STIRRING NEW DANCE COMPANY BLENDS STYLES.

Byline: Patricia Hesselbach Special to the Daily News

``Something fresh, something new and something exciting'' is how choreographer Patrick Frantz characterizes the debut performance of La Danserie Ballet Company at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center. ``An Evening at the Ballet'' will most certainly undo any unfounded stuffy, stereotypical notions about classical dance.

Memories of attending the ballet as a child spawned this dance retrospective which, according to Frantz, spans the centuries and incorporates many dance styles. Traditional Greek and Spanish dances combine with the French Court dances of Louis IV to influence the choreography. An emotion-laden modern dance adds depth to the performance.

``Everything fits,'' said Frantz, referring to the way the various dance styles blend together. ``When you learn all of the techniques, you understand the bigger picture.'' Frantz hopes to expand the horizons of steadfast ballet purists with his commingled choreography.

A principal dancer with the Paris Opera for 20 years and a director of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre for five years, Frantz is well qualified to produce this expansive overview of dance. Also a concert pianist, the disciplined artist admits that his unique retrospective represents a programming risk, but one which must be taken.

``We take risks because we have to do it. It's in our blood. If we don't do it, nobody will,'' said Frantz. Even the dancers take risks when performing the less traditional repertoire. ``Our egos are on the line,'' Frantz admitted. ``We are so afraid to undo what we have learned. And we don't want to look bad.''

``We are doing something that is not done anymore,'' said Phillipe Fanjeaud, conductor of the Santa Clarita Symphony. The orchestra accompanies La Danserie artists for this performance. ``Quite possibly, we are expressing the end of a legend.'' Fanjeaud is referring to the performance of any ballet in the United States which is accompanied by a live orchestra. ``A lot of ballet companies perform without orchestra, except at their home theaters, because the expenseis so prohibitive,'' the conductor emphasized.

Fanjeaud re-orchestrated two of the dance pieces for the evening of ballet because musical scores were unavailable. ``There is another reason why the presence of the orchestra is so important,'' he said. ``The only way to make modifications to allow for instrumentation and live choreography is to use live musicians. The orchestra will be glued to the dancers because of my familiarity with the music and my sense of the ballet.''

``I am a ballet conductor by definition,'' Fanjeaud said. The conductor and accomplished pianist accompanied young dancers at the Paris Opera for 25 years. Surprisingly enough, Frantz the dancer and Fanjeaud the accompanist never met, though they spent many of the same years in professional positions with the Paris Opera. Their first meeting was approximately five years ago in California.

The new company is an outgrowth of the Rozann Zimmerman Ballet Center in Chatsworth, where Frantz has taught for several years and where Fanjeaud is piano accompanist. Students of the school and exceptional dancers from throughout Southern California will dance in the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center performance.

Portions of Stravinsky's exciting ``Firebird Ballet Suite,'' and selected parts of Tchaikovsky's ``Sleeping Beauty Ballet Suite'' provide a traditional foundation for ``An Evening at the Ballet.'' The works of two or more contemporary ballet composers, Pugni and Helsted, update the performance. A poignantly expressive and intimate dance to the music of Oliver Messiaen will stir the Cultural Arts Center audience. The work, composed while Messiaen was imprisoned in a German camp during WWII, is unique in that it was written on old scraps of paper and scored for the musicians also resident in the camp.

Prior to the start of the concert, Phillipe Fanjeaud and Patrick Frantz will discuss and demonstrate the music and dance of the evening in a presentation which Fanjeaud promises will be fun, funny and interesting.

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Photo

Photo: (color) Dancer Ashley Anderson acknowledges choreographer Patrick Frantz with a rose.