with a total of eight works. The selection of classical ballet, jazz, modern, and dance with an African beat, should provide entertainment to please all tastes.

Their annual Fall Concert which takes place on Friday and Saturday evenings will feature local and guest artists.

"I think this is the first time we've had such a mix of dance,'' says director of the Civic Ballet, Coral Waddell. "We are hoping this will attract a much wider audience. For the last few years, we have tended to concentrate on open-air, full-length classical ballets. But we used to do a lot of mixed programmes and we thought it was time now to bring in other types of dance again and widen our scope. So we invited Suzette Harvey and Stephanie Perenchief to stage works for us.'' She hastens to add that Civic Ballet, now in its 21st year, is still planning another full-length classical work next year.

Well-known Bermudian dancer, Sophia Cannonier, a member of the world-famous Dance Theatre of Harlem, makes a welcome, if fleeting, visit home to dance in the concert. With her partner, Patrick Johnson, she will dance the exciting Le Corsaire pas de deux -- a show-stopping piece that took audiences by storm when the late Rudolf Nureyev originally introduced it to the West from Russia.

Miss Cannonier, who received her training with the School of Russian Ballet, has now been with the main Harlem company for two years. She has just completed a tour of the western US and Alaska, and will also dance a modern-style pas de trois, Adagietto, from the Harlem repertoire with Johnson and Fabian Barnes.

On the local front, Coral Waddell, who with Katina Wilkin is also co-director of the Russian School of Ballet, has choreographed a new work, Symphonic Dreams, set to the music of Bizet's Symphony in C. With Jill Andrews and guest artist Jeffrey Watson dancing the leading roles, Ms Waddell describes the ballet as an extended pas de deux supported by four other dancers.

"I am very pleased with the way it's turning out,'' she enthuses. "I think the principal dancers have developed a strong sense of feeling for this piece, which is coming through in their interpretation.'' Her other work in the programme is a modern one, entitled Memories, which, she says, is "dedicated to the memory of the former dancers and partners of Civic Ballet who are no longer with us. It is a sad piece -- but it brightens up at the end, and I think the message in this is, that although we do not forget these people, we go on to live our lives and to continue in our love of the dance.'' Suzette Harvey provides a trendy African theme with her suite of dances entitled Afrocentricity, and costumes desgined by Dean Parris. "It's in three parts,'' explains Ms Waddell. "It should be very exciting, with everyone dressed in African prints and performed in a style that's a mix of modern/African.'' Six girls and six boys will take part in this work, with a solo being danced by Randal Usher.

Stephanie Perenchief's piece has been set, in collaboration with the other dancers, to songs by Billie Holiday and, not surprisingly is in a jazz idiom.

Entitled Lady Sings the Blues, it features Kim Durham, Wanda Maxwell, Oneka Paynter Bernadette Wilson and Ms Perenchief, all of whom are described by Coral Waddell as "very strong dancers.'' Boston Ballet's David Drummond, who has had a long association with Civic Ballet, has choreographed Four One, an extended solo for Ariane Pacy, performed en pointe and described as contemporary ballet.

She will join forces with Jeffrey Watson to perform one of the loveliest pas de deux in the ballet repertoire, that of the Blue Bird from The Sleeping Beauty. Set to Tchaikovsky's immortal music, Patricia Gray has adapted the famous Petipa choreography for the two young dancers.

Watson, who last appeared with Sophia Cannonier when they danced the Peasant Pas de Deux from Giselle for Civic Ballet's 1990 performance, was also a member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Most recently, he has been performing with the Metropolitan Opera and has just finished performing with Aretha Franklin's international tour.

Patrick Johnson is a Bahamian, who joined the Harlem company in 1985 and has toured with the company through Europe, Russia and North America. On television, he appeared in Harlem's Creole version of Giselle, and also in the Metropolitan Opera's Porgy and Bess.

It was at the end of a master class taught by Harlem's founder director, Arthur Mitchell, that he awarded a full scholarship to young Fabian Barnes of Seattle. That was in 1978 and as a member of the company, he danced most of the repertoire. Mr. Barnes has also conducted workshops for the Washington, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

The Bermuda Civic Ballet's Fall Concerts will take place at City Hall on November 12 and 13 at 8.30 p.m. Tickets are $15 ($10 for students) and may be obtained from the City Hall Box Office, 12 noon to 4 p.m. Telephone: 292-2313.

SYMPHONIC DREAMS is the name of choreographer Coral Waddell's ballet, which forms part of the Bermuda Civic Ballet's programme at City Hall this weekend.

Pictured are Jill Andrews and Jeffrey Watson.