By Jv Ramos

John Balagot is no stranger to dancing on stages outside the Philippines. Before the pandemic hit, this danseur had experienced performing in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Israel and Malaysia, mostly in dance festivals and with other Ballet Manila artists.

But late last year, he got a pleasant surprise when he was invited for an international guesting by himself – a career first – flying out to Indonesia and performing pieces that he himself choreographed.

It was in May after rehearsals for Don Quixote when John learned of the invitation from Wenny Halim, a Ballet Manila guest artist who had danced as the Fairy Godmother in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella and who is also part of the Jakarta-based Kreativitat Dance Indonesia. Wenny had liked how John performed and thought he would be a good fit for Kreativitat’s 25th anniversary production in late November. So she asked permission from Macuja-Elizalde as Ballet Manila’s artistic director if he could guest in the event.

“Lagi naman akong ready, kaya nu’ng una kong narinig ang idea, nagustuhan ko! Pero siyempre, depende pa rin sa artistic director ng BM kung ito ay matutuloy. Ang dami na talaga kasi kaming dancers na ginagawa.” (I’m always ready for anything, so when I heard about the idea, I was game. But, of course, it’s still the call of my artistic director, especially since the company was becoming very busy.) Aside from readying themselves for season performances then, the Ballet Manila artists had been regularly performing in Star City, resumed doing out-of-town tours, and had been fulfilling international engagements.

Macuja-Elizalde eventually gave John her blessing to the guesting which he is grateful, describing the stint in Indonesia as a good experience in immersing in various facets of dance. Initially, he was only supposed to do two pas de deux pieces with Wenny, but as the months went by, he was also requested to do a solo to make everything in the piece called Autumn Rhapsody appear cohesive.

“Dahil anniversary show ito, kinailangan naming gumamit ng music na mahalaga sa Kreativität Dance, at ito ang music na kinompose ni Indra Lesmana at Aksan Sjumanthat. May live orchestra actually nu’ng sumayaw kami,” John relates. (Because this was an anniversary show, we had to make use of music that’s significant to Kreativität Dance, and this music was composed by Indra Lesmana at Aksan Sjumanthat. We actually performed our pieces to a live orchestra.) 

Coming from the album entitled The Birds, the music John and Wenny used for their pas de deux performances Autumn Rhapsody and The Twin Peacock were actually composed for the dance group’s founder and Indonesian dance icon, Farida Oetojo, in 1991. “Iba ang style ng music kaya medyo nahirapan ako. Noong una, may mga movements kami ni Wenny sa The Twin Peacock na hindi tumutugma sa music.” (The style of the music is very different, so I had a difficult time choreographing. In the beginning, our movements in The Twin Peacock wouldn’t match the music.)

John notes that in The Twin Peacock, their gestures were inspired by the confident and untamed creature with beautiful feathers, while in Autumn Rhapsody, what began as an exploration of movement led to a piece about relationships – if the two parties involved really needed each other. “At the end of the piece, my dance partner Wenny fades out and hinayaan ko na lang siya. Sa akin, exploration ito ng relationships, ng season ng autumn, ng mga bagay na dumadaan at nawawala sa atin…” (I allow my partner to fade away. For me, this is an exploration of relationships, of the autumn season, of things that come into our lives and leave us.)

“Saan ako humuhugot ng inspirasyon? Sa mga pinagdaanan ko siyempre,” shares John about his creative motivation. (Where do I get my inspiration? From personal experiences, of course!) Born and raised in Cagayan de Oro, he’s  familiar with the experience of having to live far from family to pursue his love for ballet. Not to mention climbing the ranks when time seemed to be against him. Having started his ballet training late, John was around 30 already when he became a Ballet Manila artist. But due to his continued hard work, it only took two seasons for him to be promoted to soloist.

Staring out with a dance troupe background in his hometown, John says he was more familiar with modern dance. It was only when he was already with Ballet Manila that his knowledge in choreoraphy expanded, to also basing it on ballet steps. While he admits he’s still learning more about choreography, he’s certain of the nature of the pieces he would like to put out in the future.  

“Kagaya ng mga gawa ni Sir Geri at pati na rin ng ibang Pinoy choreographers na gumawa ng sayaw para sa BM, gusto ko na related sa mga gawain at buhay Pinoy ang mga concepts  ko,” he describes. (Just like the pieces of Gerardo ‘Sir Geri’ Francisco Jr. and the other Filipinos that have done choreography for Ballet Manila, I want my concepts to be about Filipino life and traditions.) To explain his vision, John mentions Ernest Mandap’s Reve, which is about two brothers helping each other through different obstacles, Mandap’s Gomburza, which is based on the martyrdom of three Catholic priests, and Gerardo Francisco Jr.’s Morion, which is inspired by the Lenten tradition of devout Catholic Filipinos putting on Roman centurion masks.

While working for the Kreativität Dance Indonesia involved music, themes and other elements that were closer to Indonesian culture, John still considers this as a good stepping stone to expand his work in choreography, especially since he was exposed to many firsts.

“Very grateful ako sa opportunity at sa mga challenges na pinagdaanan namin ni Wenny. Maganda ang naging partnership namin. Na-challenge niya ako at na-challenge ko rin siya.” (I’m very grateful for this opportunity and the challenges Wenny and I faced. We had a good dance partnership. We were able to challenge each other.) John mentions that aside from choreographing and performing pas de deux pieces and a solo part, he was also asked to teach a masterclass in pas de deux during his stay in Indonesia, as well as teach young students in the Cicilia Ballet School. “Kabado ako pero nag-enjoy din ako sa pagtuturo ko.” (I was nervous but I enjoyed the teaching part as well.)

In return, he pushed Wenny to dance out of her comfort zone. “Pinalitan ko ang lift namin last minute,” the soloist reveals. “Gusto ko kasi ma-challenge si Wenny at magpakita ng ibang klaseng lift sa audience doon. Hindi kasi sila madalas na nakakanood ng ballet performances. Sa akin kasi, kung guest artist ka, dapat ibigay mo ang lahat ng makakaya mo!” (I changed our lift at the last minute… I wanted to challenge Wenny and to perform a different kind of lift for the audiences there, as they don’t get to see many ballet performances. In my opinion, if you’re a guest artist, you must give them all you can offer.)

John is excited to go through the process of being a guest artist again, if given another chance. He repeats, “Ready naman ako lagi! Kahit pag-choreograph o last-minute partner ang kailangan, game ako laging sumayaw!” (I’m always ready! It doesn’t matter if I’m assigned to choreograph or be someone’s partner at the last minute, I’m always game to dance!)