By Giselle P. Kasilag

As much as he tries to downplay it, principal dancer Gerardo Francisco Jr. is the resident perfectionist of Ballet Manila. He sees everything and has no qualms about making corrections when necessary. So when artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde decided to close BM’s 25th season with a restaging of his Ibong Adarna, the company’s resident choreographer felt nothing but excitement for the chance to revisit his first full-length ballet and make it even better.

Ibong Adarna follows the journey of three brothers in their quest to find the mythical bird with the power to heal. This epic tale is taught to all Filipino schoolchildren and has been the source material for many films, plays, music and artworks, making it a challenging piece to present in a new light. But Geri has found a way and is continuing to make it better.

“Lahat naman may igaganda pa. Kailangan lang butingtingin (Everything has a room for improvement. We just need to tweak it),” he declares.

Clearly, he is not one to rest on his laurels even though he has plenty. The 2019 TOYM awardee received numerous accolades after the ballet premiered in 2017 including the 2018 Gawad Buhay Awards for Outstanding Modern Dance Production, Outstanding Choreography for Modern Dance for Geri, Outstanding Ensemble for Modern Dance, Outstanding Music Composition for Diwa De Leon, Outstanding Male Lead for Modern Dance for principal dancer Rudy De Dios and Outstanding Featured Male for Modern Dance for principal dancer Romeo Peralta Jr. It was also named the Best Outstanding Production at the 30th Aliw Awards. Furthermore, in 2018, Ibong Adarna became the first original Filipino ballet to be shown internationally when the company was invited to perform it at the Karmiel Festival in Israel.

But still, reviewing his work with an objective eye, Geri has found a number of ways to enrich the production, foremost of which were the transitions from one scene to the next. For a more seamless flow, he has fused the transitions into the choreography. He has also added scenes depicting the journey of the two older brothers using the same technique.

“Pinanood ko ‘yung video. Sabi ko merong moment na nagdra-drag… bumibitin kasi nga it’s because of the set change. Nagtra-transition na bumababa ang kurtina, parang nawawala ‘yung momentum (I watched the video. I saw moments that are dragging, the pace slows down because of the set change. The transition sees the curtain falling and the story loses its momentum),” he notes.

This time around, the curtains will no longer rise and fall between scenes. The dancers themselves will artfully move the platforms and set pieces as the next scene unfolds.

Because Aliw Theater – where Ibong Adarna will be staged – now has an LED screen, Geri is utilizing that as well to add more visual cues to the narrative. He stresses, though, that he is exercising restraint and using subtle graphics to ensure that the effects don’t upstage or distract from the dancing.

For the costumes, he has requested Make It Happen Workshop which did the original outfits, to enhance what the Adarna “feathers” will be wearing. He is hopeful the change will make the colors stand out more and have the impact that he wanted to have as the wings – made up of several dancers – spread out and move with Abi.

For sure, the dancing itself has not escaped Geri’s scrutiny. The cast is led by principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro as Ibong Adarna, and Mark Sumaylo, Romeo Peralta Jr. and Joshua Enciso as the brothers Pedro, Diego and Juan. Abi and Romeo have performed their respective roles in all of the Ibong Adarna stagings except one. Mark has moved to various roles including the shaman and ermitanyo before returning as Don Pedro.

Of the four, only Joshua is performing the role for the first time. He is Don Juan, the youngest brother. But his first role was with the corps when the ballet premiered in 2017. In a way, he relishes the anonymity of being with the corps, sharing that the audiences really don’t see them make mistakes.

But Romeo is quick to point out that the audience should be the least of Joshua’s worries.

“Sabi niya hindi raw nakikita lahat ‘yung corps. Si Gerardo, kita lahat ‘yan! Walang nami-miss (He says people don’t see the corps. But Gerardo, he sees everything! He doesn’t miss anything)!” he laughingly chimes in.

Indeed, that is the reputation of Geri in the company. Even the principal dancers are on their toes more than usual whenever he is running the rehearsals. And for the restaging of Ibong Adarna, he is looking to make the movements more fluid so that the dancing and the miming appear more organic.

“I want the gestures to be more realistic. Hindi siya choreographic. Kung ano ‘yung character, internalize that character and then ilabas mo kung ano siya. Ayoko ‘yung masyadong aral (It’s not choreographic. Whoever your character is, internalize that character and express who he is. I don’t want it too studied). You’re telling a story through movement. It has to be natural.”

While his eagle eyes see everything, Geri is very liberal in letting his dancers interpret their characters. He is the first to encourage them to experiment and this iteration of Ibong Adarna will see Abi pushing the boundaries to make Adarna fly.

“Binigay ng choreographer ‘yung movement na ‘yan. Paano mo siya papagandahin? That’s your job as a dancer. It doesn’t matter kung ano ‘yung approach basta nandoon siya sa gusto kong mangyari. So, hinahayaan ko lang sila tapos pag too much, then I’ll stop them.” (The choreographer provides the movement. How do you make it look good? That’s your job as a dancer. How you approach it doesn’t matter as long as it’s within my vision of what I want to happen. So I let them experiment but if it’s too much, then that’s when I’ll stop them. )

Even the much-talked-about fight scene among the three brothers is getting tweaked.

“Choreography-wise, I wanted something na hindi lang sampalan. Gusto kong ma-highlight ‘yung dalawa (referring to the older brothers). I created something that wasn’t easy. Sabi ko talaga macha-challenge itong tatlo na ito sa gagawin kong fight scene. I want something cinematic pero ballet. Realistic ‘yung away but I enhanced it with my own choreography (Choreography-wise I wanted something that isn’t just a slap on the face. I wanted to highlight the two brothers. I created something that wasn’t easy. I really told myself that the fight scene I’m creating should challenge the three of them. I want something cinematic but still ballet. The fight is realistic but enhanced with my own choreography),” he explains.

But did he mean for the choreography to be so hard? Even former principal dancer Rudy De Dios, revered in the company for his ability to dance the most difficult classical roles with ease, found himself jokingly cursing Geri after being left breathless at the end of a difficult sequence.

“Hindi naman (Not really)!” claims Geri. “Siguro kung hindi ganyan ‘yung hitsura niya baka hindi ganyan ang dating. Hindi ganyan ang effect kung binawasan natin.” (Maybe if I didn’t make it like that, then it won’t have the same impact. The effect would have been different if I made it easier).

Indeed, he is known for pushing the envelope when it comes to making his choreographies better, even if it means challenging his dancers to their limits.

While all choreographers are unique, there is a distinctive flavor to Geri’s approach that make him stand out. His vocabulary of movements is rooted deeply in Filipino culture that he is literally speaking the local language but in dance. That he does not shy away from constructive criticism – constantly aiming to make better that which is already a success – raises the standard for choreographic output in the country. And that makes him a powerful voice in the vastly diverse landscape of Philippine art.

“I know that nobody’s perfect,” he admits, “but if we work harder, magagawa nating mas maganda (we can make things better).”

Related links:

Ballet Manila’s ‘Ibong Adarna’: A virtual exhibition

Ibong Adarna: A legendary tale borne on the wings of good old family values

Mark Sumaylo embraces each role as if it was his last

Romeo Peralta Jr. leaps into villain territory once more in ‘Ibong Adarna’

From monkey to prince: Joshua Enciso’s epic ‘Adarna’ adventure

Abigail Oliveiro is ready to make Ibong Adarna soar