Common ground in the ballroom

VIRGINIA BEACH

Martee Phillips and a couple of dozen dancers recently whirled, leaped and glided across a polished hardwood floor. A wall of windows peered out on a downtown street, but that was a different world. This was one of fancy footwork, dreams and fantasy as they brushed up on the tango, foxtrot, rumba, samba and other dances.

Phillips and 25 other local dancers, along with six professionals from New York, have been sharpening their skills for Virginia Musical Theatre's production of "Ballroom" at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts. Many of the locals teach dance at Hampton Roads studios, and this is their chance to be in the spotlight instead of the wings.

That time on the stage comes at a price, though.

"I'm having a blast," Phillips said. "I am exhausted, but it's like the old days - you are mentally and physically exhausted, and then, when it's all over, you think, 'Oh, let's do this again.' "

Phillips has taught dance for 30 years and specializes in Latin and ballroom at DanceSportVA in Virginia Beach.

"I was a Rockette - before there was spandex," Phillips said. She also said she is a former Virginia state ballroom champion as well as a veteran of that famous precision dance company.

Jeff Meredith, Virginia Musical Theatre's producing director, said "Ballroom" is about people who rediscover life through dance.

"They are mature people who live pretty ordinary, mundane lives, but when they enter the ballroom, they become special: They enter into a fantasy world. Someone described it as a Cinderella story for adults."

Casting this musical was a challenge, but a rewarding one, Meredith said.

"I looked around and I said, 'You know, we have a half dozen people who danced with us 17 years ago when they were in their mid-20s who are now more mature, and maybe we would like to get them onstage again.' "

He handpicked the dancers over three months. Twelve local musicians were also chosen for the play, and two New York singers will join the half dozen dancers.

Meredith said he managed to bring local teachers and professional dancers together to form a strong cast that collectively represents about 775 years of experience.

The local dancers range in age from early 30s to early 70s and represent almost a dozen area studios, Meredith said.

"What was interesting to me was I was afraid, when I started this journey, there would be such a competitive spirit that I would not find the kind of cooperation I needed to do this. After all, these people are all out making a living, and in a sense, they are competing with one another."

However, once Meredith let them know that this unique experience would showcase all of them and what they do, they all got on board, he said.

Diane O'Neal owns Dance-N-Class and specializes in swing, salsa and ballroom dancing. The Virginia Beach native has been teaching for more than 25 years and has competed in many professional competitions.

She called the mix of local talent a big plus for the show.

"You have people that come from the tap, ballet and jazz worlds. It's just good to see them all come together for one common cause. It is a great thing.

"This is a very social and very neat group of people. We are having a blast."

Susan Browney has owned Golden Slippers Dance Academy in Virginia Beach for 30 years and specializes in tap and jazz. She has found the rehearsals can get exhausting and the choreography intense.

"It's been a long time since I've danced like this. I'm used to teaching."

She is excited, though, that her role in the show has her winning a tango contest and that her partner is one of the New York dancers. "It makes me up my game."

For Browney, having "competitors" from local studios come together as a team is a rare treat. "I would never have foreseen us all dancing on the same stage together."

"We compete for business," Phillips said of the local studios. "We compete for the best choreography. We compete for the best costume. You name it."

For Phillips, though, this production has awakened a camaraderie with the other local dancers.

"Dancing is just a powerful thing. You have that element of connection and man, woman and life. It's magic."

And what does Phillips plan to bring away from this theatrical experience?

"I've done some theater way back when I was young, and this just reminded me of how warm theater people and dancers are. We are just warm people. It's just been thrilling. If nothing else, a really nice swan song, because I don't think another Broadway show is going to come my way."

Roy Bahls, (757) 446-2351, roy.bahls@pilotonline.com