THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 23, 1995 TAG: 9504210234
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, VIRGINIAN-PILOT/LEDGER-STAR STAFF
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
In celebration of National Dance Week, April 24-29, Churchland dance instructor Gail Harts with 12 other dance teachers will present ``A Salute To Dance: A Coming Together.''
The event will be held at 7 p.m. April 30 at Churchland High School. Admission is $4 per person.
The instructors, including Harts, represent nine studios from the local area as well as Williamsburg and Midlothian. In addition, performances will be given by the Governor's Magnet School for the Arts and Jayson Michaels, a former dance instructor and choreographer for the Cincinnati Bengals cheerleaders.
``This is a first,'' said Harts, who has been teaching dance since 1969. ``Ordinarily, dance teachers don't come together. . . I'm hoping that it catches on and is not a one-time thing. I'm hoping that it becomes an annual program.''
Harts, who owns a studio on Towne Point Road, tried last year to coordinate a similar show, but was unsuccessful, she said. She was both surprised and pleased with the response she received this year.
``We've got a nice turn-out,'' said Harts, 48, a New Orleans native who moved to Portsmouth in 1979.
``Everyone will be doing their own choreography. Everyone has submitted anywhere from two to three numbers for the show.''
The dance instructors and the studios they represent include:
Sandra Balastracci, Contemporary Ballet Theatre of Williamsburg;
Dee Bowles, Michael Kaiser and Gail Provance, Creative Energy School of Dance, Virginia Beach;
Diane Copeland, Copeland-Mills School of the Arts, Chesapeake;
Maureen Hannah, Maureen's School of Dance, Chesapeake;
Gail Harts, Gail Harts Dance Co. Inc., Portsmouth;
Erin Ioannisyan, The Russian School of Ballet and Music, Virginia Beach;
Medina Kirkwood, Danceland School of Dance, Virginia Beach;
Jayson Michaels, former dance instructor, Cincinnati Bengals cheerleaders; co-director of the Gail Harts Summer Dance Camp, Portsmouth;
Denise Ott Land, Evelyn Ott School of Dance, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach;
Ingrid Pettis, Ingrid's Dance Theater, Midlothian; and
Governor's Magnet School for the Arts
For more information, call Gail Harts at 483-2297. by CNB