Between season productions in 2007, Ballet Manila took the time to co-present with the Cultural Center of the Philippines a show titled Music, Trio, Magic on October 17 and 18 at the CCP Little Theater.

The trio in the title referred to the three artists coming from three different countries who were coming together for a rare music and dance showcase – English violinist Robert Atchison, Ukrainian-born pianist Olga Dudnik and Filipino ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.

Macuja-Elizalde said the combination of live music and dance was a potent one that was sure to be a treat for local audiences. “Instrumentalists and dancers sharing the same spotlight is an unusual performance opportunity here. It is more challenging and effective to dance to live music as played by musicians right there on stage with you. I think it adds to the drama and impact of the whole show,” she explained in a newspaper interview back then.

What made the show even more special was a new ballet piece specially commissioned to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of noted British composer, Sir Edward Elgar. Using Elgar’s Sonata in E minor, Opus 82 for Violin and Piano, the dance piece dubbed Sonata was choreographed by Ballet Manila co-artistic director Osias Barroso.

Barroso said working with Elgar music was very challenging. “You have to listen really hard to comprehend the moods, the tempo, the character of the music.” He created three movements, showing different romantic relationships – nine couples with the lead couple (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Rudy De Dios) still searching for each other.

“Sonata is about two people who are looking for love and the kiss will bring them together. The first movement is the introduction of the characters. The second is the ‘kiss of awakening’ and the third is the wedding,” Barroso described.

In a review in the Philippine Star, Joseph Cortes wrote: “Barroso’s choreography challenged the dancers in ways totally different from its usual program of classical ballet. The dancing here might not be as technically challenging as in the pas de deux character dances in Swan Lake, Giselle or Don Quitxote, but it offered much opportunity for the dancers to mine its possibilities in personality and drama.”