This Month in BM History: November 2002
An announcement of the Pinocchio world premiere appears in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
For its pre-Christmas production in 2002, Ballet Manila chose to make an adaptation of Pinocchio. Originally based on the children’s novel from 1883, The Adventures of Pinocchio by Italian writer Carlo Collodi, the story became popular decades later when it was turned into an animated Disney film.
Melanie Motus (third from left) is the Blue Fairy who transforms the wooden puppet Pinocchio into a real boy. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
With Lisa Macuja Elizalde writing the libretto, Pinocchio the ballet was intended to capture the enchantment of a wooden puppet carved by Geppetto who eventually transforms into a real boy with the help of the Blue Fairy. Along the way, Pinocchio – with Jiminy Cricket as his trusty sidekick – encounters colorful characters such as the Fox and the Cat, the puppeteer Stromboli and the giant whale Monstro.
For the choreography, one choice was top of mind. As Macuja Elizalde wrote in her director’s notes, “Only the versatile and most productive choreographer Osias Barroso would do as our ballet’s creator. Who else can deliver a musical score in three days and an entire story ballet in three weeks?”
Pinocchio choreographer Osias Barroso (third from left) urges lead star Alvin Santos to take a bow during the curtain call for the world premiere of Pinocchio in 2002. With them, from left, are Lisa Macuja Elizalde, Danica Rili and Jeffrey Espejo. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Barroso, then ballet master, had to work around the daily performances of Can-Can and Belen – shows under the banner Circus de Ballet where Ballet Manila teamed up with circus performers at Star City. Despite the grueling schedule, the choreographer powered through, with Pinocchio taking shape and making its debut on November 15, 2002.
Curiously, some real-life magic seemed to be at work for Pinocchio. Macuja Elizalde recounted in her notes, “Little did I know then that we would sell a record number of 29 performances of Pinocchio even before a single step in the ballet was choreographed. In early October this year, we decided to move the ballet to the new 3,000-seat Aliw Theater, cutting down the number of performances to 11 but increasing the number of our audience to 33,000. I can safely say that Pinocchio has become the Philippines’ most popular ballet, even before opening night!”
