Blast from the past: Dancing through Mindanao

***Wearing their official company shirts, the Ballet Manila delegation takes time to meet the ship’s captain during their trip to Mindanao aboard the SuperFerry, one of the tour’s sponsors.***

By Lisa Macuja

Barely a month after its launching shows in February 1995, Ballet Manila embarked on what would be the first of its many adventures as a touring group. The company’s Mindanao performance tour would take them to Isulan (March 8), Tacurong (March 9), Surallah (March 10), Marbel (March 11) and Palomoloc (March 12).

***Led by principal dancers Lisa Macuja and Osias Barroso, the newly established Ballet Manila made its foray into places in Mindanao that had never seen classical ballet before.***

The repertoire included pieces from the group’s recent debut, such as Pas d’action from La Bayadere, Bluebird pas de deux, Satanilla pas de deux, White Swan adagio, Le Corsaire pas de trois, Nutcracker pas de deux, Paquita variations and Osias Barroso’s neo-classical piece, In Quest.

The author, then a columnist for Malaya newspaper, wrote three articles about the tour – one just before the group left Manila (Dancing through Mindanao) and the other two upon their return . Below is a condensed version of those columns, describing in rich detail the many experiences of Ballet Manila on their pioneering tour in Mindanao.

Organizing a provincial tour is no easy task. The lack of adequate theaters that provide your basic stage, curtains, wings, backstage crossover, dressing rooms with mirrors and toilets nearby and so many other requirements of performing artists pose the greatest problem, not just for the organizers, but specially for the picky uncompromising artist.

***For the company’s show in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat, Osias Barroso (left) gives pointers to fellow dancers backstage, as artistic director Eric V. Cruz (rightmost) listens in.***

Ballet Manila’s artistic director Eric V. Cruz put it very directly when he said during a company meeting, “When you are a member of a touring company, you cannot afford to be a complainer.” How true.

Eight performances in five days… a mean “road test” indeed for this fledgling group of 12 performing artists. A quick glance at the map of Mindanao told me we would only be scratching the surface of Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato. There are so many other cities and towns to dance through.

March 5 – It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon. All 12 dancers of Ballet Manila pile into the three vans made ready for the “grand mission” to bring classical ballet to Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato.

***Ballet Manila’s ballerinas prepare for a show in a makeshift dressing room with a graffiti-filled wall.***

We were on our way to the pier, very excited to heed Sharon Cuneta’s call to “Sakay na!” on the SuperFerry to General Santos City. The linoleum flooring, two huge round tutu bags, an assortment of bags and luggages came tumbling out of the vans together with the dancers and staff who were easy to spot in their Ballet Manila shirts.

Last-minute bilin, picture-taking with BM’s secretariat composed of proud and concerned parents sending their children off on the Super Ferry sundeck, the hustle and bustle of the pier… plus an invitation to witness the “take-off” from the heart of the ship; my head was spinning, and it wasn’t because I was seasick already.

As I watched the buildings lining Roxas Boulevard get smaller the farther we got from the shore, I tried to imagine the week ahead with eight performances in five days in the six different venues in Mindanao. After some moments of reflection while looking at the churning waters below, I made one of the most level-headed decisions yet. I retired to my cabin for the rest that is precious to any dancer while on a performance tour.

***The dancers unwittingly provide shipboard entertainment on the SuperFerry deck, playing games including one using balletic steps.***

March 6 – I must admit I had fun today, playing a game from my childhood that seems like centuries ago. Ballet Manila provided the shipboard entertainment this afternoon by playing “Mother May I” using different balletic steps as the way to get to “Mother.” It was hilarious!

With the breeze cooling and soothing as the sun went down, the distant roar of the engines already giving a hypnotic hum and the luxurious interior of the SuperFerry cabins, I had to agree with everyone in the group that an ocean voyage on our way to a marathon tour beat a plane ride by a long shot. We all became avid fans of sea travel, thanks to Aboitiz Transport System.

March 7 – We are now at the other end our country. It was so reassuring to see the familiar figures of our artistic director Eric V. Cruz and chief-of-staff Cecile Alejo waving from the shore as the SuperFerry docked in General Santos City. A whirlwind of courtesy calls followed unloading all our equipment from the ship.

Each venue presented its own set of challenges that Ballet Manila gamely adjusted to. The school gym in Tacurong, for instance, had specially constructed risers for their graduation rites, eating half of the dancing space onstage.

