at the Ruth Seaton James Theatre runs to Jan 13 The 1999 Bermuda Festival may have climaxed already at its opening with the momentous performance given by The Daring Project last night.

The young dance company founded by former Bolshoi ballerina Valentina Kozlova and Texan choreographer Margo Sappington defies convention in combining the purist of classical with the ritziest of Broadway.

Like hanging a Da Vinci next to a Warhol, the effect is surprisingly refreshing. All four of the works included in this programme have been created in the last two years. It is a rare treat indeed to see such cutting-edge creativity on the Bermuda stage and performed by a group of dancers of such prestigious pedigree.

In addition to Kozlova, the featured artistes have all been leading lights in the major ballet companies of the East and West. For its inaugural performance the newly rebuilt Ruth Seaton James Theatre could not have hoped for better.

The evening opened with Sappington's `One Summer Night' to music by Paco de Lucia. This was a latin composition that allowed for plenty of dramatic statements.

In its creativity and its execution the piece combined clean precision with sizzling passion. Dressed in costumes designed to suggest a smokey bar rather than a bare stage, the dancers married sensual hip rolling with the technical discipline of balletic footwork. Theirs was a show of mercurial fluidity and sustained power.

No matter what the subject matter, all dances were executed on pointe which set a controversial tone and underpinned the word `daring' in the company's title.

And instead of the unison of classical corps work each performer exuded his or her own personality. Kozlova's solo, Vissi D'Arte, Vissi D'Amore, again created by Sappington, offered a strange musical combination of Puccini with what might be described as 20th century soft rock.

After a rather languorous, almost macabre beginning, which saw Kozlova lighting candelabra, the choreography picked up its pace and the audience draw a collective breath of amazement at Kozlova's deft account of Sappington's ingenious footwork.

Kozlova's expansive lines and steely stamina were breathtaking. Her feet were to die for.

`Transfado-Transmorna', created by guest choreographer Christian Holder, took us again to the latin quarter. Here a simple folk nostalgia was suggested in the dancers black costumes and grey shawls.

The work was danced with compelling tenderness and pristine lines by Kozlova with Lori Christman, Deborah Dawn and Christine Fagundes.

`For Ella', a show-stopping tribute to jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, showed wonderful flights of imagination. Sappington has created dances to five of the singer's best loved songs and her work is complemented by Holder's cheeky, stripey sailor inspired costumes.

Here, apparent freedom of expression was coupled with the tight discipline demanded by classical ballet. The result was coy, racy, exhausting and downright brilliant.

This was an evening of firsts. Last night marked not only The Daring Project's first appearance here but the inaugural performance given at the reborn Ruth Seaton James Theatre.

Bermuda is fortunate to have a much needed and larger venue and one with thankfully pleasing acoustics. The auditorium is almost twice as big as City Hall and many seats last night were empty.

The Daring Project rank among the very best dance companies to have ever performed on our shores. There are performances tonight and tomorrow. Tickets are still available and it is not a show to be missed.

The Bermuda Festival has scored a big coup in attracting the company here and the RSJ couldn't have wished for a better christening.

Louise Foister THEATRE REVIEW REV