After a rollercoaster season, Ballet Manila gears up for Year 25
After Ballet Manila’s performance of Giselle at the CCP Main Theater, artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde promises, “Babangon kami” (We will rise).
By Susan A. De Guzman
Expect the unexpected.
If there’s anything that Ballet Manila artistic directors Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias “Shaz” Barroso have learned from its just-concluded 24th season, it is this.
Ballet Manila opened its 24th season in September with a reprise of Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Snow White in Aliw Theater, with principal dancer Joan Emery Sia in the title role and company artist Emma Harris as the witch. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Even before the season had started in September, plans were already underway for the company’s silver anniversary this year. However, all these ground to a halt when a fire devastated the Star City Complex on October 2, gutting Ballet Manila’s performance venues, Star Theater and Aliw Theater.
Happening just two weeks before the opening night of its Giselle – the second offering of its 24th season dubbed On Pointe – the company was suddenly thrown into turmoil without a theater to perform in. Shaz, who had rushed to the complex even as firefighters were still battling the blaze, went on Facebook live and in shock relayed what was unfolding on site.
“It was a very uncertain time. But we kept to our routine,” Shaz describes of the surreal days afterwards. Indeed, to maintain a sense of normalcy, the company carried on as if Giselle was still pushing through, with the dancers sticking to their daily classes and rehearsals in the Ballet Manila studios in Donada, Pasay.
Lo and behold, an offer suddenly came to stage Giselle in the Cultural Center of the Philippines instead. And so, the show did go on, on October 17 in CCP’s Main Theater, two days before the original opening date. It was an emotional night, with the dancers giving it their all and many later saying that they had never felt more united than at that moment. A tearful Lisa herself told the audience of her hopes that Ballet Manila would rise like a phoenix, a sentiment she echoed after the show when she thanked all those who came.
Giselle, featuring principal dancers Joan Emery Sia and Elpidio Magat, had an unexpected one-night-only performance in October at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Despite great difficulty, that is what they have tried to do. On January 15, Lisa’s choreography of Sleeping Beauty premiered at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila. Finally, to end the season, the double bill feature, Carmina Burana (choreographed by erstwhile principal dancer Rudy De Dios) and La Traviata (another work by Lisa), was staged at the Samsung Theater in SM Aura.
In wrapping up a turbulent season, Lisa can breathe a little easier for now. “There is relief that we were able to fulfill our obligations to the artists and staff of Ballet Manila, as well as our audience, most especially our subscribers and loyal supporters. It has been a rollercoaster of a season. The fire changed the venues and the scope of all three productions planned for the season and completely changed our plans for the silver anniversary.”
What has gotten her through the past months, she adds, is the support of Ballet Manila’s dancers, staff, faculty and audience, and her husband Fred’s promise to help her and the company recover. “At the end of the day, it really boils down to the relationships you have built and nurtured. Not physical structures.”
Lisa Macuja-Elizalde capped her Princess Trilogy with the premiere of her Sleeping Beauty in February at the Newport Performing Arts Theater. Taking on the lead roles were principal dancers Jasmine Pia Dames and Romeo Peralta. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
In February, Ballet Manila officially but quietly marked its 25th year. Though it has been more challenging than usual since the fire in October, Lisa doesn’t consider it as the toughest year for Ballet Manila in her book. “It was just the most uncomfortable. But not the toughest. I think that the first year of Ballet Manila was still the toughest!” she chuckles.
Back then, Ballet Manila only had twelve dancers. As a touring company, the group traveled all over the Philippines, and often had to fend for themselves particularly during provincial shows. Dealing with unscrupulous producers was among the eye-openers for them. Without a support staff to assist them, Shaz recalls how they as dancers also had to roll and carry the linoleum themselves even after a performance.
The fire, both Lisa and Shaz say, brought them back to Ballet Manila’s roots. For Shaz, it was a call to reach out to the public more and to dance anywhere.
For Lisa, the biggest lessons learned are: “That we should always be prepared to get out of our comfort zone, take risks and build new audiences by going out of our theaters and reaching out to the people. Our mission has always been to bring ballet to the people and more people to the ballet and now we have been thrust into all these other venues in order to reach out to the people.”
Carmina Burana, the first full-length choreography of Rudy De Dios, highlighted show-stopping performances by company artist John Ralp Balagot (left) and principal dancer Gerardo Francisco. Balagot’s promotion to soloist was announced after the show’s second night. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Shaz wants to instill in the younger dancers that they should appreciate what they have and work hard for it. At his birthday dinner last February, he told them that they should never take things for granted. “If I remember my roots, I started with nothing. I fought for my dancing. I got another job to support my ballet. Now, it’s different. At saka now they have a teacher, they have someone who is rehearsing them. They're all fortunate.”
“Kasi now, they really have the luxury of just thinking about their dancing and their artistry. They don’t have to think about anything else. When they’re on tour, they only think about dancing, the performance. Before talaga, everybody had to do everything else,” says Lisa who, back then, was principal ballerina, artistic associate, spokesperson and sponsorship letter-writer and more – all rolled into one.
“That first year kasi, we were powered by our ideals. We were powered by the wishes and the dreams that we had. We were so motivated to make it happen. Because we broke away from our old group, we were never comfortable,” Lisa recalls.
La Traviata is Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s ballet version of the opera. In this scene are the lead characters portrayed by (from left) soloist Joshua Enciso, and principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro and Mark Sumaylo. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
“But we never felt that! We were just doing it!” Shaz interjects.
Had they known then what they know now, Shaz doesn’t think things would have turned out differently for the company. “I will train everybody the same way. The classes would still be like that. The rehearsals would still be like that,” he asserts. While learning the Russian Vaganova method was difficult for the Ballet Manila pioneers other than Lisa, it was strengthened by the training given by Lisa’s Russian mentor Tatiana Udalenkova and her husband, People’s Artist of Russia Serguey Vikulov, who would come to Manila during the early years. “They set the goals for everybody, and those are the same goals we set for all the dancers who come to Ballet Manila.”
Shaz observes that most of the dancers now are easier to teach, possibly because they have been exposed to ballet at a younger age. Lisa believes that the presence of foreign talents has also been a good motivator for the Filipino dancers. “For a lot of Filipinos, the colonial mentality is ‘Oh I’d love to go abroad and have a career’ whereas these foreign dancers in the company are staying in the Philippines and having a career. So parang that whole perspective, it draws out a different work ethic and value system in the company itself.”
United they stand: Though marked by uncertainty, Ballet Manila successfully concluded its 24th performance season with a double bill, Carmina Burana and La Traviata, in early March at the Samsung Hall, SM Aura. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Lately, because of the COVID-19 crisis, Ballet Manila is in the throes of uncertainty yet again. With the enhanced community quarantine, the studios have been temporarily closed, and dancers have had to find their own ways to keep in shape to make up for daily company class.
Ballet Manila’s 25th season repertoire may change once again and will have to be firmed up when the situation becomes more stable. But taking a cue from what they went through in the previous season, Lisa would like to take an optimistic approach at what lies ahead.
“We are adapting and it is very, very exciting! All these changes will be eventually for the good. Wait and see. The best is always yet to come!”
