The centerpiece of Icons was Alice Reyes’ Carmina Burana, a grand ballet that utilizes the secular cantata by Carl Orff as its backdrop. First staged in 1974 to critical acclaim, it was restaged after 30 years by Ida Beltran-Lucila.
Reyes’ Carmina Burana might now seem dated with its flying leaps and frenetic movements, but the audience would surely appreciate the effort needed to execute this ballet. With its fast pace and non-stop choreography, the dancers were required to be on stage for the ballet’s duration. And Orff’s music, minus the excised numbers, lasts well over 40 minutes.
The choreography is tiring, requiring stores of energy for the dancers, and this taxed the BP dancers. The boys were particularly exhausted by the ballet’s demands, which wasn’t surprising considering that this isn’t a classical ballet.
When your attention wanders away from the dancing to the music, you are amazed at the deft handling by PPO musical director designate Eugene Castillo of the mammoth forces needed to mount Orff’s cantata. The cramped pit area constricted the orchestra’s sound, exposing weaknesses in the conducting. Castillo had problems in shading the cantata’s textures.
The same was true of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, the accompanying music to Michael Vernon’s neo-classical Opus 25, which dates from 1992. Prokofiev’s symphony requires elegance, genteel music making and a touch of magic to make it work. Castillo achieved all these except for the last touch of color. Often the music was wan and anemic, colorless and routine.
The same could not be said of Vernon’s choreography, which was the epitome of grace and poise. The BP dancers did not have any difficulty adopting the right attitudes to execute this dance, although their plastered-on smiles could get a bit tiring.
Premiering during the Icons concerts was Tony Fabella’s Bahay Kubo Atbp. Unlike Fabella’s award-winning Tambol at Padyak, this ballet is a more comic routine than dance, using Filipino folk songs for its score.
All in all, Icons showed that with enough logistics, it is possible to offer productions that explore the range of Filipino in programs that challenge them to the hilt. If only more companies would be willing to offer demanding programs for their audience.