Dancer Struts His Stuff Backstage for S.D. Rep

Lewis Chavis is well known to San Diego dance buffs for his work with Starlight, United States International University and Jazz Unlimited. The versatile dancer even did a year’s stint in the New York production of “A Chorus Line.” But his two-pronged, behind-the scenes role in the San Diego Rep’s production of “The Colored Museum” will show Chavis’ local fans another side of his show business persona.

Chavis is credited as choreographer and music director for this slick song-and-dance spoof of black stereotypes. And that’s a distinction few artists can boast.

“When I was still in Washington, I was conducting, playing piano, dancing, directing and singing, and one of my instructors said, ‘You should put all those crafts together,’ ” said Chavis after a recent performance. “That’s what brought me to USIU in San Diego for a degree in musical theater.”

Chavis is only 26, and “still at my prime as a dancer, but my heart is in watching a show come to life, even though a lot of people don’t want me to put away my dancing shoes.”

Although “Colored Museum” director Floyd Gaffney is an accomplished choreographer himself, he trusted Chavis with the designs for the song-and-dance numbers.

“He gave me a good plan and left it to me to create the stylized movement,” said Chavis. “None of the choreography was in the script, so it was strictly out of me. It’s been a fabulous experience for me.”

Three’s Company and the California Ballet are ready to take their shows on the road. But most of the dance presenters don’t even know they exist.

The Western Alliance of Arts Administrators (WAAA) could be the showcase they need, and it’s headed our way. This major meeting and exhibit, slated for San Diego’s Town & Country Hotel Sept. 5-10, should attract hundreds of people from both sides of the curtain for conferences and exhibits.

“WAAA is an important gathering of booking agents for the leading private and collegiate dance presenters,” said Tom Corcoran, executive director of the alliance. “There’ll be people representing both the dance companies and the presenters. The booking agents are looking for dance groups that are ready for serious touring, and the dance troupes will be trying to attract attention to their products.”

Three’s Company and California Ballet are both ready to talk turkey. And the San Diego Area Dance Alliance will help them spread the word to national booking agents from a booth at the conference.

“The alliance will serve as an umbrella for any local companies ready to commit to a touring schedule,” Corcoran said. “We’ll help defray the cost of exhibition space at the conference and pass out booking information and videotapes on the companies to potential agents.”

The two San Diego-based dance troupes, like others from around the Western region, are banking on this big-league event to give them much-needed visibility with agents for the leading dance presenters.

“We probably couldn’t have done it without the alliance,” said Cal Ballet’s Maxine Mahon. “We’re hoping to be able to tour in about 18 months, and this helps us make contacts.”

“This year, there are only two companies involved,” said Corcoran, “but Wendy Cochran of the Dancer’s Workshop is coming as a presenter, and she’ll be sharing our booth as well.”

“It’s important to participate if you want bookings,” said Three’s Company’s co-artistic director Jean Isaacs. “That’s the only way we got our San Francisco exchange. If we can get someone to buy our show for the 1989-90 season, the California Arts Council will pay half the fee, under a special grant.”

Although, as Three’s Company’s Betzi Roe noted, “there are a lot more sellers than buyers, it’s a big advantage to make personal contacts at the grass-roots level, and that networking helps in the long run.”

“The alliance took a booth last year, and we want to take advantage of the conference while it’s still meeting in San Diego,” said Corcoran. “We’re not sure if there’ll be enough interest when WAAA moves someplace else next year. It might be held in Colorado or Washington then, and that could eliminate the local companies because of the travel expenses. But we’ll be there if they want us.”

Two San Diego originals, Kirby Ward and his wife, Beverly, are dancing up a storm in the revival of “Strike Up the Band,” starring Tom Bosley. The vintage musical, an unprecedented collaborative effort by three Los Angeles theaters, is a perfect showcase for the pair’s tap dancing prowess, a fact that has not been lost on the local critics.

In his review, The Times’ Dan Sullivan said Kirby “might make you think of George M. Cohan as he goes through his close-order drill routine.” Sullivan went on to say that in their duets, Beverly was Ginger to Kirby’s Fred.

After their opening run in Pasadena, the former Junior Theater kids followed the show to the Orange County Performing Arts Center, where “Strike Up the Band” grinds to a close Wednesday. The beat goes on when the show bows in at the Los Angeles Music Center on Friday, where it will remain through Sept. 11.