The 911 dispatcher from Hartford, Conn., will brave the brutal job market so that her 14-year-old son Darion can become a better ballet dancer.

She's making the sacrifice based on the reputation of - and her son's success with - one man: Miguel Campaneria.

Campaneria, a renowned dancer and instructor, is leaving Hartford this fall for a new Cary dance studio.

"He's gotten so much better under Miguel," Flores said. "We need to follow him for my son's career and what he wants to do in the future."

To aspiring dancers, and hopeful parents such as Flores, Campaneria is a welcome addition to the area's growing ballet scene.

He will be an artistic director at the International Ballet Academy, which opens next month on Davis Drive.

The Cuban-born dancer trained at National Ballet School of Cuba and has served as artistic director for Puerto Rico's national ballet and R.M.T. Academie de Danse in Haiti.

He has danced with the Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

He's on the advisory board of the National Endowment to the Arts, and was congratulated by President Ronald Reagan for a performance at the 1983 International Dance Competition in Bulgaria.

"He's definitely the real deal," said Elizabeth Parker, communications manager at the Carolina Ballet. "It's wonderful for the community to have more big names in dance, and to create more enthusiasm here for dance."

Excitement about his arrival has rippled across local ballet circles that have grown rapidly in recent years, Parker said. The Carolina Ballet now draws talent from about 20 schools in the region.

Campaneria says he fell in love with the area in several visits over the past few years.

"I think there's a lot of passion there for dance," he said in a telephone interview from his home in Hartford. "I know I'll have a lot of support from people who really want to go forward and dance."

Campaneria will leave his post at the chair of the dance department at the University of Hartford. One of two artistic directors, he will teach classes and choose performance pieces for the students at the Cary studio.

The studio's administrative director, Christina Fanney, worked with Campaneria in Haiti 20 years ago, and helped woo him to North Carolina after reconnecting by chance in Haiti recently. She says the level of instruction he offers will be ideal for serious students.

"For those who want it, it's going to be very unique in the type of classes for intense training," Fanney said.

Campaneria said his vision is to offer a course of study that students can follow from young ages to the professional level.

"My goal is to pass on all of my knowledge to my students," he said, noting that he will continue to travel widely. "A ballet teacher is like a doctor; you never stop learning."

A ballet teacher - or at least Campaneria , it seems - is also like an artful drill instructor, seeking perfection and precision out of each recruit.

Last month, the trim, muscular Campaneria paced down a line of young ballet dancers who filled a tiny dance studio in north Raleigh. It was a free promotional class for the International Ballet Academy, which will move to a more spacious Cary studio.

Campaneria was direct but admittedly more gentle than usual. He was working with most of these girls for the first time.

He urged them, in bursts of English and French, toward more perfect form.

"Plié. Plié. ... Point, point, point, point, point! ... Don't be distracted by anything," Campaneria pleaded. "Concentrate!"

He triggered piano songs with a remote control tucked into his pants pocket. And he moved swiftly around the floor

"You must practice," he told the dancers. "It's not going to happen by a miracle."

Kiara Felder, 18, of Cary, drew Campaneria's attention more than once during the session. Campaneria studied her form as she held a pose.

"That's cute," Campaneria said with a half-smile, "but not great."

Felder transferred from Apex High School to the North Carolina School of the Arts to pursue dance

"He's tough," she said. "But the class was surprisingly fun."

Jeen and Dominic Wong of Cary sat in the lobby near several other parents. They kept a clear view through the door into the studio and watched the advanced class for more than an hour before their 13-year-old daughter, Victoria, got her chance with Campaneria.

"We've really been looking forward to joining his sessions," said Jeen Wong. They've know for a while that Campaneria was coming to town.

At the end of class, the girls clapped for Campaneria, then surrounded him with quiet curtsies. A few dancers, including Katie Baker who had met Campaneria at a dance workshop in Hartford last year, gave him hugs.

"His training just clicks with me," said Gretchen LaWall, 19, of Cary, who studies dance at the University of Arizona and was at the session.

Before the clinic, Campaneria did some house hunting. He toured several homes in Cary. "I saw one that I really liked," he said, taking a smoke break out in the parking lot between classes.

Tersee Flores, meanwhile, is also prepping for her own move south with Darion. Two of her son's classmates also will make the move to train with Campaneria.

"I think taking him away from Miguel now wouldn't necessarily hold him back," she said. "But it won't move him as far as he can go."

Staff writer Ted Richardson contributed to this report.