Tonight it is the turn of the Bermuda Civic Ballet to shine in the Bermuda Festival spotlight, as the annual culturefest continues to place a larger emphasis on local content in honour of the Island's 400th anniversary.

When the curtain goes up on the ballet 'Coppélia' at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts tonight, it will mark the culmination of weeks of preparation and rehearsal, in which returning former professional dancer, Bermudian Ray Tanva, has played a part.

A long-time friend of fellow Bermudian Coral Patterson Waddell, director of the Civic Ballet and the School of Russian Ballet, Mr. Tanva has been working with her behind the scenes as a consultant — or what Mrs. Waddell calls "a second pair of eyes" — finessing various elements of the production, and it is clear that he is delighted to be back.

"When Coral called to ask me if I would come here and give her a hand, before she'd finished the sentence I said, 'Yes, I'm packing already'," the London resident laughs. "I am enjoying it terribly. She had done a tremendous amount of work before I got here, so we've just tidied things up a bit."

When Mr. Tanva left Bermuda for New York in 1949, he recalls there were no opportunities to learn ballet here. Today, he marvels at the number of children taking dance lessons, and the many opportunities they have, including being cast in productions like 'Coppélia', where they get to work alongside professional dancers from overseas, understand what they do, and learn by observation.

"There are lots of opportunities for local children in this production, and the lessons they take (from it) are a starting point because they see beautiful solos, pas de deux, and so forth, and have a chance to do things themselves. For local children to work with, and understand, what the international people do, and be able to communicate with them, is marvellous. Having students from all of the dance schools in this production is also a good idea, and wearing peasant costumes is also good because, not only will they be comfortable in them, but also they can see their legs, which they can't always do in tutus."

In terms of the costumes, another Bermuda returnee working behind the scenes is Mrs. Waddell's mother, Elsie Patterson, who flew in from Florida to do all of the cutting.

Then there is James, Mrs. Waddell's son, now a first-year student at the renowned Central School of Ballet in London, England, who has also returned home to dance the role of the lead dancer's friend.

"I am very excited about the production, it's a lot of fun," the young Bermudian dancer says.

Mr. David Drummond is again back on the Island — this time to dance the role of Dr. Coppelius, the eccentric dollmaker.

"David has been coming to Bermuda for almost 30 years," Mrs. Waddell says. "He and I have been friends, and have worked together both here and in Boston."

In terms of the Bermuda Civic Ballet's participation in this year's Bermuda Festival, Mrs. Waddell says she chose 'Coppélia' for several reasons: it is a fun ballet, comedic, and the story is easily understood by the layman.

Mr. Tanva is a former professional dancer whose long career included dancing with such prestigious companies as Ballet Rambert, the National Ballet in Amsterdam; and Britain's Royal Ballet, during which time he danced with or knew many of the world's most famous stars, including Dame Margot Fonteyn, Alicia Makarova, Merle Park and Rudolph Nureyev.

In Paris, he was the principal can-can dancer at the famed Moulin Rouge, and while living in the City of Light he also learned the exquisite art of tambour beading from a professional beader who worked for the French couturier Jacques Fath.

Later, Mr. Tanva studied at the Royal College of Fashion and opened his own couturier business, Images d'Or, in Chelsea, England, with a clientele which included royalty, actresses, nobility and famous sports personalities. In addition he designed costumes for major British stage productions.

Today, he no longer dances or has his couture business, but dance remains close to his heart — so close, in fact, that he is sought after to inspire and enthuse budding dancers with what he calls "encouragement lectures" in Britain and Europe. In fact, he will shortly go to Sweden to lecture, in Swedish, to dancers who perform in operas, and has recently returned from Venice.

Mr. Tanva is also very busy making costumes for theatre productions and shipboard shows.

He regularly travels to Kent and stays for weeks at a time making costumes for B&J Costumes.

"Everything is hand done, and the costumes have to be really tight, so when fitting them on people you learn little tricks so as not to be too personal. I have been making costumes for the P&O cruisers cabarets. They have different shows travelling on the various ships, so there is a lot of work involved," he says.

Mr. Tanva remains a skilled tambour beader who is now teaching others who are interested. He laments, however, that it is a dying art thanks to modern technology.

"They now have machines to do it, and you see it on stuff in the market stalls, which really upsets me. I taught tambour beading at London's Royal College of Fashion, but that is nothing now as the kids don't want to learn it any more. It doesn't have the same meaning today."

When one door closes, however, another opens for this multi-talented Bermudian, so soon he will be teaching other crafts to interested students.

"Knitting, crochet and embroidery are becoming more fashionable, so I am on the edge of that, and for me crocheting is a disease. I spend hours at it, often into the early morning. I can't stop! There are a group of older women in the south of England who have their crafts, and they have asked me to teach them, so I'll see how that goes."

Meanwhile, having left Bermuda so long ago, Mr. Tanva has also thoroughly enjoyed discovering and spending time with members of his family tree — an emotional experience he describes as "absolutely wonderful".