The soul, the feel, the beat

The entertainment world has a long list of dancing greats. Hollywood alone had Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse and many other dance luminaries.

In local popular entertainment, some of the finest dancers in showbiz history came from pre and post-war vaudeville. There were those who were so multi-talented that they later became known comediennes on both movies and on TV: Chuchi, Aruray, Metring David  names that, sadly, no longer ring a bell to the present generation.

We also had popular actors in the past who had solid dance backgrounds: Jun Aristorenas, Ramon Zamora and even the great screen villain Max Alvarado (he was a tango instructor).

Why, even the late funny man Apeng Daldal claimed that he also started out as a dancer in ’50s Tondo  as a dance partner “sa mga sayawan ng mga bakla.”

In the ’60s, television gave a lot of exposure to dancers. Back then it was the dream of every individual who could shake her hips more gracefully than most others to a have a one-time appearance in variety shows. And so there were hula and Tahitian dancers and those that danced the ballet. Television in those days was not yet this complicated and competitive.

However, there were professional dancers who were by-names in entertainment: Amelia Apolinario and Telly and Lally Aldeguer, who were said to have been paid P500 nightly to perform at the Top of the Hilton. P500 was huge around that time, considering the fact that the salaries of helpers at home were pegged at P30 a month or P1 a day.

The dance scene actually even became more exciting toward the late ’70s all the way to the ’80s. A dance legend emerged around this time: Maribeth Bichara, who initially chose to do boring deskwork in Broadcast City even if her family owned movie theater chains in Bicol. In time, her dancing prowess was discovered and to this day she remains respected as one of the finest ever choreographers in Philippine entertainment. Of course, she will always be associated with Vilma Santos and the VIP Dancers  and she will always be proud of that.

That’s me with fellow judges Maribeth Bichara (right) and Sony Philippines’ CJ Deacosta

I met Maribeth when she began doing the choreography for the Gawad Urian shows. Despite her hectic schedule, she always found time to join us at brainstorming sessions with our director Al Quinn. My dealings with her had always been pleasant, especially since she goes out of her way to be extra nice to people, especially co-workers.

This recent summer, I had a reunion with her when we sat down as judges in the Sony Walkman Break-Free Dance Contest at the Trade Hall of SM Megamall. This competition was part of a four-day event organized by Sony Philippines with the help of V Factor.

The performances were very impressive because each group brimmed with so much energy. It broke our hearts that while there would be winners, there would also be losers since all the participants apparently put their all in their respective numbers.

Seated beside Maribeth also made me pine for the good old days of dancing. According to Maribeth, the late ’70s till the ’90s “were the best for me.” During that time, she says that all the dancers had what she calls the Soul, the Feel and the Beat.

“Today, dancing is focused more on aerobics, precision and a lot of strutting. The dancing part appears only to be secondary to exhibiting gymnastic prowess,” she laments.

In the past decades, we had Vilma Santos, Maricel Soriano and Alma Moreno, who were goddesses on the dance floor. Who among the female stars today in her opinion could emerge as a dance diva? “I don’t want to comment on that,” she tells me in the typical Maribeth fashion that doesn’t want to offend feelings. “But there are a few female stars who show promise as great dancers, except that they are not being trained properly, maybe because of their heavy workload. While they can dance, they don’t show the love and the discipline that are needed to become good dancers. Their attitude to it is that it is all part of work. That can’t be since you need to love what you are doing and have the discipline for it if you want to be a good dancer.”

And what can she say about today’s breed of choreographers? “They are mostly YouTube choreographers. I find them a bit lacking in creativity. What they do now is mostly cut-and-paste  the look, costumes, moves and choreography. Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to put them down. Those are just my observation,” again she tries to tiptoe through her comments.

She really need not ask for apologies. Maribeth had long earned the right to speak her mind with regard to dancing. She is, after all, the dance guru.

I also tend to agree with her. I looked at some dance competitions on TV now and I noticed that even if contestants spend on elaborate costumes, you don’t see the passion on their faces and body movements. Everything seems to boil down to gimmick.

Sadly, it seems that dance as an art form is gone. Everything is now just for show.