Choreography in Focus: Arachnida by Agnes Locsin
Francis Cascaño and Christine Rocas display agility and strength as they perform Arachnida in Ballet Manila Goes International in 2005 before dancing it at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Slinking from the shadows, the pair of dancers clad in black is instantly riveting, but more so as they go through a range of startling movements while seemingly fused together. Even if viewers are unaware of the title of this modern dance piece, it soon enough dawns on them what it portrays – spiders, for sure. But to be specific, mating arachnids.
Principal dancers Romeo Peralta and Jessica Pearl Dames will perform Arachnida in Ballet Manila’s Greatest Hits in Malaysia this September. Photo by MarBi Photography
Agnes Locsin’s Arachnida is among Ballet Manila’s most performed pas de deux. “It has been a show-stopper all the way,” as Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde has described it. Which was why it was a no-brainer for it to be included in the company’s Iconic production in 2018.
Life for Arachnida began twenty years ago as a competition piece. Using the music of Fagher, it has been an apt vehicle for highlighting the agility and strength of Ballet Manila dancers as they participated in such events as the 5th Helsinki International Ballet Competition, the 10th Moscow International Ballet Competition and the Nagoya International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition. The male dancer executes powerful lifts while at one point, the female dancer carries her partner on her back.
Because of its potent impact, Arachnida has also been brought in countless Ballet & Ballads shows all over the Philippines as well as in performance tours abroad, starting with those in the United States in 2004 and 2005.
The choreographic talent and fertile imagination of Locsin – who would be named National Artist for Dance in 2022 – are simultaneously highlighted in Arachnida. While others may easily dismiss these eight-legged creatures, she was inspired enough to create a sensual pas de deux that is hard to ignore.
Ballet Manila principal dancers Joan Emery Sia and Romeo Peralta pose with Arachnida choreographer Agnes Locsin after performing the piece at the 10th Gawad Buhay Awards in 2018 where she was given a lifetime achievement award. Photo courtesy of Romeo Peralta
Documenting Joan Emery Sia and Romeo Peralta dancing Arachnida at the DanceMNL festival in 2016, photographer Stan de la Cruz branded it as uncanny and a must-see. Posting pictures on social media, he commented: “The amazing duo of Sia and Peralta bring to mind the strength to weight ratio of the critters going through the throes of sex, and enhanced by the pink lighting much like some skin flicks of yesteryears.”
Meanwhile, after watching the number in Ballet Manila’s American Stars Gala in 2018, Philippine Star’s Pristine De Leon noted: “Limbs thrust out into the black beyond, the human body reconfiguring itself into serpentine shapes. With one figure atop another, legs stretch and coil, delivering the force of two bodies slowly morphing into one. Arachnida, as it were, reimagines the act of two spiders copulating. Onstage, it’s rare to find romance as freaky and as thrilling.”
Today, Arachnida continues to be a staple for Ballet Manila, with principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro and Mark Sumaylo dancing it in Indonesia just this month and principal dancers Jessica Pearl Dames and Romeo Peralta set to perform it in Malaysia in September.
