THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 2, 1996 TAG: 9610020039
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUE VANHECKE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 51 lines
FRANK BOVE has toiled since 1990 to make Virginia Ballet Theatre Hampton Roads' only professional dance company. Saturday, the artistic director's dream comes true with the debut of ``Heyoka'' - and a fully paid corps of dancers.
``Heyoka,'' from the repertoire of Erick Hawkins Dance Company, is VBT's first major acquisition. It is also the first time a Hawkins piece has been performed by a company other than his own.
Hawkins, who died last year, was one of the first male dancers at New York City Ballet under the renowned George Balanchine.
``They trust the integrity of our work,'' Bove said. ``That, joined with the fact that . . . there's been a change in the company to try and get his works out. It's important to give his work longevity, for them not to be the only ones doing it.
``We've been really working on trying to get stuff from the world repertory - like a Balanchine piece or a DeMille - so it was just perfect timing that it worked out this way.''
Named for an American Indian word for ``clown,'' the piece is steeped in tribal imagery; the stark set resembles a headdress, and dancers wear masks. Todd Rosenlieb, principal dancer and artistic director of the Erick Hawkins Dance Company, will appear in ``Heyoka.''
As part of the acquisition agreement, both sets and costumes, featuring such quirks as shoulder straps made of shoestrings, must be identical to Hawkins' originals.
Bove welcomes such scrupulous attention to detail.
``I wouldn't want to do it any other way,'' he said. ``It's all about what we're trying to do here. You have to be good enough to (present important works), and part of being good enough is being able to take care of the details.''
In addition to an eight-member corps of VBT students and guest dancers, including VBT alumnus Stacy Caddell of New York City Ballet and Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Bove has hired professional musicians. Live music is another requirement of the ``Heyoka'' acquisition.
The musicians will also accompany ``Consort Pieces,'' choreographed by Bove to Adolphus Hailstork's ``Consort Music.'' Rounding out the evening will be ``Carnival,'' another Bove piece set to Hailstork's music; ``Swan Lake, Act II''; and the ``Romeo and Juliet'' pas de deux.
``We're trying to be diverse,'' Bove said. ``That's really what I've tried to do since I've been here, so it's not just all classical or modern.''
``I just want to have a professional ballet company here. I've been saying it for years - it's the missing piece of the arts community here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Virginia Ballet Theater by CNB