Flying...With Or Without Wings

What do angels do in heaven all day? Play the harp or the lyre and sing heavenly hymns? Float around on gossamer wings frolicking in bliss and splendor?

Well...not quite. At least, that’s not how junior angel Mikey spends his time. rather, he occupies himself with mischief and pranks, behavior which has so far kept from from literally earning his wings as a full-fledged angel.

Mikey’s foolish pranks one day brings him to the edge of the clouds and sends him tumbling down to earth, a place where people have no wings. Mikey crash lands in–of all places–Metro Manila. Undampened by his fall and still ever curious, Mikey explores his new environment, meeting a series of humans who each teach him valuable lessons that he would otherwise not have learned in the heavenly realms.

Mikey’s adventures form the core of Ballet Philippines’ new Christmas presentation, "An Angel Earns His Wings" which opens at the Cultural Center Main Theater on Saturday, December 3 and runs all the way to December 18, with evening and matinee performances.

Although there are no Sugar Plum Fairies or dancing flowers, "An Angel Earns His Wings" is a happy children’s story. Mikey is smitten by a young schoolgirl, Mikaela, who unfortunately shows no interest in him at all. A crippled child crosses Mikey’s path, but he is too busy with other things and ignores him.

He next runs into a frolicking bunch at the beach–Boracay, no less!–who leave him high but not quite dry when a downpour spoils their fun.

For the first time in his not-so-ethereal life, Mikey is faced with abandonment and loneliness, with a heart hurt by unkindness. He feels all these emotions that he had not known before, and when the crippled child reappears, Mikey looks upon him with a different attitude–with compassion and caring and love. Mikey reaches out to him and offers him the chance to be whole, to walk without crutches.

All in heaven rejoice at this little miracle that Mikey has done. The angels come flying down to earth as Mikey gets what he had been longing for–wings. The story ends with Mikey joining all the host of angels soaring back to heaven.

Ballet Philippines artistic director Bam Damian had been mull-ing over a new ballet for children for several years, even when he was still living and dancing in Europe. Looking through piles of children’s stories he realized that they all had two things in common–the presence of an antagonist or evil force in the form of a witch or an ogre or an evil stepmother or some other malevolent figure, and the presence of death or a semblance of death, usually of one of the central characters representing the good element.

Bam wanted a new reality for his story and, since he couldn’t find one, he decided to write his own libretto for a new ballet. Almost five years after this idea took root, Bam is ready to present his story in a lively, animated and fun full-length ballet.

Bam, in his second Christmas as artistic director of Ballet Philippines, multi-tasks here, doing not just the original story but also the choreography and costume design. Faced with the reality of the dearth of funding for the arts in this country, Bam has become the master of stretching the budget and turning nothing into something.

Fortunately, he–and the company–has a lot of friends who are only too willing and happy to help. The sets were designed by Tats Manahan, who convinced Grace Katigbak to paint the heavenly tableau. Diva Celeste Legaspi is making a special appearance on gala night to sing the National Anthem, a welcome departure from the usual canned version played at the start of every performance. Other musical artists have signed up for "Lupang Hinirang" duties for other performances, as well as for narration duty for matinee shows, many of which have been block sold to schools.

"We at Ballet Philippines are really fortunate to have very supportive and very talented partners helping us with all aspects of the show," says Bam. For this production, the artists of advertising giant Ace Saatchi have let their talent take wing in a series of drawings and photographs for posters, flyers and the souvenir program artwork. Angels trying to fly using balloons and firecracker rockets, Mikey crash landing head first into a row of hedges and other whimsical and outright hilarious interpretations of "an angel trying to earn his wings" will be on exhibit at the CCP Main Lobby for the duration of performances.

The company’s artists take to the stage in full force, from principals to apprentices. Alternating in the title role of angel-to-be Mikey are Michael Divinagracia and Jayson Pescasio, Mikaela Padilla Mascariñas dances the role of love interest Mikaela, while the crippled child features Cyril Fallar alternating with Fred Fernandez.

It is always a delight for audiences to watch a new production, especially one that promises a lot of fun and a happy ending–and no evil ogre or dying princess. Although the financial demands are staggering for an arts company, Ballet Philippines continues to take the bold step of going with a new show for Christmas rather than sticking to tried and tested bestsellers, and must be commended for doing so.

Ballet Philippines’ season is supported by generous grants from Philip Morris and the Essenses Foundation.

An Angel Earns His Wings goes on stage at the CCP Main Theater from December 3 to 18. For show times and ticket information, call Ballet Philippines at tel 551-1003 or 832-6011.