This Month in BM History: May 1997
Paalam, Maria Clara premiered in May 1997 with two shows staged as part of Intramuros Evenings. Souvenir program from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
In 1997, the Department of Tourism and the Intramuros Administration commissioned Ballet Manila to create a Filipino-themed production for the Intramuros Evenings Performing Arts Series. This was to be a follow-up to their successful collaboration the previous year with Osias Barroso’s Gabriela ng Vigan.
A newspaper review cites Osias Barroso as a credible Ibarra and Lisa Macuja for her prodigious powers of expression, making this Maria Clara “truly moving.” Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
This time around, Ballet Manila artistic director Eric V. Cruz created Paalam, Maria Clara, a choreography based on Jose Rizal’s tragic heroine. It was his first choreographic work for the company. Composed of thirteen themes, the 45-minute ballet unfolded in a continuous transition from one to the other. Costumes were executed in black, white and gray.
Cruz described the work as experimental due to the grotesque, pantomime-like movement of its characters. “The only classical movements are the ones executed by Maria Clara,” Cruz said then. “I wanted to go beyond straightforward storytelling and make use of the body as a vehicle for expressing the spiritual condition of the person.”
He said he tried to be as faithful as he could in portraying the hypocrisy of religion, the way Rizal chronicled it in his time.
Principal dancer Lisa Macuja described Maria Clara as one of the most difficult challenges of her career. In her On Pointes column, she wrote, “There are times when all I would do as Maria Clara would be to turn my back to the audience and remove my panuelo and when I would turn around to face the crowd again it’s already supposed to be a different time and scene in the novel. This makes it extremely difficult to dance and act – or act and dance.”
Paalam, Maria Clara and Other Ballets premiered on May 2 and 3 at the Baluarte de San Diego Gardens in Intramuros, with Osias Barroso as Crisostomo Ibarra and other Ballet Manila dancers portraying key roles such as Padre Salvi, Padres Damaso and Sisa.
Lisa Macuja writes about the experience of dancing Maria Clara in her On Pointes column. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
