MUSIC AND DANCE NOTES : JOFFREY GIVES YOUNG DANCERS A LIFT

Young dancers got encouragement and a few pointers from the professionals at a free workshop at UCLA early this week.

Three prominent members of the Joffrey Ballet--Beatriz Rodriquez, Leslie Caruthers and Mark Goldweber--taught 40 ballerinas, ages 8 to 15, from the Santa Ana-based Saint Joseph Ballet and from City Hearts, made up of children who live in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles.

“The kids were just so enthused and the energy level so high, you couldn’t stop them,” Rodriquez said in a phone interview. “We were taking them in small groups and trying to teach them this sneaking step in (Frederick Ashton’s) ‘A Wedding Bouquet,’ giving them an image of being very quiet and sneaking on stage. And they would just run around to get in line again.

“We’ve been doing these master classes on and off since the company has come out here,” Rodriquez said. “We split up the class, give them some barre and jazz exercises, some kind of movement work and a small section of a ballet, something they will see when they go to the ballet.”

Rodriquez conceded that a single 1 1/2-hour class is “a short amount of time to do anything.”

“The main thing is that most of the kids have not had this kind of opportunity to be around actual professional people, and children are very inspired by that,” she said. “They see that they can make it, too, if they work hard. They need these role models.

“But it was wonderful for me as well,” she added. “It brings back all those memories of just starting out and wondering what you’re getting into.”

The workshop was underwritten by “Design for Sharing,” a group formed at UCLA’s Center for the Performing Arts in 1969 to offer master classes in music, theater and dance to the financially disadvantaged, said Sheila Tepper, special projects administrator at the UCLA department.

“The children just responded so beautifully,” Tepper said. “Some started out nervous and not quite sure if they were going to enjoy it. But later they blossomed.”

The organization gave the young dancers and their families tickets for an evening performance by Joffrey teachers. “We encourage the kids to take their families because they’ll need that support if they want to become dancers,” Tepper said.

Tepper said another workshop is planned for April when the Joffrey Ballet will return for its spring engagement in Los Angeles.

“ ‘Design for Sharing’ is going to do this always, forever,” Tepper said. “It serves such a wonderful purpose.”

Sister Beth Burns, founder of Saint Joseph Ballet, expressed her thanks for the workshops.

“It is so exciting to see professionals share their expertise and their love of dance with young people who couldn’t otherwise afford the chance to dance,” Burns said. “The young dancers are so inspired and heartened by the personal attention of the professionals. It really builds their esteem and gives them something to dream about.”

Guitarist John McEnary will draw on elaborate electronic assistance for a “solo” recital at 8 p.m. Saturday at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

Lacking a live orchestra, McEnary will rely on pre-programmed computer-generated accompaniment for his performances of Rodrigo’s “Fantasia para un gentilhombre” and Malcolm Arnold’s Serenade for Guitar and String Orchestra.

“There are a couple of reasons I’ve used a synthesizer,” McEnary said in a recent interview. “When I practice, I can have a simulation of an orchestra every time. So it’s a great way to learn the pieces.

“Also, one of my interests is in synthesizers and computers. I just like the sound and the possibilities of controlling your music with a computer.”

The control extends to almost unimaginable precision, according to the guitarist.

“Each quarter note can be divided into 396 separate counts or beats,” McEnary said. “At 396, you can get a very legato sound; at half that, very staccato. And you have the same precision over the dynamics because there are 128 volume levels.”

It took him about four months, working two to three hours every day, to enter and shape all the notes in the scores, he said.

“There’s quite a bit of interpretation that goes into it. You have to orchestrate the sounds you use. A written score is not as precise as what the player performs. You have to enter dynamics that are not there in the score and phrase the music as you would be playing it.

“So even though it’s a computer and you’re entering single notes, you really have to think as if you’re playing. The first note of a phrase might be a little louder or longer than the others, you might build up the dynamics during the phrase or end with a staccato note. It’s a very creative process.

“But once you’ve got it, it’s perfect. Every note is there, exactly as it’s written in the score.”

For the technically minded, McEnary used three Yamaha DX7 synthesizers and a Yamaha QX1 Sequencer interconnected with MIDI technology. (MIDI, which stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, allows synthesizers to communicate with each other or with computers.)

McEnary, 33, has been co-chairman of OCC’s music department since the spring of 1985. He teaches classes in guitar, computers in music, piano and music theory. He has been at the college since 1978.

The Borodin Trio will open the 27th season of Laguna Beach Chamber Music Society concerts at 8:15 p.m. Sunday at Laguna Beach High School auditorium. Pianist Luba Edlina, violinist Rostislav Dubinsky and cellist Yuli Turovsky are Soviet artists who emigrated in the mid-1970s, leaving concert careers behind them. Since then, they have performed throughout Europe and the Americas, and have recorded extensively.

Their program will include Beethoven’s Trio in A-flat, Op. 1, No. 1; Mendelssohn’s Trio in C minor, Op. 66, and Dvorak’s Trio in E minor, Op. 90.

The chamber music season will continue at the high school with the following:

--Nov. 5: Sequoia String Quartet; music by Haydn, Berg, Brahms.

--Jan. 19: Emerson String Quartet; music by Beethoven.

--Feb. 19: Pianist Seth Kimmelman; program to be announced.

--March 17: Ridge String Quartet with pianist Jeffrey Kahane; music by Schubert, Bartok and Dvorak.

For information, call (714) 494-2822.