By Jv Ramos

"I'm happy to be here" were the words that Portuguese dancer Eva Chatal expressed the first time she was interviewed. This was back in January 2020, when Ballet Manila had just wrapped its production of Sleeping Beauty, and the ballerina was looking forward to growing with the company after many fruitful months of performing on different stages, including those outside the metro.

Unfortunately, her journey with the Philippine-based ballet company was cut short after its 24th season-ender, the double-bill Carmina Burana and La Traviata, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown.

"I could still remember the time when Ma'am Lise [Lisa Macuja-Elizalde] gathered all the foreign dancers in March. She preferred that we all go home before the country's borders closed," begins the ballerina, who had started her Ballet Manila journey by taking the Summer Intensive in 2019. Following her artistic director's advice, Eva found herself back in Portugal, where she spent 13 days in home quarantine after her long flight from Manila. "I was born on March 30, so it was a different kind of birthday celebration. That day marked my last day in quarantine."

Like many of us, Eva anticipated that things would go back to normal in a matter of weeks. "In the Ballet Manila group chat, we kept saying, 'See you in April or May!' But when the pandemic kept progressing, I realized that I should come up with a Plan B. At that time, I wanted to try something new, so I decided to apply as an English teacher. I was teaching the language to kids as young as 4 and to adults. This was still all online, of course!"

In June 2020, Portugal began opening up, allowing Eva to add a few more activities to her schedule. She began to train regularly for ballet again, jumping from her home garage and the studio. Being the daughter of two professional ballet dancers, she had access to regular training, yet still tried her best to join Ballet Manila company classes via Zoom. "Because of the time difference, I couldn't join as much as I wanted to. I could only attend the one where it's 7 a.m. here," she shares. "I also still had a few subjects left from high school when I accepted my contract with Ballet Manila, so I worked on those and took the national exams to graduate. I, too, started to learn how to teach dance to kids, since a teaching slot opened at my mom's school."

Given that Eva grew up watching her parents teach dance, she always knew that her ballet journey would involve teaching. “I just didn’t expect it to come this early. At first, I was hesitant about it since I felt that I was too young; but I ended up really liking it. It has made me understand myself and my body more. When you explain things to others, especially to kids, you understand more.”

Missing the performance aspect of her art, Eva also began auditioning for ballet companies around Europe, and in September 2021, she joined the Sibiu Ballet Theatre. Based in Romania, the company consisted of dancers from different countries that performed classical and neoclassical pieces. “It was hard to fit into a new group, especially after the pandemic. That’s because you got used to training all alone. You had to relearn how to watch yourself and watch the others,” the ballerina reflects. “It was also hard that everyone came from different countries and training methods. I felt it was harder to achieve unison in group dances and corps de ballet. The mentality is also quite different in Europe. People there are more individualistic. It’s a very tough environment!”

Despite the hardships, she still made the most out of her time there and was grateful for every live performance she had been a part of. “They had their own version of the classics like La Traviata and The Nutcracker. In The Nutcracker we toured, we had to learn how to do the Scottish dance in pointe shoes, and there was also a ballet about the Communism period of Romania. I really had an interesting time there!”

Eva’s comeback to live theater would have continued on with the Sibiu Ballet Theatre, but soon she found herself in a gathering of dancers again to talk about the company’s future. “This time, it had to do with the ongoing war in Ukraine. They showed us a map and we were just too close to it. They advised us to take a month-long break.”  

Since the situation in Ukraine didn’t improve, Eva decided to look elsewhere for opportunities. Fortunately, more borders opened, which allowed her to take part in a competition in New York. There, she received offers to dance with the State Ballet of Georgia and the Seattle-based Olympic Ballet Theater. “Accepting the first offer meant I’d be starting from zero, and I wasn’t ready for that. And the other one, though really interesting as it had classical pieces in its repertoire, was project-based. If you didn’t have a home studio in Seattle, it wouldn’t work out. To be honest, for a moment there, I didn’t know what to do with my life!”

Just when Eva thought that all doors to perform ballet professionally were closed for her, Ballet Manila soloist John Balagot casually mentioned in one of their online catch-ups that Lisa Macuja-Elizalde was looking for female dancers. “I reacted, ‘Really? She’s opening up the company?’ And he told me to just email Ma’am Lise, so I did! I sent a long letter explaining my situation, and immediately, I got a reply from her! I was so surprised by that!”

She continues, “Ma’am Lise also explained the current situation of the company – that all the artists were required to teach! Since I already had experience in that and actually enjoyed teaching, that for me became a bonus!” Soon marking her third month with Ballet Manila as a company artist, Eva now teaches the Twinkle Toes classes, which she loves.

Asked what made Ballet Manila a great option for her, despite having to move far away from home again, Eva replies, “There are several reasons why I came back. The first has to do with the classes being done in the Vaganova method.” Having spent most of her teenage years training in Spain and Orlando, Florida in the United States, the ballerina has gone through many techniques, and feels that this particular Russian method is what works for her. “It’s the Vaganova method that’s really made me grow as a dancer. Also, in Europe, though they have Vaganova, company classes are only done as a warm-up. In Ballet Manila, it’s done to build your technique, to build you as a dancer.”

As one who cares about the way a company looks as a whole, Eva wants to be part of a strong corps de ballet, and believes such is only achievable if dancers are learning and mastering a specific style and if they don’t have an individualistic mentality. “Here, I’m very content with dancing the corps de ballet parts, because Ma’am Lise and the teachers want us to dance those with great quality. There are a lot of corrections and details pointed out in rehearsals, which I really appreciate. Here, I feel like every rehearsal makes you grow as a dancer.”

She cites that the people in Ballet Manila also played a huge role in her career decision. “When I got back at the end of August, it didn’t feel like two years had gone by. There’s also something about the way everyone treats you. Here, they take care of you, and that care goes beyond the studio.”

Eva notes her parents were quite concerned when she decided to go back to the Philippines, since their only child would be so far away again. “But knowing that it’s what will make me the happiest, they supported my decision!” The ballerina adds her elders are still very involved in her progress. Every now and then, she sends them her dance videos, and after identifying her good points, her father and mother point out the areas she needs to improve on.

“The reason I appreciate corrections is because of them,” she points out. “They taught me that if a teacher corrects you, it’s an opportunity for you to improve as a dancer. My father and mother also taught me that rewards in ballet don’t come overnight. You really have to work hard for years to become better.”

“To be successful in ballet, you have to put in the work even when there’s no work,” underlines Eva, recalling all those times she continued training even if she didn’t have a contract. “Losing ballet during the pandemic hit me differently. When I got injured before, I knew that I could return, but when COVID-19 happened, I really couldn’t tell if I could dance again. It was depressing, but that also made me realize how much I love ballet and how resilient I could be because of it! I created more self-discipline to be able to make it here.”