August 23-26.

With the amazing New York City Ballet star, Richard Marsden leading a trio of Bermuda's best dancers, this year's production marks another important landmark in the 23-year history of the Bermuda Civic Ballet.

Famous ballet duo Belinda Wright and Jelko Yuresha (the latter mysteriously re-named "Anjelko'' in the programme), who previously mounted a memorable production of "La Sylphide'' for the company three years ago, have returned to Bermuda to stage the world premiere of their version of "La Peri''.

The grounds of Government House are especially appropriate for this work, set as it is, in a "magic garden''.

"La Peri'' (which actually translates as "Persian fairy'') belongs to the repertoire of ballets that formed part of the Romantic movement which dominated the arts in the late 18th and early 19th century. Following on the popularity of "La Sylphide'' and "Giselle'', Gautier's libretto for "La Peri'' also emphasises the primacy of the imagination in artistic expression, employing the metaphors of fairy spirits and elemental beings in the quest for idealised and eternal love.

Their version centres around Prince Achmed who, despite the attentions of two beautiful princesses (Leila and the openly jealous Nahuma), still yearns for an ideal love. As he daydreams, this materialises in the form of La Peri who, in turn, is surprised to discover that she is falling in love with a human.

Convinced that she is but an apparition, Achmed reluctantly chooses Leila, causing the furious Nahuma to stab her to death. La Peri assumes Leila's human form and as the astonished prince dances with the apparently resurrected princess, her new spirituality reminds him of La Peri. Leila pleads for the forgiveness of Nahuma and all, as in the best of fairy tales, ends happily ever after.

Wright and Yuresha have, very wisely, simplified the originally far more complicated plot, thus sharpening the sense of drama while retaining the pleasing period mix of oriental opulence and woodland-glade romanticism.

In spite of the visit by Hurricane Felix which seriously exacerbated the technical problems of an outdoor production, the overall effect, heightened by costumes of sumptuously coloured silks and floating white tulle, was impressive.

With a fairly strong complement of corps de ballet dancers and some promising soloists, the three female leads -- all locally trained -- again confirmed an astonishingly high standard for such a small community.

Interestingly, although all three have acquired similar degrees of technical proficiency, their stylistic qualities are diverse enough to discourage comparison.

Alexandra Duzevic, the youngest and least experienced, danced the role of Leila with a grave charm and poise. Beautifully proportioned, she is a dancer in the classic mould who achieves a clean line with strong arabesques. One of the highlights -- but, as it turned out, merely a taste of technical fireworks to come -- occurred in the first pas de trois which she danced with Sophie Cannonier as they each declared their love for the prince. She came into her own in the second act, first, in a sensuous little solo as she assumed her new "body'', and then in the final Grand Pas de Deux where, dressed in white wedding finery, she tackled some spectacular lifts, tricky pirouettes and pose m turns with apparent ease.

Sophie Cannonier might have been born to dance the role of the jealous Nahuma: her extraordinarily supple body, trained to perfection during her years with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, is matched by a dramatic onstage personality.

Clad in bright emerald diaphanous harem pants and glittering gold, this role was brilliantly realised by Cannonier, her sinuous "oriental'' gyrations interlaced with virtuosic acrobatic lifts (well assisted by her former partner, guest artist Jeffrey Watson). With her dagger-like pointes, flamboyantly sliced arabesques and a wonderful sense of attack as she spun about the stage, this was a performance to cherish.

Alison Masters Smith was persuaded out of self-imposed retirement to dance the title role of La Peri. Almost certainly the finest classical dancer Bermuda has yet produced, it is hard to believe that she has taken only a couple of months to regain sufficient stamina to dance one of the leads after a year out of the strict ballet regime. The technique is as beautiful as ever, her gloriously pure line, perfect carriage and musicality being especially well suited to the ethereal lyricism demanded for this role.

Effortlessly high developpe ms, fouette m arabesques and a sense of tender rapport made her passages, from the initial "dream sequence'' to the final pas de deux with Marsden a joy to watch. Above all, she has a radiant presence which, almost reminiscent of Fonteyn, transforms a simple bourre me across the stage into a moving theatrical experience. Since this whole ballet and her role in particular is very "a n la Giselle'', the thought occurs that this is the role she should dance before she does hang up those satin shoes.

Surely Bermuda could offer this swan song to this extraordinarily gifted dancer who has so elevated the art of ballet in Bermuda.

La Peri, or at least this version of it, may be seen primarily as a vehicle for Richard Marsden. Yuresha, hardly surprisingly, has made the most of the considerable talent at his disposal and physically, Marsden carries the entire ballet, hardly ever offstage and performing some of the most gruelling sequences of choreography ever assembled in one work.

Marsden soars, rather than rises to the occasion. This dazzling virtuoso who has taken New York by storm, possesses speed, impeccable placement, a truly spectacular leap that recalls (and perhaps tops) the young Nureyev, wonderfully crisp pirouettes and entrechats, all performed with exultant ease.

It is frankly worth the price of a ticket just to see him perform the rarely executed, sensational fouette m passe m, where he leaps, then flips his entire body through a 180-degree turn as if he is suspended in mid-air.

Anyone who has idly wondered just why dancers like Nijinsky and Nureyev were described as athletically, as well as aesthetically thrilling, should see this dancer.

Some comic relief was provided by production director Coral Waddell (Princess Corela) and David Drummond (the Grand Vizier) in a pas de deux that heralded the second-act wedding divertissements. Ariane Pacy, a promising young dancer, shone in her two solos, and was well supported by her fellow princesses, Debbie Mello, Nina Saraceno and Jill Andrews.

Dance-wise, the Civic Ballet has reached new standards with this imaginative production, thanks largely to the choreography which has been carefully tailored to the abilities of the dancers, and the overall dedication of ballerina Belinda Wright and her husband, Jelko Yuresha, in producing a major ballet that should, in future, prove equally popular with other overseas companies. -- Patricia Calnan