This Month in BM History: February 2007
Romeo (Rudy De Dios, right) shares a light moment with friends Benvolio (Jerome Espejo, left) and Mercutio (Gerardo Francisco Jr.) before a fight ensues with Tybalt and Lord Capulet. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Sergey Vikulov’s three-act Romeo & Juliet which Ballet Manila restaged in February 2007 at Star Theater is Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s favorite among all the versions she had danced of the ballet. After all, as she wrote in her director’s notes then, it’s the one that she could truly call her own.
Lisa Macuja Elizalde explains the nuances of portraying the teenage Juliet in the Shakespeare-inspired ballet, Romeo & Juliet, in a story published in The Manila Standard. Newspaper clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
“(It’s) closest to my heart because it was the Romeo & Juliet that was choreographed specifically on myself and Osias Barroso in 2001,” she said. Barroso restaged the ballet and coached the new cast of performers including demi-soloist Rudy De Dios who was Romeo to Lisa’s Juliet this time around.
At 42, the more experienced Lisa gave Rudy who was half her age tips on how the first kiss of Romeo and Juliet should go. “The audience has to feel that Romeo was at first hesitant and Juliet has to show that she is open to him and so their kiss deepens. Our goal is to convey through our bodies the emotions and feelings of this couple down to the last person in the balcony,” she said in an interview.
While the dancers still wore the original costumes designed and executed by the late Eric V. Cruz, other elements were changed in 2007. The music was switched from Tchaikovsky to Prokofiev. The set which had been designed by Lisa’s husband, Fred J. Elizalde, for the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ main theater was adapted to the smaller Star Theater by in-house talent, assistant rehearsal master Jonathan Janolo. Actress Chin-Chin Gutierrez was tapped to narrate the story of Romeo & Juliet, with the Filipino translation provided by actor Roy Alvarez.
Actress Chin-Chin Gutierrez narrates the story of Romeo & Juliet for the 2007 restaging. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
While Lisa said change may be constant, she affirmed that the Shakespeare-inspired ballet’s theme would always remain the same. “The message that is Romeo & Juliet will live in our hears forever… for as long as there is this special kind of binding – and blinding – love that makes all those who love like this die a little bit each day.”
At curtain call, Lisa Macuja Elizalde leads Osias Barroso, her original Romeo, to centerstage to take a bow for restaging Sergey Vikulov’s three-act ballet. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
