Ballet dancers are often referred to as performing athletes. They must have the strength and stamina to withstand the demands of their profession and yet also possess that grace and poise to make it seem like what they do on stage is easy. In this series, Ballet Manila’s ballerinas and danseurs share how they stay in tip-top shape, following a fitness, diet and wellness regimen suited to their specific needs. 

By Giselle P. Kasilag

If there is one thing that Ballet Manila principal dancer Mark Sumaylo cannot resist, it is the crackling sound of deep-fried pork beckoning him to eat. He loves all kinds of meat, but pork has a special place in his heart.

“Growing up in the province, it was all vegetables,” shares the danseur who grew up in Cagayan de Oro. “So when I was on my own here (in Manila), it opened up the gates. Oh meat!!! Wala kasing option doon (There weren’t many options there). The accessibility of vegetables and fruits… it’s everywhere.”

He recalls enjoying malunggay soup as a child. For P5, he would pick the leaves himself from the neighbor’s property and his mother would cook it with squash.

“It was so nice,” he reminisces. “But having it most of the time, you look for something else. Once in a while, we would eat meat and fish but vegetables, we eat every day. Even when you go to the market, it’s all vegetables. So when I came to Manila… when we go to a buffet, Abi (fellow principal dancer and wife Abigail Oliveiro) knows where I am: meat section! I love pork. Lechon talaga!”

The Sumaylo household, however, includes a vegetarian. Abi does not eat pork and other meat products which makes mealtimes a well-choreographed affair. She prepares the base meal with grains and vegetables then Mark builds on it with his meaty ingredients.

“I like the quinoa with the vegetables. So you asked, how do I make my food interesting? With that healthy, good quinoa, I add chicharon! I don’t just buy it here. I wait for Shaira (Comeros, also a fellow principal dancer) to go back to Bulacan (where her family is based). It’s really good,” he laughs.

A look at Mark and it becomes difficult to imagine him chomping down on lechon like there’s no tomorrow. Since he is tall, slim, and very fit, it is hard to believe that fatty foods are a staple in his diet. While his figure has always been slender, there was a time when he did gain weight.

There was a brief period when he traded dancing for an office job in Singapore. The limited physical activity coupled with rich foods and unlimited sugary drinks left him out of shape. When he returned, his belly was almost touching his belt.

About to join the Ballet Manila summer workshop then, he only had two months to shed the excess pounds and he took the drastic measure of dieting which he would not recommend to anyone. “It was not a good diet but I lost weight. I tried to eat only sweet potato and Skyflakes. Just steamed or boiled kamote. And when I’m hungry in the studio, Skyflakes was the easiest to eat with only 150 calories. So there were days when I was eating normal but most of the time, I’d only have that.”

Becoming leaner, he still managed to perform the demanding choreographies. But looking back, he realizes that he got away with it only because he was still quite young, and his body was capable of bouncing back.

“I don’t remember being tired. But I won’t do it again,” he reiterates.

Finding that happy balance was a challenge. But listening to his body better helped him discover a sustainable lifestyle. 

“If we are busy, like during the season, I eat. But when it’s like one week off, I try to limit it because it’s easier to gain. Because when you’re busy, the following day you burn it,” Mark explains. “One time when we went to Boracay for a vacation, I let go. I didn’t do anything. It was fun! And then when I came back, it was payback!”

A healthy diet, however, is just one part of the equation. To maintain a danseur’s body requires discipline, hard work, and a good amount of sweat and tears. So even on days off, Mark makes sure he engages in some physical activity to ensure that he is ready when the work week begins.

It is not an uncommon sight to see the Sumaylos at the studio on long weekends and breaks to do class and conditioning. The point is to move enough to work up a sweat but not necessarily pressure themselves into performing hard exercises. They have come to call this “active rest.”

Mark has a secret during active rest. Sometimes, when he doesn’t feel like going to the gym because it’s a day off, he goes from the ground floor to the roof deck of the condominium they live in. “I walk up. Forty-three floors. The following day, I walk again until the 20th then I slow-run back to one. That’s how I keep moving,” he shares.

When the work week starts, however, Mark immediately makes a beeline for the schedule. He cannot stress enough how important it is to know the performances that have been lined up – from the season productions to the special shows because the roles also guide him in deciding how to prepare his body.

“I look at the repertoire. If it’s more on lifting, for that I’d go to the gym. I need to build that muscle for lifting. But it’s not like one week before the show, I’d go to the gym. No. It has to be way before that. That’s my preparation,” he explains.

Be it food or exercise, he has learned the art of portion-control consistency to ensure that he is always in his best dancing form.

“We know when to stop. If you need to rest, you listen to your body. Overworking will not help,” he says, stressing the importance of the basics. “This is what Ma’am Lise (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, artistic director) always reminds us. Take your class properly. Finish it well. Because that helps maintain your body and strength.”