opera about Christopher Columbus, ``Voyage.''
Meanwhile, Caddell appears to be in demand as the sugar plum fairy.
``Every weekend for the next month, I'll be performing the sugar plum fairy somewhere else - with a different partner and slightly different choreography,'' she said.
And just around the bend, there's the promise of a new world. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
TAMARA VONINSKI
The Virginian-Pilot
Stacy Caddell rehearses with Michael Barriskill for the Virginia
Ballet Theater's "Nitcracker" this weekend.
TAMARA VONINSKI
The Virginian-Pilot
Dancers rehearse for the snow scene in Virginia Ballet Theater's
``Nutcracker Suite'' presentation.
"NUTS & SWEETS"
What: A Virginia Ballet Theater holiday program featuring ``The
Nutcracker Suite'' and ``Holiday Suites''
Where: The Chrysler Museum of Art, 245 W. Olney Road, Norfolk
When: 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday12/-2,3
How much: $12, $8 ages 12 and younger
Call: 622-4822
by CNB