Arts Committee brings ballet to Atherton Arts Committee brings ballet to Atherton (January 14, 2004)

By Jane Knoerle

Almanac Lifestyles Editor

From the razzle-dazzle of "Blue Suede Shoes," to the charm of "Coppelia," members of Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley will show their stuff to Athertonians on Saturday, January 24, in a preview at Jennings Pavilion, Holbrook-Palmer Park.

The 6 to 8 p.m. event, sponsored by the Atherton Arts Committee, will also include a champagne reception after the performance.

Dennis Nahat, the ballet's artistic director, is bringing his dancers -- one woman and three men -- to perform in vignettes, and will take part himself, playing the elderly toy maker in "Coppelia."

"I retired from dancing 20 years ago, but I still play character roles," he says. Young dancers aren't believable as older people, he says -- they haven't had enough life experience.

Mr. Nahat drove up to Atherton last week to check out Jennings Pavilion. He squeezed in the visit between eight-hour rehearsals for the ballet company's upcoming performances of "Coppelia," the story of a toy maker who longs to bring his favorite doll to life. Those performances are set for February 5 to 8 at San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

He also dropped by the Almanac, accompanied by Jan Zones, chairman of the Atherton Arts Committee, and Charles Hart, also of Atherton, who is Ballet San Jose's new CEO.

Mr. Hart is the former chairman of the San Jose Symphony and has served as president of six computer companies in the valley. "I first became interested in Ballet San Jose back in 1986," he says.

Now he and Mr. Nahat both put in daily stints in a Knights of Columbus building in downtown San Jose, which houses both the company offices and the school of ballet. "The nicest part of my job is to walk out of my office and see and hear the dancers," says Mr. Hart.

Mr. Nahat's life in ballet goes back to Detroit, where he began his training at the age of 8.

At 17 he was awarded a full scholarship in dance, with a minor in music, at Juilliard School of Music in New York City.

He has danced with the City Center Joffrey Ballet, and has performed with and/or choreographed major works for American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet and the London Festival Ballet. He has created 104 works, and his choreographic credits extend to theater, television and the movies.

His groundbreaking work, "Blue Suede Shoes," set to 36 songs of Elvis Presley, has been seen nationwide on PBS.

In 1972 he co-founded the Cleveland School of Ballet, and co-founded the Cleveland Ballet in 1976. In 1985 he created the venture between San Jose and Cleveland, known as San Jose Cleveland Ballet, which performed for 14 years in both cities.

The Cleveland section of the company suffered from financial woes and pulled out of the joint venture in September 2000, but, thanks to community support, the San Jose contingent was able to continue.

"We dismantled the Cleveland offices and school and packed up for San Jose," says Mr. Nahat. "We closed there and opened here in three weeks' time. I created three new ballets since we still had a season here to perform. Thirty-three of the dancers elected to come with me."

Fifty trucks were required to move all the sets, props, costumes and effects to San Jose, he says. Mr. Nahat also sold his big house in Cleveland Heights, where he had lived for 30 years.

Although he puts in 12-hour days, on weekends Mr. Nahat finds time for entertaining and preparing gourmet meals at his home in San Jose. "I have about 2,000 cookbooks and every pot, pan and utensil you can imagine."

What does he like to cook? "Greek, Italian, Thai, Chinese, anything ethnic," he says.

Mr. Nahat says he's looking forward to coming to Atherton. "I always wanted a venue to perform on the Midpeninsula," he says.

Tickets to the January 24 evening at Holbrook-Palmer Park are $40 for adults, $20 for children. For more information, call Atherton Arts Committee chairman Jan Zones, 322-6116.

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