Dance Theatre of Bermuda leaps into the limelight with four performances at City Hall.

For its first appearance in the Festival, Dance Theatre has devised a programme of classical ballet, jazz and modern dance which should appeal to all tastes. In a bill of seven works, four will be completely new to Bermuda audiences.

Well known local choreographer Conchita Ming's ballet, Tubular Images, previously performed at a major conference on dance in Philadelphia two years ago, will open tomorrow's programme.

Her new work, created specially for the Festival, is entitled Out of the Shadows and examines the interchange between light and movement. Mrs. Ming says that she has worked closely with lighting designer Annette Hallett in her effort to show how closely the two elements are related. The work is set for six dancers in three movements to music by Bobby McFerrin, Yo Yo Ma and Vangelis.

Says Mrs. Ming: "In the first movement, the dancers give the illusion of creating light onstage, the dancers become the shadows in the second movement, and in the third movement, there is the play between light and movement.'' Bermudian Gillian Hannant Roy, formerly a member of the National Ballet of Canada, returns home to stage The Long Way Home, her second work for Dance Theatre, which focuses on the relationships of three sisters.

There is a change of pace and mood with Barbara Frith's Motown Magic, which she describes as "a celebration of the music of the 60s''.

Mary Faulkenberry, who danced with the Houston Ballet before she came to live in Bermuda, has staged a version of Anton Dolin's charming Pas de Quatre. This ballet re-creates a high point in the Romantic era of ballet when, in 1845, the four leading ballerinas of the day danced, rather competitively, in a special divertissement at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.

Gizella Witowsky, of the National Ballet of Canada, will make a welcome return to Bermuda to dance in the Festival this year. Besides performing The Dying Swan, the solo made immortal by Anna Pavlova, she will also be the guest artist in The Nutcracker (Act II). She will be joined by Anthony Randazzo of the San Francisco Ballet, who also partnered Wiutowsky in a previous appearance with the National Dance Theatre, and Michel Gervais of the Riverside Ballet.

There has been a long association between David Allan and the National Dance Theatre. During his tenure as chief choreographer for the National Ballet of Canada, he staged several works for the Bermuda company. He has taken time to mount Act II of The Nutcracker for the Festival programme at an exciting time in his career. One of his works has just been commissioned by the New York City Ballet and in last week's New York Times, he was named as one of the "new dance personalities'' of the year.

Mrs. Ming says she is excited with the new production of Nutcracker: "We are building toward the point where, eventually, we will have our own full-length production of this popular ballet.'' Act II is set in the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar-Plum Fairy (danced by Gizella Witowsky) honours the little girl, Clara, with a Grand Divertissement of dances.

Conchita Ming says that she and the entire company feel it is a great honour to be asked to dance at the Bermuda Festival: "The dancers themselves were saying just the other day, that this is a historic event and they are realising how important it is for future dancers. They are taking it very seriously.'' There are still some tickets available for tomorrow's and Wednesday's performances from the Festival Box Office, telephone 295-1727.

DEBUT FOR DANCERS -- The Bermuda Festival opens tomorrow with the National Dance Theatre of Bermuda making their first appearance at the annual event.

Shown are (left to right) Erin Field, Renee Lambert and Jennifer Phillips.