Dancing in the Daylight, Acting in the Dark : Stage: Anne Dunkin and Brad Willis teach waltzes to pay the bills so they : can transform their Reseda studio into a tiny, 46-seat theater in the evening.

There are at least a dozen small theaters in the San Fernando Valley, and at any given time at least some of them are struggling. So, can the Valley support yet another Equity-waiver house?

Anne Dunkin’s answer is a resounding “Yes.”

She thinks she and her husband of 27 years, Brad Willis, have found a way to make their 46-seat theater a success. By day, their storefront space in Reseda is a studio where they offer dance classes. By night, it is transformed into a small theater. This way the couple can use the proceeds from their classes to offset the operating costs of their theater.

Dunkin and Willis named their theater the Worklight Performing Space. Their intent is to create a place where artists--writers, directors, choreographers and others--can experiment and collaborate.

“The point is, I like to think of it as a place where people can try things out without losing their shirt,” said Dunkin, of Tarzana.

Tonight, the theater’s first production will be put to the test. “Among the Falling Flowers,” written by Willis under the pen name Bradford Crossing, opens for an indefinite run. It is a seriocomic look at a runaway daughter’s reunion with her dying father.

Dunkin sees the Worklight as a place equally suitable for drama, dance and performance art. Already, several other shows have been lined up for the Worklight’s first season. In December, the theater will present a program of family entertainment that includes “Peter and the Wolf” and “Prism,” an abstract dance production.

Jan. 19, “Feiffer’s People” is set to open for a four-week run, followed by “A Thousand Clowns,” which is scheduled to open March 2.

Eventually, Dunkin and Willis hope to have subscribers. First, however, “we’re sort of testing the area and the audience,” Dunkin said. “We want to do shows that are appropriate for general audiences. We don’t want to do anything offensive.

“This is a middle-class area, and we want to fit in. We need to be interested in and listen to what people say. We want our audiences to know this is a place where they can see new and different types of things.”

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Dunkin and Willis, who are in their 40s, always have been interested in the arts. Four years ago, they rented a storefront on Saticoy Street and turned it into a dance studio. They met with a modicum of success, especially with a children’s dance program that offers classes for those as young as 3.

Two years after the opening of the dance studio, the space next door became available. Dunkin and Willis decided to take over that area too. Joining the two spaces would mean hard physical labor--which the couple did themselves for the most part--and an investment of $10,000.

After plans were drawn by a contractor, renovations started in March, 1988, and were completed about a year later. The finished theater houses an impressive stage, 22 feet deep and 29 feet wide--bigger than those most actors are used to, and a boon to dancers.

But this wasn’t the first time Dunkin and Willis embarked on such a project. In 1974, in Ocean City, Md., the pair and a few other artists converted a warehouse into a summer stock theater called the Broadstreet Musical Stage. They painted the walls, put in a new ceiling, built a stage and imported and installed seats from an old Kansas movie house. They even did the electrical work. Much to their dismay, the owner of the building closed its doors after a year.

Even before they met at American University in Washington, Dunkin and Willis were involved in the arts. As a child growing up in Washington, Dunkin began dancing at 3.

Eventually she worked with the Washington and Baltimore ballets. Willis, on the other hand, was interested in the technical aspects of theater and became adept at lighting, working at the Arena Stage in Washington and at several off-Broadway houses, among other places.

“When we met, there was this closeness because we could both understand each other’s love for the arts,” Dunkin said.

Soon after graduation, the couple married. Eventually, they formed their own dance company, called “Qwindo’s Window.” For 12 years, the company toured 26 states, presenting shows primarily for children.

From 1980 to ‘82, the couple lived in New York City. There they became accustomed to artists staging performance art in lofts, studios or wherever space was available. High rents curtailed their aspirations of opening a place like the Worklight, however.

When Dunkin and Willis decided to relocate, they wanted to move to a place that was “tuned into show business,” Dunkin said. If they were to fulfill their dream of opening a performance space, they would have to settle in a city that also had a pool of talented artists. Los Angeles seemed the logical choice.

Dunkin and Willis opted for Reseda because rents were reasonable. And although Dunkin thinks some people attach a stigma to Valley theaters, she said the ability of the 60 actors who auditioned for “Among the Falling Flowers” was vivid proof that there are lots of talented people willing to work in the Valley.

Besides Dunkin and Willis, who serve as producing directors at the Worklight, the theater has a resident director, Tom Bonasera, who directed “Among the Falling Flowers.” Originally from New York City, Bonasera, 34, has directed more than 20 plays, including several off-off-Broadway shows. Rick Tisinai will serve as the theater’s musical coordinator.

Dunkin and Willis do not have plans to establish an acting company but are seeking volunteers to help with other aspects of theater production, such as costuming and set building. Dunkin is negotiating with Pierce College to start a program wherein students can receive college credits for the hours they put in at the Worklight.

The Worklight will review and consider any original plays submitted--including other plays by Willis. The theater is registered with the Dramatists Guild in New York.

Dunkin and Willis felt compelled to open a theater because they think artists don’t have enough opportunities and challenges for growth. Some theaters are so concerned with their profitability that they produce shows based on commercial feasibility, Dunkin said. She hopes the setup at the Worklight will allow more flexibility.

“I know it sounds very idealistic to have a place where you can do things that are not necessarily economically viable,” she said. “But such places are necessary to allow for the growth of art.”

The Worklight Performing Space is at 17714 Saticoy St., Reseda. “Among the Falling Flowers” will run Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7:30 p.m. For information, call (818) 996-8688.)