The Company We Keep

Washington DC, 1969: The apartment unit that I rented with three other girls was located on F Street, in the heart of George Washington University. It had one permanent fixture: exposed water pipes. We loved it.

The pipes stuck out a few inches from the wall, perfect as a makeshift ballet barre.

Every night, after dinner, we’d form a single file and start our ballet exercises. “Plies, ladies,” said my friend Lirio. 

“Stretch, stretch those muscles,” another cried. 

Music wafted through the room and I struggled to rest my hand lightly on the barre – for balance – while keeping my elbows relaxed. Plies trained the body in shape and placement. We also practiced the five ballet positions, feeling grand as we conjured images of the pas de quatre, the small swans from “Swan Lake.”  But alas, with no formal lessons in ballet, my demi plies were no better than my grand plies. I could not see myself in pointe shoes, much less performing on stage.

Washington DC, 1986: A young Filipina, Toni Lopez Gonzalez, was reaping honors in the world of ballet as principal dancer of Washington Ballet. I watched her in the lead role of Aldonza from the “Don Quixote Suite” and my heart soared. She was a beauty in motion, proof of the years of dedication and discipline required to be one of the best interpreters of ballet’s heart-soaring classics. 

CCP Main Theater, 2008: I bumped into a long-lost cousin, Sony Lopez-Gonzalez, and she exclaimed, “O pinsan, how have you been? I didn’t realize you like ballet?” 

Sony is the mother of Toni, the ballerina who moved my heart some two decades ago. Both have had an incredible passion for ballet that had been nurtured through years of dancing, teaching and networking.  Toni’s accomplishments in ballet could fill a journal, backed by performance reviews and competition results.

Today, Toni is called “Teacher Toni” or “Ma’am Toni.” Instead of pointe shoes, she wears flat ballet shoes. She walks with a lilt as she wields a little baton topped by a pink satin ribbon. Little girls follow her across the mirrored room like the Pied Piper. When she stops, they stop and when she wiggles her toes, they do so too.

“Girls,” Toni announces, “I am going to execute a ballet position and the first one who tells me what it is, gets a prize!” The girls cheer and quickly plop on the floor.   

Toni raises her arms to imitate rolling, cottony clouds, and then she lowers her head to gaze at her toes. “Teacher, teacher,” a little girl hollers. “That’s the third position!” Toni ceremoniously points a sinewy finger at her and exclaims, “You’re right! Go to the treasure chest and pick anything you like.”

Toni explains, “I like to energize my students at the start of the class and the best way to do that is to play games.” 

With the girls all revved up, they head to the barre for their stretching exercises. Music wafts through the room and soon, these little “chickadees” will be moving like graceful swans. 

No matter what age group she’s coaching, Toni likes to focus on what her students can draw from within.  Toni says, “I take care of teaching them the required techniques that will bring out their strength and grace. The confidence comes when they are comfortable with what they can execute on stage, a result of the many hours they’ve rehearsed and practiced.”

“Ballet is a life-long passion,” Toni says.  “In my case, it passed from generation to generation, a zeal that my mother Sony somehow instilled in our genes.” (Sony was also a ballet dancer but she was banned from performing publicly by her ultra-conservative father, so she turned to teaching instead). Toni further drew inspiration from the best choreographers and directors that she trained under.    

“Now it’s my turn,” says Toni. “If I can bring my students (and her young daughter Marianna) to experience what I did in the hands of these talented artists, I would.”

And she did. 

With six of her promising dancers – Monica Lorenzo, Camille Camagun, Monica Gana, Jan Sy, Carissa Estrada and Jessica Sy – Toni flew to New York where she arranged for them to take one class a day at the American Ballet Theater (ABT), the Broadway Dance Center, the School at STEPS and the Ballet Arts School under the best teachers that included Toni’s former instructors Kirk Peterson, Finis Jhung, Lisa Lockwood, Dawn Hillen and Natalya Stavro.

Sony tagged along, literally playing the den mother. “It was a rare chance for these girls to be given special lessons by these artists,” says Sony. 

“Even if you have the means to pay and you have connections, you cannot just enroll at ABT. You have to audition for a slot in class which is limited only to about 20 students,” explains Toni.   

Being in New York was like re-living Toni’s life as a ballet student, except her young “ballerinas” were getting the bonus of having Toni’s experience behind them. This was total immersion. Toni’s students experienced – first hand – how it was like to catch the bus, take the subway, take long walks and commute daily from the ballet school to their hotel, not to mention the long, grueling hours practicing at the studio. Of course, there was the bonus of feeling like a “NYCG” (New York City Girl), even temporarily. 

“Ballet can give you lessons that you carry throughout your life. Lessons in total commitment, perseverance and generosity in spirit,” says Toni. 

Toni gave these moments to her students to allow them to savor the thrill of being in the company of masters of their craft. They were the perfect models of strength of character and dedication.    

And, like Teacher Toni, the love for art will go on even after the curtains go down.