Remembering Lito Calzado

Iza Calzado is an award-winning actress  the best in her batch. She also hosts impeccably and can dance when assigned to do a production number.

But forgive me Iza for saying this: Your Dad will always be the better dancer.

Iza will understand. Her father, Lito Calzado, was probably the best male dancer in his time.

Born on the eve of liberation on Jan. 20, 1945, he grew up and raised a family (okay, more than one  he was a “chick boy,” in today’s lingo) and used the name Carlito Calzado.

He was a Calzado, all right, but it was only much, much later  already as an adult  that it was discovered on his birth certificate that his first name was actually registered as Feliciano. On his baptismal certificate, it was Carlito.

He was already Lito to everyone by the time this mistake was corrected.

Unmistakable, however, was his talent for dancing. In high school  at V. Mapa (the one near Centro Escolar University)  he charmed every girl in campus with his flair for dancing. That was what gave him the confidence to court the loveliest, including the reigning Miss Mapa High. She was Nova Villa, one of the few that got away.

I wonder if he also courted another classmate by the name of Lolita Solis. Maybe not because Lolit only bloomed when she was already in UP where she had her own army of admirers. I can name names, except that Lolit will kill me since some became prominent people in various fields and had settled with their respective families in peace  with one actually resting in peace. 

So let’s stay out of trouble and go back to Lito: After training with the University of the East dance troupe and, later, with the very prestigious Bayanihan group, he conquered the world of show business and tried his luck in the movies.

In time, he caught the tail end of Oras ng Ligaya as dancer-choreographer.

 However, he became a household name only through On With the Show, an early evening ABS-CBN variety program that replaced Oras ng Ligaya in the early ’70s.

He had the same function for the nightly show that was hosted by Lita Gutierrez, Manolo Favis, Mitch Valdes (she was still Maya then) and Maritess Revilla.

His participation in On With the Show eventually grew as the late director, Tony Santos Sr., made him part of the variety program’s skits from time to time.

And then came the movies again. Comedies on the big screen sometimes required dance routines and he was given the chance to shine in these scenes. Moviegoers were thrilled to see him doing cameo roles because he was already a familiar face on TV.

At one point, he was given his big movie break  a horror comedy called Drakulita. As the lead character, he played a gay vampire. To say that his launching movie did not measure up to today’s Twilight series is an understatement. By his own admission, it was a flop at the box-office. But at least, he had a film where he was the title role.

Fortunately, he had already become established as a great dancer and that reputation enabled him to put up his own dance school that carried his name along Quezon Ave.

But since a dancer’s career basically has a limited shelf life, he eventually branched out into another related area of show business  as stage director. That job did not require him to sit in the director’s booth. His duty was to block and manage what was happening on stage and behind it, which is a tough responsibility because backstage scenarios always turn into a war zone during the mounting of a show.

In the early ’90s, the Star Awards for TV decided to have a production number featuring the top dance gurus. There was Maribeth Bichara and Geleen Eugenio  and Lito, of course, even if he had not danced publicly for some decades that time.

When it was his turn to come out on stage, there was wild cheering for him. He wore a Caribbean-inspired costume and despite the fact that he had a bay window for abs, he still moved with grace and with as much passion that he always displayed as a dancer.

I worked with Lito in 12 Gawad Urian productions that I oversee annually. As stage director he always maintained his cool and never lost his temper.

In 2005, he went to the Urian awards  not to put order on stage, but to escort daughter Iza, who was up for Best Supporting Actress for Sigaw. Noel Ferrer noticed how fidgety Lito was as he sat in one of the front rows of the AFP Theater  the only time we saw him get rattled.

Maybe he felt restless because he wasn’t used to just sitting in the audience to watch a show. Inside him, he probably ached to take charge of the bedlam that went behind the scenes. But most likely, he was nervous about the chances of his daughter bringing home the trophy.

When Iza’s name was called winner, he beamed proudly, especially when the daughter thanked him profusely during her acceptance speech. While he wore several hats  as dancer, choreographer and stage director  his priority was still to play parent to his children.

For all his imperfections, Iza still gave her Dad a 10 as a loving father to her. As Lito’s daughter, Iza acknowledges the fact that  thanks to all the goodwill her father spread through the decades  it became easier for her to get accepted into the showbiz fold.

When Iza joined showbiz and we found out that her father was Lito, we spared her from the usual initiation newcomers in the profession always go through. We welcomed her warmly and from my end, I became very protective of her out of respect for Lito.

And in due fairness to Iza, she wasn’t at all difficult to love. She had always been adorable and I give credit to her parents, Lito, in particular, for raising her well.

Exactly a week ago, I had an ambush interview with Iza during the launch of the Profiles magazine of the GMA Artists’ Center. She didn’t want to discuss on-cam details concerning her father’s health. But she whispered to me in private that her Dad was already in bad shape.

Lito and his family had been told by a medical team around third quarter of the year that he could go in three months. He was fast losing his battle with cirrhosis, which Iza suspected was caused by an undetected case of hepatitis since Lito was never a heavy drinker. Oh, but he enjoyed good food and maybe loved it too much.

Three days after I talked to Iza, Lito breathed his last at 12:35 p.m.  on 11/11/11, a day that was supposed to bring luck.

During the wake at the Mt. Carmel Church along Broadway Centrum in New Manila, I whispered to Lito that if I protected Iza while he was still alive and strong, I will even double my efforts to keep her out of harm’s way. That’s how much I value Lito.

I’m sure I am not the only one making such pledge as he was loved by everyone  yes, everyone who had worked with him  and this is our way of returning the warmth and kindness he showed all of us during his lifetime.

 Besides, Iza  to her credit  had also become a very mature and responsible citizen of this world. She is bright and intelligent and would know how to take care of herself.

Lito is finally in peace and must be having a blast right this moment dancing with the angels in heaven.