We first visited Mayor Fernando Miguel and Gov. Hilario de Pedro in Marbel. Bebot Wee, president of the Samahang Pangkultura at Sining ng Koronadal, was really working overtime getting the March 11 gala performance underway.

We first unpacked our bags in the governor’s guesthouse in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. Gov. Nesthur Gumana and his charming family lent us support in full force. The gymnasium we would be performing in the next day was conveniently situated beside the residence. One only had to walk across a grassy field to get to the venue.

I knew we were going to have a fantastic performance tour when it began to pour, and the rain (a first in more than two months of drought) just wouldn’t stop. I also knew it would be an exciting and different experience for everyone when a herd of goats decided to join us in the gym for ballet class and would bleat in time with our music.

***After their shows, Lisa Macuja and Osias Barroso, along with the other dancers, would rush back to their lodgings to wash their tights and get them dried for the next day’s performance.***

As I competed with their bleats, trying to dictate the dance combinations to my 11 colleagues, we just couldn’t help but burst out into peals of laughter. Now this is really in keeping with our mission of “ballet for the people.”

March 8 – We had our first performance today in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. At first, I thought our audience wasn’t enjoying the show because they would not clap during the curtain calls. The applause was very warm while we froze in the final pose of each number and then as soon as we moved to take our bows, they would stop clapping altogether. We then realized that our audience, seeing classical ballet for the first time in their lives, simply did not know how and when to applaud during a ballet performance.

Going on with our curtsies even in the awkward silence, they soon understood the meaning of the bows and began to applaud at the right time. It was all part of the education “package” that is the mission of Ballet Manila.

***Ballet Manila’s Mindanao repertoire included classical variations from their debut performance just the month before.***

March 9 – The school gym we danced in in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat for two performances today had specially constructed risers for their graduation rites eating half of our dancing space onstage. Ballet Manila ballerinas had a hearty laugh when several schoolboys with raging hormones fell from their makeshift perch in an attempt to get a glimpse of the performers’ dressing rooms, and more importantly, the girls quick-changing during the fast-paced concert.

The painful concrete stage was rectified a little by newspaper padding underneath the linoleum floor. There should be a nationwide ban on the construction of concrete stages in any auditorium, theater or gymnasium. If you try jumping on a concrete floor several times, you’ll understand why. I was so proud of this ultra-professional company of dancers. Despite their youth, they all delivered even in the most daunting circumstances and the audience (SRO crowds all the way) cheered us on.

***A row of pointe shoes being aired out between shows during the tour***

March 10 – Surallah, South Cotabato: We infiltrated the planet of the frogs today. Backstage at the Notre Dame University gym, while our audience was patiently seated waiting for the performance to begin, backstage hands and dancers were busy battling the frogs as they hopped about between tutus and ballet bags, very upset that their domain was invaded by a company of ballet dancers! This was definitely a trickier operation than the battle with the goats earlier on tour.

We moved to Marbel, South Cotabato tonight from the Governor’s guesthouse in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat. The hardest part of the tour was yet to come – two days of matinee and evening performances with a gala that featured our full program of classics, a special project of the Samahang Pangkultura at Sining ng Koronadal.

***In Surallah, South Cotabato, the ballerinas shared backstage with frogs.***

March 11 – Gala night, Marbel: We got a standing ovation tonight and it felt great! Exhaustion and elation from the performances were on a delicate balance in our systems, but definitely tonight, the elation was overpowering. Samahan president Bebot Wee and his many hardworking and dedicated members were all smiles as they basked in the success of their cultural coup. We trouped back to our rooms in the Alabados’ home, a very short drive from the gym, but it was only after an animated late supper celebration that we were able to sleep.

March 12 – Last day of performing and it came in the nick of time. Some dancers were already nursing bad colds and fever. Everyone had rings below their eyes and ballet shoes were worn thin while pointe shoes were into their last breaths of life. Despite some crucial production problems, the performances went on to become artistic successes. As we packed our bags, ready for the two-hour drive to Cotabato City to board PAL’s direct flight to Manila scheduled for the next day, I sat on the floor, contemplating the Mindanao tour of Ballet Manila.

I thought of the close to 40,000 people that have seen classical ballet for the first time because of Ballet Manila’s pioneering efforts. I thought of the many unusual (to say the least) situations Ballet Manila artists encountered – from the goats to the frogs and everything in between. I reflected on “The Mission” – ballet for the people. Mission accomplished for now.