This Month in BM History: May 1997
The trip to Krasnoyarsk, in the heart of Siberia, was the fifth for Lisa Macuja and Osias Barroso. They had been coming to this city almost ever year since the first Asian-Pacific Music and Arts Festival was organized in 1992, pre-dating Ballet Manila.
Ballet Manila principal dancers Lisa Macuja and Osias Barroso Jr. are Kitri and Basilio in Don Quixote once more, for a show in Krasnoyarsk.
Now, as the principal dancers of their own ballet company, they had been invited once again by the Krasnoyarsk State Ballet to be guest artists in a series of shows. From May 15 to 23 of 1997, the pair was slated to dance Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote and four concert pieces in a Gala Concert at the end of the tour.
Just as special as their performances were the scenes that unfolded off-stage. As Macuja would later recall in her On Pointes column back in Manila, the appreciation for performing artists in the Russian city remained unmatched. “Large bouquets of long-stemmed roses, carnations and violets would be brought in by the usherettes directly from the audience on to the stage at the end of a performance. Gifts like stuffed toys and handwritten, very emotional greeting cards would often come with the flowers. Backstage, the throng of young and old alike, shyly requesting for your autograph or a photo-op, would be made even more touching because most of the faces have already become familiar.”
In the theater lobby, an exhibit of photos and memorabilia from Krasnoyarsk Ballet’s 30-member delegation to the Philippines in October 1996 was prominently displayed.
Macuja spoke of the nostalgia she felt seeing the exhibit, writing: “Looking at the boards brought back scenes from Ten! (the unprecendented joint performance tour of Ballet Manila and the Krasnoyarsk Ballet of Swan Lake, Don Quixote and a Gala Concert held in celebration of my ten years of Philippine-based dancing). Somehow, it has become clear that Siberia’s leading ballet company and the Philippines’ Ballet Manila are linked forever.”
A photo caption published in Manila Bulletin on May 17, 1997 announces Lisa Macuja and Osias Barroso Jr.’s guest performances with the Krasnoyarsk State Ballet. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
