Carmina, dear, where are you? - Direct Line by Boy Abunda

The public is asking, "Where is Carmina Villarroel?"

First version is that she went to the States for medical treatment of a kidney ailment. Second version is that she’s allegedly pregnant.

Oh, dear.

The following is a statement I made on The Buzz a couple of weeks ago:

"Carmina didn’t give anyone the right to claim the truth and all we can do is to tell the audience what we hear from our reliable sources.

"It’s true that Carmina is in America and that she allegedly moves from one place to another. She is presently staying in San Francisco, in the house of Justice Lazaro, the father of her friend Mitzie.

"What we don’t know is where she’s going next. Some people alleged it’s not true that Carmina has a kidney ailment. Carmina is with her sister Bambi to accompany her in what she calls "a difficult situation."

"What is Carmina’s ‘difficult situation’? According to our source, she is supposedly four to five months pregnant. And that the father of her child found out only recently. According to the alleged ultra sound, she is pregnant with twins.

"If this news is true, we know how difficult it is and we feel for her. Whatever her situation is, we’re behind her because she’s a friend. We’re just a phone call away, Mina, if you want to tell us your story."

Magical, enchanting!

You don’t have to be Margot Fontaine’s hairdresser or Mikhail Baryshnikov’s dog trainer to know that to witness the best ballet ensemble in the world is to be transported into an entirely different realm – magical, enchanting, sublime.

This exactly is what the Filipino audience is set to experience as the Moscow City Ballet (MCB) embarks on its highly-anticipated comeback to Philippine shores with performances of Swan Lake on Oct. 9 and 10 and Adolph Adam’s Giselle on Oct. 12 and 13, both at 7:30 p.m. at the Meralco Theatre. Both shows are under the sponsorship of the National Philharmonic Society.

Swan Lake is the best-loved ballet piece of all time. It is the moving story of true and enduring love, which unfolds when the Prince emerges from a deep forest to find Odette, the Queen of the Swans. Cursed by the evil sorcerer Van Rothbart, Odette and her handmaidens fly as swans by day and turn humans only by night. With a pledge of love eternal, the Prince fights to free Odette from the curse, a struggle that carries through to the afterlife.

Giselle, on the other hand, is a staple of romantic fiction — love-smitten aristocrat disguises himself in order to woo simple but beautiful peasant girl Giselle. She subsequently dies of a broken heart on discovering that he is already betrothed to a lady of nobility. But even in death, her love is so strong that she saves the Prince from the vengeance of the spirits of dead maidens.

Apart from the two masterpieces, the MCB also holds an impressive list of classical opus in their dance selection. The company was founded by Russian ballet icon Victor Smirnov-Golovanov whose choreographies are considered by critics as the best in the international stage today.

Madame’s cozy den

An uppity bar in Makati is said to be a semi-prostitution den, but the owners of the place are clueless about this operation. A high profile Madame X occupies her table in a corner anytime after 10 p.m. Sometimes, she goes to the bar alone, often with "younger" girlfriends. She would stay in the place until 2 to 3 a.m. and she seems to know everyone in the place. She carries a small bluebox with her and at least three cellphones. Madame is a generous tipper and a smooth drinker who can finish a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon alone.

People wonder about the kind of money she earns nightly in her little corner. Must be good business considering that she doesn’t pay rental. But nobody seems to mind Madame’s smooth operations because she is truly adorable – always smiling and she calls everyone, "Dahling!" And she brings in good business to the bar especially on weak weekdays.

Very often, she is in the company of pretty, pretty movie stars who seem to cling to her like innocent, docile babes. Madame’s pretty daughter, who cannot be more than 25, is presently the constant date of a banker.

A few nights ago in Madame’s little corner in that plushy bar, her daughter was with her mother’s bluebook and three cellphones. Madame was down with the flu but business was normal.