Dance School

Faced by a budget shortfall, the Maryland Ballet has canceled all performances this weekend at the Baltimore Museum of Art and laid off its 12 dancers for at least a month and a half.Daniel Kane, co-founder of the 5-year-old company, said the board has decided to re-evaluate the organization's goals in view of its financial obligations before resuming the company's costly performance schedule.Meanwhile, the Maryland Ballet will fulfill its contracted obligations to perform in February at Loch Haven College in Harrisburg and at Dundalk Community College in May. The dancers will be paid per performance.

The Columbia Chamber Ballet - the student troupe of the Ballet with Cindee Velle dance school in Long Reach - will offer free performances of excerpts from The Nutcracker this month. The selections, choreographed and staged by Velle, include solo performances by the characters Clara, the Dew Drop and Sugar Plum fairies and the Snow Queen. New this year is the Children's March from the first act of Nutcracker, performed by seven children. The production, which lasts about 45 minutes, will be in Howard County at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Great Room at Savage Mill, in Savage; 6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Howard County Aglow Festival in Centennial Park, Ellicott City; and 4 p.m. Dec. 15 at Vantage House Retirement Community, 5400 Vantage Point Road, Columbia.

Baltimore County Public Schools resemble Baltimore City Public Schools in that both have aging infrastructures and many of the schools are not air conditioned, but there are major differences in enrollment trends and available local funding. While Baltimore City has had a net loss of students over decades, Baltimore County has experienced major increases in student enrollment, requiring additional seats. County public school enrollment was approximately 81,000 in 1979, is 108,000 today, and is projected to exceed 120,000 in the next decade.

Puerto Rican pop superstar Chayanne may give Taye Diggs of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" a run for Most Engaging Smile from a Newcomer. The endearing music sensation, who co-stars in "Dance With Me," combines enough sex appeal, shy likability and no small amount of talent to make a respectable big-screen debut.But not even a presence as charismatic as Chayanne -- or a triple-threat talent like Vanessa Williams -- is enough to sweep "Dance With Me" off its feet. Instead of a sizzling romance spiced with a salsa beat, this leaden effort remains a wallflower, earnestly drooping on the sidelines.

Dorothy Fried, co-founder and artistic director of the Kinetics Dance Theatre, has announced she will resign her position in July, citing professional and personal considerations.Ms. Fried, who helped found the Ellicott City-based modern dance troupe seven years ago, said late Monday that she is frustrated at the inability of the small company of part-time dancers to "take a step up" and "become more professional" in the present recessionary economic environment and at what she described as two years of negative reviews in The Sun.She also said she needed a "bigger income" than the $20,000 she earns now and is weary after a nearly yearlong bout with breast cancer.

The Oakland Mills Community Association will hold a town meeting on the village's revitalization projects and plans for a new restaurant for the village center. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. June 13 at The Other Barn, 5851 Robert Oliver Place. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings will speak, and representatives from the office of Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin and other officials from state and Howard County government and the Board of Education will be on hand. The Oakland Mills Community Association has been awarded a grant by the Columbia Foundation to promote communication and revitalization initiatives.

The Carroll County Board of Zoning Appeals yesterday approved conditional uses for a dance school in Westminster and an indoor sports facility in Eldersburg.Patty Neivert, owner and principal dance teacher at Patty Neivert School of Dance, applied for a conditional use permit to operate her studio at a new location -- a warehouse off Railroad Avenue. The building is located in an area zoned restricted industrial district, and Ms. Neivert's business venture is considered general business.The board also repealed a variance to allow Ms. Neivert more access to parking at the site.

A longtime Annapolis resident and 1993 Annapolis High School graduate was found dead in a Pennsylvania motel room last week - apparently the victim of an asphyxiation homicide, according to local law enforcement officials. Joy Patricia Hayward, 28, of the 500 block of Corbin Parkway was found dead Thursday evening in a Days Inn near Chester, Pa., officials said. A relative said last night that Hayward was in the area visiting a boyfriend. Police said they are unsure when Howard was killed.

WASHINGTON -- They don't teach the kind of pirouette Washington Mystics guard Nikki McCray did last night after her team's 74-71 WNBA win over the Charlotte Sting at any dance school.Truth be told, McCray's impromptu victory dance wasn't one a lot of players can manage, since most haven't experienced the kind of misery the Mystics have over their 1 1/2 years of existence."We deserved to win this game. We needed to win this game. It's like you reward a dog with a treat when it does good. This was our reward," said McCray, who had a game-high 26 points, including three three-pointers.

The Ballet Theatre of Annapolis is conducting a children's poster contest in conjunction with the April 13 and 14 performances of "Alice In Wonderland."The winning entry will become the official poster for the production, and the artist will receive a prize.Entries should be drawn on 10-by-15-inch paper, in any medium, and depict a scene from the story. The drawing must fill the entire page. Winners will be chosen from two age groups; preschool to 9 and 10 to 16 years of age.Prizes will be awarded in both age groups, butonly one of the winning entries will be selected as the official "Alice In Wonderland" poster for 1991.