joy.

12 young dancers, poised (and how poised!) on the brink of their professional careers, appeared as part of this year's Bermuda Festival Fringe.

Organised -- or perhaps, disorganised would be the more appropriate term -- by the Departments of Tourism and Culture, few people seemed to know about the company's appearance, accorded only last-minute publicity in the media this week. This, combined with competing events, meant that the large auditorium was far from full. Having said that, many of Bermuda's dancers and dance lovers showed up, providing an appreciative and loudly cheering audience that, hopefully, warmed these young artists' hearts.

Founded 61 years ago, American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is one of the great companies of the world. Originally formed with the aim of creating a museum of standard ballet classics together with the best of American contemporary ballet and dance, it has developed a formidable and fascinating repertoire that includes -- among a host of other works -- Anthony Tudor's Pillar of Fire , Robbins' Fancy Free , Agnes de Mille's Fall River Legend , Alvin Ailey's The River and Twyla Tharp's Push Comes to Shove . Today, the company is perhaps stronger than ever, having assiduously built up its own school of technically outstanding dancers who are increasingly leaping forward to become stars in their own right, matching the dizzying list of international stars (Nureyev, Baryshnikov) who have been associated with the company over the years.

Under the direction of John Meehan, the ABT Studio Group has taken the best of European influences and seamlessly melded that classicist style with the innovative and exhilarating approach of American dance.

Bournonville's Napoli (1842) divertissement, one of the great centrepieces of the Royal Danish Ballet, provided a happy and brilliantly performed opening work. The unique Danish style, rooted in the Romantic era, which calls for feathery fast footwork, soft arms and airy elevation (with equal emphasis on the male dancer), has been beautifully captured by these young dancers.

Unfortunately, the inadequate programme did not list individual dancers; suffice to say, therefore, that from the opening pas de Six , through the demi-caract mere solos distinguished by impeccable line and ballon , we were still, perhaps, a little unprepared for the brilliance of the tuneful `Flower Festival Pas de Deux', performed (as I found out afterwards) by Catherine Sebring and Craig Salstein.

The two exemplified the Bournonville style, performing the complex beats, crisp turns and jumps with impeccable style; Sebrig accomplished all this while maintaining an exuberant line, and Salstein, ever light and mercurial, performed some quite astonishing double and triple tours en l'air .

The whole thing came to a rousing end with the delightfully flirtatious Tarantella, ribbons flying and tambourines a-rattling.

The Sleeping Beauty probably ranks as the most daunting of all ballerina roles (Fonteyn, who became a household name in America with her New York debut in the title role, referred to it as "sheer terror'').

Tchaikovsky's climactic grand pas de deux, celebrating Princess Aurora's wedding to the Prince who has awakened her from the spell of a 100-years sleep, is one of Petipa's choreographic masterpieces. ABT has, thankfully, retained his version of this show-stopper -- in itself, a measure of the company's technical ability.

The charmingly named Misty Copeland (yes, I also found out her name, and it is almost certainly one to remember) and David Hallberg, sparkling in white and silver, breezed their way through this ballet minefield as if they had been dancing it for years.

Amazingly, Copeland, who already has the assurance, command and technique of a prima ballerina assoluta only began ballet lessons five-and-a-half years ago -- which begs the question, what will she be like after another five years? Rock-solid balance, gorgeous line and enough grandeur to grace any royal court, Copeland positively dazzled the eye as, three times, she swooped dramatically from pirouette into the famous fish-dive. Her delicate hops en pointe were well matched by her excellent partner's grands jet m es en tournant: altogether, this ranked as one of the finest interpretations I have ever seen of this murderously difficult pas de deux -- and I have sat through quite a few in my time.

There was a complete change of style in the second half of the programme as we ventured into contemporary works.

The Flying Lesson , choreographed by David Berkey to music by Rachmaninoff and beautifully lit by Brian Sciarra, was an ensemble piece, modern in concept and danced on pointe. Always reflective, occasionally ominous in mood, four couples again demonstrated understated technical command, with a particularly moving, slow pas de deux and huge, soaring lifts symbolising, perhaps, a flight towards freedom.

Helix , defined in the Oxford Dictionary as `spiral (like corkscrew, or in one plane, like watch-spring'), provided the apt title for a short solo work by Robert Hill. Japanese-born Masayoshi Onuki, another stupendous find by ABT who has already won various dance competitions, astonished the audience as his lithe form contorted into a mercurial mix of fast, perfectly placed pirouettes, top-like spins and soaring leaps.

Finally, Mark Godden's La Folia reflected the versatility of this engaging group in a work created to appeal to both children and adults. Catering to the eccentric in all of us, the gorgeously lit work alternated between humour and pathos, giving way to sheer farce as the costumes produced, as the programme stated, "clever images of whimsy and hilarity'': apparent giant lampshades became hooped skirts and evening dresses (worn with comical effect by the men as well as the women), sweaters placed on heads spoke of ancient Egypt.

Danced with sensitivity and wit beyond their years, the ABT Studio Company underlined the wide-ranging vision of their parent company.

Let's hope this extraordinarily talented group will return (some may be snapped up for the main company in the meantime) -- next year, as part of Bermuda's main Festival. They should be a sell-out.

PATRICIA CALNAN Such poise: An appreciative audience was left spellbound by the grace and agility of members of the American Ballet Theatre on Saturday night.

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