Ballet Manila presents mini-preview of ‘Paquita’ in International Dance Day Festival
By Leah Salterio
Ballet Manila’s participation in the Ballet Gala of the International Dance Day Festival this week not just celebrates an important date in the dance calendar. It also offers a peek into the company’s next offering – the second in its Prima season – artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s choreography of Paquita.
The International Dance Day Festival opens on April 22, with the Ballet Gala slated on April 25, Saturday, at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater of Circuit Makati.
Principal dancers Joshua Enciso and Abigail Oliveiro lead Ballet Manila’s participation in the International Dance Day Festival’s Ballet Gala on April 25 with an excerpt of Paquita.
The Paquita excerpt, consisting of the Entrada, Adagio and Coda, will feature principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro and Joshua Enciso with a supporting cast of Ballet Manila artists.
The full-length ballet will have its world-premiere run on June 19, 20 and 21 at the Aliw Theater.
For the first time, the four professional ballet companies in the Philippines – Ballet Manila, Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theater, and Alice Reyes Dance Philippines – will share one stage in the Ballet Gala.
They will be joined by Steps Dance Studio and the Association of Ballet Academies in the Philippines.
Artists from the Royal Ballet, Tokyo Ballet and The Australian Ballet are also set to fly to Manila as special guests.
“We in the dance community are so fortunate that we are able to celebrate dance on a specific date like International Dance Day!” stated Macuja Elizalde. “The simple act of coming together on one stage, dancing together and being able to learn from each other unites us dancers but, more importantly, develops an audience for our art form that will propel all of us forward into a bright and united future!”
The Opening Gala of the International Dance Day Festival on April 22 showcases the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, ABT’s official youth ambassadors comprised of dancers aged 17 to 21 in a program of classical, neoclassical and contemporary pieces. The gala also features ABT principal dancers Thomas Forster and Christine Shevchenko who will perform the Balcony Scene from Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet and the grand pas de deux from Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker.
The Folk Dance Gala follows on April 23, with the line-up including the Bayanihan National Folk Dance Company, Philippine Normal University Kislap Sining Dance Troupe, the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, Sindaw Philippines Performing Arts Guild, Kaloob Philippine Music and Dance Ministry, UP Filipiniana Dance Group, Alun Alun Dance Circle with the Marikina Dance Guild, Likhang Sining Dance Company, the Sining Tanglawan of the San Jose Del Monte Performing Group and the Perpetual Sanlahi Pangkat Mananayaw from Perpetual Help System DALTA-Las Piñas.
April 24 is designated as the Street Dance Gala, bringing the most dynamic crews and performers in the local scene such as Unrvld, W3, Mixed Nuts, and Eleven11.
Capping the International Dance Day Festival on April 26 is the Contemporary Gala with Hiraya, Galaw Company, Galaw Ko Dance Theater, Air Dance, Daloy Dance Company, UP Dance Company, Dance Forum, Rosan Potenciano, Benilde Experimental Dance and the Far Eastern University Dance Company.
The festival also spotlights para-dance, an inclusive form of dance that integrates dancers with disability, allowing them to experience the joy of movement.
Sofia Zobel-Elizalde, founder and director of Steps Dance Studio, underscored the value of the International Dance Day Festival which last year brought together over 1,200 artists representing various companies and styles.
“To see what happened last year, the energy and dancers coming together from different companies… I think it’s incredibly important that we are exposed to all kinds of dance from other parts of the world and internationally,” said Zobel-Elizalde. “It’s just a beautiful exchange coming together and being close to one another. It’s a big learning for everybody.”
Through the years, Ballet Manila has been an active participant in the observance of International Dance Day which actually falls on April 29. It is the birth anniversary of French dancer and ballet dancer Jean-Georges Noverre who is considered the “father of modern ballet.” The celebration was established in 1982 by the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), a partner organization of UNESCO.
In the Philippines, in 1993, the fourth week of April was also designated by President Fidel V. Ramos as National Dance Week, with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) as the lead agency tasked to carry out the observance with the support of the education department and other cultural agencies.
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde rehearses with the company’s dancers her own choreography of Paquita which will premiere in June.
