A ballet company’s lifeblood lies in its corps of dancers. Unless it has strong talented dancers who are skillful in their performances, no amount of hype can convince the public to come to their shows and watch them dance. They must be able to dazzle the public, showing them not only something new, but also consistent presentations of ballet classics.
For the past 20 years, Ballet Manila (BM) has garnered acclaim for building an audience for ballet. Its active program to bring in students to the theater to learn an appreciation of dance has made it one of the more important dance companies in the country. Not only has it been staging classic ballets with regularity, but it has also introduced a number of new works, making it a truly versatile dance group. This equation is a win-win situation, where both company and audience benefit in the long run. It nurtures a new audience for ballet that sustains its continued existence.
The strength of BM dancers to perform demanding classical roles, as well as contemporary pieces, lies in its adoption of the Russian Vaganova method of instruction, which puts importance on daily exercises to strengthen the bodies of dancers. It is said that this method is the reason a number of prima ballerinas from Russia continue to perform actively even after their contemporaries have retired. BM Artistic Director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, its main proponent in the Philippines, is a perfect example of the longevity ascribed to the Vaganova method. She was dancing actively for her dance company until last year, when she retired from performances due to the cumulative effects of physical injuries sustained in her years of dancing.
The past 20 years had been a busy one for BM. In fact, when it concluded its 2014-2015 season at the end of February this year, it counted itself as one of the strongest ballet companies in the country.
At the end of the season, it had a corps of dancers larger than in other companies: 50 dancers in total. In fact, it boasts of 25 male dancers, a situation that has been taken advantage of by the choreographers the company has commissioned for works in the past years.
For its finale, BM 2.0, the 20th Anniversary Concert, it tapped Belgian-Colombian choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa with her first dance piece for an Asian company. “Bloom” uses to the full BM’s corps of danseurs in an awe-inspiring piece that is both visually stunning and thought-provoking. It calls for 20 male and five female dancers in a work that is both ritualistic and hypnotic. In a nutshell, Bloom is about the dependence of men on women to sustain them. Throughout its 30-minute duration, male dancers come and go onstage in various poses of supplication as they wait for the attention of women. Men who are successful in their quest are not just revered by the crowd, but are objects of envy, resulting in continuous clashes to gain possession of their women. But it is not the objectification of women that it is at the heart of this piece, but the strength women possess to be desired this much. In the final tableau before the lights fade out, a lone female dancer basks in the adoration of men, showered by rose petals, signifying her desirability, her fertility and her capacity to propagate the species. All this action transpires to the entrancing violin concerto of Philip Glass, whose music has often been set to dance because of its rhythmic character.
During the gala night, the central duet was performed by the powerful pairing of Dawna Reign Mangahas and Mark Sumaylo, while the roles of supporting couples were taken by Tiffany Chiang, Naomi Jaena, Joan Emery Sia, Jessa Balote, Gerardo Francisco, Michael Divinagracia, Romeo Peralta and Rudy de Dios. It was a performance that succeeded due to the strong dancing of the ensemble.
Through the years, BM has seen many of its members going abroad to dance for foreign companies. One of its more successful graduates is ballerina Christine Rocas, who has been dancing for the Joffrey Ballet for the past decade, after winning silver in the 2004 New York Ballet Competition. Her participation in the season finale gave Manila ballet aficionados a chance to enjoy her dancing. Partnered by Rory Hohenstein, also from Joffrey Ballet, Rocas showed her maturity as an artist. Her two numbers showed two distinct characters, a strong Juliet in the Balcony Scene from Krzysztof Pastor’s version of Romeo and Juliet, and sensual in Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain.
Rocas’s Juliet was a young girl experiencing love for the first time, and there was a sense of delicacy and earnestness in the way she pushed and pulled her Romeo away. Yet, her Juliet was not the innocent we have always associated this character to be. Hers was a street-smart Juliet, wise to the ways of the world, too.
On the other hand, After the Rain is nonstop fluid movement, finding the couple during and after love’s embrace. You appreciate how supple Rocas was in this piece, limber and flexible as she rolled on the floor from one embrace to another like a pretzel. This woman is a strong one, secure in her emotions, someone who delights in sensual pleasures with her lover.
Hohenstein matched Rocas marvelously, allowing his partner to shine brightest, as it was her return to Manila in quite a while. The rest of the evening presented highlights from the BM repertoire, which showed off the abilities of its dancers. Gerardo Francisco’s Tara Let’s is a short, fun pop piece that has been enlarged to fit the whole company. The excerpt from Paquita, which opened the evening, underscored the company’s classical training. It featured Abigail Oliveiro and Brian Williamson in the leads.
The show was capped by Osias Barroso’s Ecole, a choreographic number that utilizes the basic lessons in a ballet class as springboard to a full presentation. Since it was first performed in 1999, it has been a staple in BM’s programs to show off the abilities of its students. At its end, all members of the company find themselves onstage in a grand finale reminiscent of a Balanchine ballet. It was the perfect way to cap 20 years in Ballet Manila’s history.
