Remembering revered ballet teacher Tita Radaic
Felicitas “Tita” Radaic was Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s first ballet teacher, whom she’s always acknowledged as the one who got her started in what would become a lifelong passion and profession. Back in 1993, Lisa wrote an essay remembering the beloved mentor who patiently guided her in the ballet basics through her bouts of childhood mischief and who encouraged her particularly after an upsetting fall on stage. The Ballet Manila Archives shares the article in full in memory of Mrs. Radaic, an institution in Philippine dance and a teacher to generations of ballet artists, who passed away on June 2, 2026.
Sense of discipline and love for hard work were among the values her ballet teacher Felicitas Radaic instilled in her, says Lisa Macuja Elizalde.
The headache of my teacher
On Pointes column, Malaya
January 14, 1993
By Lisa Macuja
As I embark on a different phase in my ballet career, that of coach and teacher (as you read this, I am with three of my “students” participating in the First Japan International Ballet and Modern Dance Competition being held in Nagoya, Japan), I thought it would be appropriate to cite my own teachers who have, in their unselfish and ever-patient ways, given me my dancing.
Together with Felicitas Radaic, Lisa Macuja takes a bow after performing as Giselle at Dance Theatre Philippines’ 20th anniversary production in 1988.
My very first ballet steps were taken under the expert guidance of Mrs. Felicitas L. Radaic, directress of the St. Theresa’s College School of Dance and one of the founders of Dance Theatre Philippines. Up to now, I cannot bring myslef to call her “Tita,” as all her friends and associates address her, for she will always be Mrs. Radaic (pronounced “Ra-daych”) to me.
Aside, of course, from teaching me my basic ballet technique and bringing me through five Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) examinations, Mrs. Radaic instilled in me the sense of discipline, love for hard work, and an almost masochistic tendency to push myself to improve. I can never forget the many times she would reprimand me for my boisterous ways. You may find it hard to believe but I was forever the ringleader, hanging upside down from the barres and organizing a game of habulan (tag) right before the ballet class would start. In short, I was the headache of my teacher!
In our class level, I was known as the girl with the “rubber-band body.” Now, flexibility can be both an advantage and disadvantage in ballet. Having a “loose” and “soft” stomach, as well as loose joints, would create control problems for me that my other classmates did not have. Many times, Mrs. Radaic would cite my loose middle by implying I would be better off in hula class. Oh, I was never what you would call a “child prodigy.” People had that “let her stick it out and let’s see what happens” kind of attitude towards me and my ballet.
Mrs. Radaic (third from left) was a teacher to generations of ballet dancers, including (from left) her own daughter Sophia Radaic, Lisa Macuja and Mary Ann Santamaria who were classmates at the St. Theresa’s College School of Dance.
The time and effort of Mrs. Radaic (not to mention the expense of my parents) soon had its pay-offs though. I found myself onstage more and more, finally breaking into the junior ranks of Dance Theatre Philippines, the performing company made up of STC School of Dance’s best students.
Mrs. Radaic was always there thoughout my early years in dance. One inspiring moment which I will always treasure for the rest of my life was when she gave me a card the day after a performance of DTP’s Ballet at the Park series. During that performance, I was entrusted with the role of one of the four ballerinas in Pas de Quatre, a DTP standard and major classical piece choreographed by Jules Perrot to the music of Cesare Pugni.
I was very much the “eager beaver” and going into my solo which begins with a posé to arabesque (a position that has the dancer standing on one leg with the other fully stretched to the back). I found myself doing a perfect swan dive to the floor! Ending in a heap of tulle with arms and legs sticking out in a very unflattering way, I got up and continued to dance. As soon as I had made my exit, I started to bawl like a child, right there in the wings! Mrs. Radaic was there to shoo away my tears and push me back onstage for my next entrance.
The card that came the next day touched my young life with unimaginable magnitude. I felt like the young boy at the end of Camelot when he is knighted by King Arthur. Mrs. Radaic wrote that getting up from a spill and continuing to dance is the mark of a true professional. Her parting statement made me cry (again!). She wrote: “You will become a true ballerina one day!” I realized then that I wanted so much for her words to come true.
At Dance MNL in 2016, Mrs. Radaic took centerstage, with daughter Sophia Radaic on her right and Lisa Macuja on her left after Ballet Manila’s tribute performance of Giselle which starred Romeo Peralta Jr. (left) as Prince Siegfried and Joan Emery Sia (right) who was also mentored by the revered ballet teacher in the title role. Photo by Stan de la Cruz
