THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607050009
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 90 lines
At an age when many would-be ballerinas are still trying to figure out how to get their feet aimed in the opposing directions of fifth position, Megan Asher is pirouetting across the floor on the very tips of her toes.
The 9-year-old former Green Run fourth-grader is on pointe, in step and several entrechats ahead of her ballet school peers.
Entrechats, for those for whom ballet talk is a mystifying second language, are high leaps accompanied by what can best be described as a rapid midair crossing of the dancer's legs. When most preteens attempt one, it comes off looking like a startled jump and an uncoordinated flap followed by a landing similar to that of a 747 with landing gear problems.
When Megan Asher takes to the air, it's as if a bird has taken flight, fluttered ever so gracefully in midair and settled back to earth cushioned by gentle, unseen breezes.
She is, without question, a very good dancer.
Which is why she is a former Green Run student.
Because both of New York City's top ballet schools are interested in having her as a student, the Asher family packed their belongings and moved back to their native Long Island a few days after school ended last month.
``Megan was accepted at the Joffrey Ballet Center and the School of American Ballet,'' her mother, Marie explained. The Joffrey feeds into the famed dance company of the same name and the School of American Ballet is the official school of the much respected New York City Ballet.
Both, located in Manhattan, are but a half-hour Long Island Railroad ride from Hicksville, Long Island, where Marie and Tom Asher grew up and where most of their family still lives. Two years ago, they moved to Virginia Beach in search of a less hectic way of life.
They found the slower lifestyle they wanted. They also found good schools, good neighbors and a church (Holy Spirit Catholic) they loved.
Even more important, they found a teacher - Gillian Johnson, then with the Golden Slippers Dance Academy - who was able to develop their daughter's potential.
When Johnson encouraged the New York auditions this spring, Marie and Megan made the trip to New York. When Megan was accepted at the schools, Tom Asher got his old job with a Long Island company back.
In a turn of events that pleases all the family, they found a house in a neighborhood that will allow Megan to go to the same elementary school her father attended.
She'll start in the neighborhood school and at the School of American Ballet in the fall. In the mean time, she's putting in eight hours each day at the Joffrey Center - four hours dancing, four hours in less strenuous activity.
For a youngster who lives to dance, the demanding schedule is pure pleasure.
``I've dreamed about being a dancer ever since I was small,'' she said. ``Like when I was 5 and saw a video of The Nutcracker.''
According to her mother, Megan has always danced. ``I think she dances in her sleep,'' Marie Asher said. ``Even when she was a baby, she was always on her tippy-toes.''
Megan started taking lessons when she was 2, and never stopped. Finding a local teacher was the family's first priority when they moved here. Marie Asher considers it a real stroke of luck that they learned about Johnson, a former Miss Virginia Beach who had studied at the Tidewater Ballet Association.
Johnson, who will open her own studio, the Virginia Performing Arts Academy, in the Timberlake Center later this month, found Megan Asher to be a wonderful student. Not only is the youngster innately talented, she also is easygoing and hard-working.
``She's very disciplined. She gives 110 percent of herself all the time,'' Johnson said.
In addition to her private lessons, Megan was involved in the Virginia Beach Public Schools' program for artistically gifted dance students at the Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented.
``They were just wonderful there,'' Marie Asher said. ``It's one of the things we're really going to miss about Virginia Beach.''
Even though their stay here was brief, they left with many happy memories.
``We miss Virginia Beach,'' Marie Asher said in a telephone interview last week, ``especially our friends and our church. But, she added, ``it's nice to be back home, too.''
Ashley added, ``Besides, we're coming back to visit at the end of the month.'' That's when Johnson opens her own studio and her star pupil wants to be on hand to celebrate the occasion. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER
Megan Asher warms up under the tutelage of her teacher and
choreographer Gillian Johnson at the Princess Anne Recreation
Center. ``I've dreamed about being a dancer ever since I was
small,'' says Megan, now a big 9. ``Like when I was 5 and saw a
video of The Nutcracker.'' by CNB