Will Lisa never dance again?

I’m never gonna dance again

Guilty feet have got no rhythm— from the song Careless Whisper by George Michael

No, there’s nothing wrong with the feet of prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde. What’s bothering her is her hip bone which has been causing her so much pain that she has to undergo surgery, putting an abrupt end to a colorful career applauded not only at home but in other countries (especially in Russia).

When Lisa showed up for this Conversation last Tuesday at the Manila Hotel, she was on crutches, barely recovered from the surgery only five days earlier.

Still, it hasn’t stopped her from what has been keeping her busy all these years — except dancing. She continues to train her scholars and to host her Sunday show Art 2 Art produced by Manila Broadcasting Company, 3:30 to 4 p.m. on Sundays on DZRH, cable TV via RHTV and online through DZRH Live Streaming at www.dzrh.com.ph (today’s guest is Prof. Armando Salazar, titular organist of the Las Piñas Bamboo Organ; and theater/actor/director Robbie Guevarra next Sunday, Feb. 22).

She’s at the helm (artistic director) of her own company, Ballet Manila, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary on Feb. 28 and March 1, billed as 2.0, at the Aliw Theater which is the venue of her local performances.

Ballet was once thought to be an art form only for the elite, until Lisa brought it to the masa from which she has been selecting students for her company’s scholarship program. You know, future Lisa Macujas.

Lisa is married to Fred Elizalde by whom she has two children, Missy (16) and Mac (14), and stepdaughter Sasha. 

What really happened?

“I suffer from a condition called ‘impingement.’ Basically, in both my hip bones, there’s a protruding bone that is impinging on my labrum. It’s a good thing the doctors discovered it early and there was no damage yet…hindi pa torn ang aking cartilage. The pain was more intense on my left hip. So I opted for surgery. The doctors said that I could have the surgery anytime this year but I told them, ‘Let’s do it now,’ so that it’s done na.”

Does the surgery correct your right hip?

“No. Ultimately, I may have to undergo another surgery on my right hip.”

What causes it?

“Nobody knows.”

Not from dancing?

“I don’t think so. I think it’s a condition that occurs when you are growing older.”

More common among women in your profession?

“I think so. What’s usually done is total hip replacement. But in my case, it was just acroscopic surgery, they just bore two holes into my left hip, and they just shaved the bone. Five days later, I was up and down, although I still have to walk on a crutch.”

How long have you been suffering from it?

“Actually, I’ve been in pain for a while and the dancing became more painful than enjoyable. I’ve had chronic tendonitis, plantar fasciitis (heel pain) and stress fractures. But it was the hip bone pain that made me retire.”

For good or for the meantime?

“Semi-retired until Dec. 7 last year with my last performance at Aliw Theater. But I’ve been semi-dancing for a while. Sabi ko, I’ll take a break because I went to London to watch my sister Gia in Here Lies Love (which completed its five-month run at the National Theatre last Jan. 8). Fred and I spent Christmas and New Year there with our children. When we came back, I tried dancing again in preparation for the Ballet Manila’s 20th anniversary and then there was this constant pain in my hips.”

How did you find out that it was that serious?

“Well, the irony of it is that three weeks ago, I brought my daughter to the orthopedic surgeon because she was having back pains. She was scheduled to have her musical-theater debut in La Cage Aux Folles. Casually, I told the doctor that I had this pain that never seemed to be going away. He said, ‘Lie down!’ I kept exclaiming ‘Ah!” as he examined my hips and then he said, ‘I think you should have an x-ray.” I said, ‘Really!?! I’m here for my daughter, not for myself’.”

It’s sad to know that you will never dance again.

“You know, I don’t want naman to force myself to dance at nakakaawa na akong tingnan sa entablado…nakakahiya! Ayoko ng ganoon. Let’s see. If I still can, why not? If I can’t anymore, I’m fine, I’m at peace with that position. If I really wanted to dance at the Ballet Manila’s 20th anniversary, I would have put off the surgery and tried to dance.”

Oh, health over art.

“Yeah. Quality of life.”

So what participation will you have during that event?

“I am the artistic director, so overall I’m involved in the planning, reorganizing and looking for new talents and training them. We have a big project coming up next year and we are already preparing for it.”

Ballet Manila is different from Ballet Philippines, right?

“Ballet Philippines is the original resident ballet company of the CCP; it’s 45 years old. Philippine Ballet Theater came into the CCP after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, so now there are two ballet companies in the CCP. I dance with both companies after I came back from Russia. I was the artist-in-residence of CCP. After two years, I became exclusively the principal ballerina of the Philippine Ballet Theater for seven years (seasons). In 1994, I established Ballet Manila, my own company.”

What will you miss most now that you’re retiring?

“I will miss the stage, of course, but not so much the dancing because I can always be dancing in the studio to be physically fit. But public performance is a different thing altogether, especially ballet. To be truthful, ballet is the only dance form that I want to dance…not modern, not salsa, not anything else but ballet.”

Have you tried the other forms of dancing?

“I tried. They don’t like me, hahahaha! I’m too straight. My classical ballet training is very strict. Let’s put it that way…I’m too straight. My spine is too straight; I’ve been trained too much to be very strict about my dance.”

How does a ballet dancer protect her body?

“I don’t smoke, I drink occasionally, I have to watch my weight and when I’m training I have to abstain from everything. I have to get enough (seven to eight) hours of sleep. I keep my weight to a 100, 98 or 99 pounds. Perfect for my height (5’2”). But I look taller kasi mahaba ang mga kamay ko, mahaba ang leeg ko, which is an advantage. You know, when you are a professional dancer, the dancing that you do keeps you in shape. At the end of the day, you are so exhausted that you’d rather stay home and attend parties. That’s why I remained single until I was 32, hahahaha! By June 7, I’ll be married for 18 years!” (Trivia: An actor briefly courted Lisa but gave up after only more than a month.)

Wow, just two years behind Ballet Manila.

 “You know, when I established Ballet Manila, everyone said, ‘Oh, give that company two years and it will fold up.’ When I married Fred in 1997, everyone said, ‘Oh, give that marriage two years and it will collapse!’.”

Who said that?

“The haters, the bashers. They know who they are, hahahaha!”

I’m curious. What would you consider your three memorable performances? Of course, there are more than just three.

“One, the very first when I was 14 and in high school in St. Theresa’s College Quezon City, although I started dancing when I was eight years old. It was a student recital at the Meralco Theater. It was called Twinkle Toes in Tinsel Land. Second, my very first Nutcracker when I was at the Russian Ballet Academy. That launched me as The Wonder Kid From the Philippines in Russia. I performed with an all-Russian cast. More ballets followed. And the third could be my last performance in December last year.”

Anyway, is a Lisa Macuja heiress in sight?

“You know, there are actually many girls who go into ballet but not many of them stick it out. Sayang! Young people today are used to the ‘instant’ — you know, one workshop here, one workshop there, three days training and you are a dancer? No. It doesn’t happen that way in ballet. It involves everyday training, six hours every day.”

How can you tell if a girl has ballet potential?

“You can see if she has the body. That’s what I saw in Jessa Balote, one of the 40 scholars in my class (but only four of them have kept on). Jessa was 10 when I saw her. Her body is very flexible, her legs are strong. She lives with her family in Tondo, Manila. She’s now 16; she just came back from London. The two others are also girls and one is a boy.”

How do you see ballet post-Lisa Macuja-Elizalde?

“Ballet will continue to be an appreciated art form. But I would like to see a ballerina who has achieved my status or, say, popularity or appeal, especially among the masses.”

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