This Month in BM History: August 2000
When the late Eric V. Cruz – Ballet Manila’s first artistic director – turned 60 in August 2000, the company dedicated a program in his honor. Souvenir program from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
They would have wanted it to be a surprise – a ballet production paying tribute to Ballet Manila’s first artistic director, Eric V. Cruz, to mark his 60th birthday. But the company’s principal dancers – Lisa Macuja and Osias Barroso Jr. – had no choice but to rope in the honoree as no one else could do the production work and design but him.
Aileen Gallinera and the female corps perform in the Spanish-flavored Paquita. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Cruz would muse in his director’s notes for A Tribute: “I was so touched by what I heard that I almost swooned with joy; my heart so filled with admiration for these two souls who wanted to make public their respect for me, as a person, and their gratitude for my having shared a part of my life with them. To abate the forming tears in my eyes, I told them: ‘So what else is new? I would be honored to do production work for my own tribute. No one has ever done anything like this before and I would be happy to be the first.’”
And so it was that on August 4, 2000, A Tribute was staged with an invitational gala, followed the next day with two more shows that were open to the public, at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
The seductress Carmen (Melanie Motus) is the toast of the menfolk in this scene from Eric V. Cruz’s Carmen. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
The main event could have been none other than Carmen, a master work by Cruz which he choreographed in 1975 based on the George Bizet opera and which would become a signature piece for Ballet Manila. Also featured in the twin-bill tribute was Paquita, a Spanish-flavored suite of classical variations, pas de deux and corps work highlighting the company’s strong technique.
The tribute concert is announced in a news item. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
Cruz was on the verge of retirement, deliberating between teaching and opening a restaurant, when he was prevailed upon to be the artistic director of the new company to be introduced as Ballet Manila in 1995. He accepted the challenge and led the group of twelve dancers as it sought to bring ballet to the people, touring remote parts of the Philippines and operating on meager resources.
“For 30 years, I’ve always dreamt of a ballet company that is well-grounded in the Russian style,” Cruz said in 2000. “With Ballet Manila, I feel I’ve come full circle in my career as an artist.”
The dashing Don Jose (Osias Barroso Jr., center) leads his men in a rousing number in Carmen. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
