Ballet for all Filipinas

On July 7, the Philippine Ballet Theatre (PBT) opens its season’s productions with Romeo and Juliet at the CCP Main Theater, as directed by ballet icon Maniya Barredo, featuring her own protegés from the United States, David Kiyak and Naomi Hergott.

Maniya herself danced as Juliet in the first staging of this production choreographed by Tom Pazik. This time she comes home from her years of residency with the Atlanta Ballet to direct the famous Balcony Scene production.  

Only three other playdates are scheduled, from July 8 to 10, with performances starting at 8 p.m. except for that on the last day, which is at 3 p.m. Filipino ballet tandems Lenmuel Capa and Joanie Galeste, as well as Lobreza Pimentel and Peter San Juan, dance scholars of Sayaw Foundation, will also essay the lead roles together and in combination with the visiting dance artists.

The premiere night will have the sole distinction of having an orchestra playing live, under the distinguished baton of   Gerard Salonga, who happens to be a first cousin of Maniya’s. All other performances will have to rely on taped music. And there is a simple reason for that: budgetary constraints. 

This has become not so much a cause for concern for PBT’s new president Cha-cha Camacho, but simply a cause, something to advocate spiritedly so as to keep alive the finest levels of Philippine ballet. After all, it’s a storied company she now heads.

“More than the best performances and productions of the Philippine Ballet Theatre (PBT),” Cha-cha says, “I believe that our biggest achievements are: first, the development of the character of our dancers, and second, the opportunity that we give to young kids to learn and appreciate the art of ballet dancing.

PBT may be said to have had its beginnings 43 years ago with three gifted and passionate young dancers, Felicitas “Tita” Radaic, Eddie Elejar and Julie Borromeo, who banded together to form Dance Theatre Philippines — now considered the mother company of what has become the present-day Philippine Ballet Theatre, which its founders call a “Child of EDSA 1.”

During Imelda Marcos’s heyday, only one ballet company enjoyed the support of the powers-that-be: the CCP Dance Company. All the others had to struggle, with few remaining viable, such as Dance Theatre Philippines, thanks to the determined efforts of Tita Radaic. She revived Dance Theatre in 1973 after it had folded up two years earlier. And she kept it alive for the next 18 years, producing dancers who became scholars in the most prestigious schools in Europe, including the Royal Ballet School in London and the Kirov School in what used to be Leningrad.

Prima ballerina Maniya Barredo with Nicolas Pacana in the original production of Romeo and Juliet. Now she’s back to direct the exact same choreography done specifically for her in the 1990s by the celebrated American choreographer Tom Pazik.

Three other ballet companies served as predecessors and eventually helped birth Philippine Ballet Theatre. One was Inday Gaston-Mañosa’s Hariraya Ballet Company, which produced many of the country’s finest dance artists and teachers today, including Maniya Barredo. Another was Vella Damian’s and Eric Cruz’s Dance Concert Company, known for its dramatic ballets and strong dancers. And the third was Eddie Elejar’s and Tony Fabella’s Manila Metropolis Ballet, led by the two gifted choreographers. Together with DTP, these ballet companies consolidated into the PBT.

Soon after the EDSA People Power Revolution, these companies that had been ignored or neglected began to clamor for recognition. After countless consultations, the CCP proposed that all groups outside of CCP Dance Company should form just one company. Thus was the PBT formed. To its, credit, the CCP has kept its promise of support, and the Philippine Ballet Theatre is now its resident classical company.

The 1990s saw a very active Board of Trustees led by O.V. Espiritu as chairman and Gloria Angara as president. The company boasted of an excellent crop of talented and motivated dancers, such that the Balanchine Foundation granted permission for the company to stage four of the ballets of George Balanchine, one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century. Robert Barnett of the Atlanta Ballet was even sent to Manila by the foundation to gauge the capabilities of the company prior to the grant of approval for the performance of the Balanchine ballets.

This was also the time when the celebrated American choreographer Tom Pazik staged his own version of Romeo and Juliet, to the music of Prokofief, specifically for prima ballerina Maniya Barredo, as well as Madame Butterfly (music by Puccini), which was specially choreographed for another Philippine prima ballerina, Maqui Manosa.

Also showcased were the works of Filipino choreographers such as Tony Fabella, Eddie Elejar and Gener Caringal, eventually joined by Radaic and Borromeo.

Philippine Ballet Theater’s new set of officers for the year 2011. Seated, (from left) Triccie Sison (vice-chair), Chingbee Kalaw (chair), Dr. Raul Sunico (CCP president), Cha-cha Camacho (PBT president), and Sylvia Lichauco-de Leon (trustee). (Standing, from left) Ron Jaynario (artistic director), Marilou Magsaysay (trustee), Marie O’Connor (trustee), Julie Borromeo (artistic council), Marichu Nepomuceno (treasurer), Malen Claravall (artistic council), Mars Lambino (secretary), Yoli Ayson (trustee), Anatoly Panasyukov (Russian ballet master), Eddie Elejar (artistic council and trustee), and Atty. Randy Perez Jr. (legal counsel). Not in the picture are trustees Carol Sy, Mila Santos, Shirley Halili-Cruz, Gener Caringal, Vicky Magadia, Anna York Bondoc, Noemi Estrella-Casiño and Sol Tan Gatue.

Today, PBT’s primary mission remains the same: to deliver classical ballet theatre to the Filipino audience and develop their appreciation of this art form. No doubt PBT promotes Philippine heritage, literature and oral tradition through its dance interpretations, among its original ones being Bonifacio, Mir-I-Nisa, Darangen ni Bantugen and Mantones, among others. PBT has produced yet another world-class ballerina in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.

A common notion is that ballet is an elite dance form, catering only to the upper class, and that learning ballet is a luxury. According to Ms. Camacho, these and other local misconceptions have prevented local ballet from reaching the stature it enjoys in Europe and other parts of the world.

Contrary to the “elite” tag, PBT has consistently brought ballet closer to the common people through several outreach programs. PBT’s Cultural Outreach in Education (CORE) is a series of lectures and demonstrations done in the provinces, giving free ballet classes to public school students. CORE also partners with Sayaw Foundation, PBT’s decade-old support team. In addition to bringing ballet closer to the people, CORE also hopes to discover good ballet dancers from the provinces.

In Metro Manila, PBT conducts free ballet classes in Mandaluyong and Las Piñas in cooperation with the respective local city governments. round 100 public school students per city get a chance to attend free ballet classes with the best teachers and choreographers in the Philippines. Aside from the free classes, the kids are also given free ballet shoes and outfits. The classes are conducted on weekends and the students are expected to attend every session. PBT enforces strict rules on attendance as its way of instilling proper discipline among aspiring ballerinas.

One successful product of PBT’s outreach program is Lobreza Pimentel. “Loby” joined the free ballet classes when she was ten years old, and has shown commendable passion and discipline. She trained for several years until she gained notice from PBT. Today, Pimentel is already one of the three soloists of PBT, and continues to make a name for herself in the ballet scene.

PBT hopes to find more Lobreza Pimentels through their outreach programs. Cha-cha Camacho says that it is students like her who prove that with sheer passion and discipline, ballet does transcend social classes. 

We can all watch Loby perform in Romeo and Juliet. On September 15 to 18, PBT gives us Cinderella, and from November 17 to 20, Nutcracker Ballet Suite.

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Tickets for Romeo and Juliet can be purchased through CCP Ticketworld at 891-5610 or at the Philippines Ballet Theatre Office: 632-8848.