Choreographer/Director: Laurence Haider Palm Grove August 21 and 22 Students from Laurence Haider's Summer School were the featured dancers in an evening of classical ballet that was greatly enhanced by its setting -- a large, portable stage (cleverly camouflaged by giant-sized palm fronds) cradled in the verdant gardens of the Palm Grove estate. The sound of the nearby sea kindled thoughts of sea-sprites and mermaids and, indeed, the programme itself reflected this sense of romanticism, whose era, in the historical context, ushered in classical ballet as we know it today.

Royal Ballet-trained Laurence Haider, after a highly successful career as principal dancer of such companies as the National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Winnipeg, and the Roland Petit Ballet of France, is recognised in both Europe and Canada as a leading teacher: as such, he is able to instil a sense of theatre in his dancers -- even in these very young students -- a quality that is glaringly absent in many of today's Terpsichorean hopefuls.

Rather bravely, they commenced with a barre , the essential daily body warm-up for all dancers where, through a series of rigidly set exercises, muscles are prepared for the rigours ahead. Performed in leotards and tights, it can be painfully revealing and this class was no exception, indicating some general technical weaknesses.

Chopin's `Les Sylphides', conceived by Fokine as an essentially abstract piece for a group of ethereal beings dancing in a moonlit clearing, proved a particularly apt opening number. Although necessarily modified, the dancers captured its unworldly spirit. Paulina Jarmula, Deborah Marett and Ashley Miller performed a dreamy Nocturne, while Miller, a potentially gifted dancer, brought intelligence and sensitivity to the Prelude. The company, led by Miller and Jarmula, gave a surprisingly assured account of the final Grande Valse Brillante.

Deborah Marett, who teaches for Sal Hodgson's Somerset School of Dance (which provided most of the dancers for this show), took the lead in excerpts from Tchaikovsky's attractive `Serenade for Strings'.

`Shadows', set by Haider to the haunting `Songs of the Auvergne', is a pas de deux in which the slow and sustained mirror image movements are highlighted by a series of extended and well held arabesques, was pensively danced by Ashley Miller and Paulina Jarmula. The dresses, of the palest lilac, with their medieval puffed sleeves, suggested the poignancy of the young Juliet. This delightful, short work served as a potent visual illustration of Haider's intrinsic understanding of classical symmetry and form and is a work that could well be further developed. It was dedicated to the memory of Wendy Harlow who, until her recent, premature death, worked so tirelessly to promote the cause of Bermuda's arts.

There were some choreographic surprises, too, in another pas de deux, this time for two promising young dancers, Jennee James and Kristen Midon. This was an excerpt from `Trois Gymnopedie' and, again, Haider used some athletically intricate lifts that captured perfectly, the modernistic thrust of Satie's rather sensuous music.

Finally, this small company came together -- gloriously clad in Viennese-type ballgowns -- for a rousing rendition of Strauss's `The Emperor Waltz' and `Radetzky' March.

`Ballet Under the Palms', eloquently presented by Jennifer Gibbons, evolved out of an intensified series of workshops, and was very much a display of `work in progress'. Even so, Haider's classical vocabulary, carefully honed to reflect the young dancers' abilities, emphasised a rarely authentic sense of style. This, together with the stylishly conceived costumes and the dancers' impeccable grooming, made this a fascinating and enjoyable evening of dance.

Most amazing of all, the whole thing had been put together in less than three weeks.

Let's hope, that if the Summer School is repeated next year (and that is the plan), students from all of the Island's schools will take advantage of a unique opportunity to work with this `master' of the classical dance.

PATRICIA CALNAN