RUSSIAN BALLET IN THE PHILIPPINE DANCE MILIEU
By Pablo A. Tariman
When the curtain rises July 10 for the performances of the Stars of Russian Ballet at Aliw Theater, another dance cycle will have been completed involving both Filipino and Russian dancers on one hand and Filipino dance audiences, on the other.
There is a lot to look forward in this coming production produced in collaboration with Kantor Pos. For one, the coming dance event also headlines top dancers from the most prestigious ballet companies of Moscow, St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Manila.
But if there is one who can represent the country’s Russian connection, it would be no other than Lisa Macuja Elizalde who is the first foreign soloist of the Kirov Ballet and who is the epitome of Russian training. Notably the Vaganova method.
“It is simply hard to beat more than 250 years of tradition in classical ballet handed down from one generation of Russian artists to the next,” Lisa pointed out. “This gala will not only be first-class ballet treat, but I believe it will reveal to Manila audiences how global our own standards of dancing are in the local arts scene. It is a wonderful opportunity to see these artists perform here in Manila and not have to go abroad to enjoy international star-studded dance concerts like this one.”
At the helm of this big dance production is the Society for Cultural Enrichment Inc. (SCEI) headed by Consul Helen Ong. “Ballet Manila is very proud to have the SCEI as our partner in this very important event especially as it is their first fundraising activity,” announced Macuja-Elizalde who is also Ballet Manila’s artistic director. “We share a common vision for the improvement of cultural literacy and the enhancement of arts appreciation, especially among our youth.”
Some 87 years ago in 1915, according to dance chronicler Reynaldo G. Alejandro, the first performance in the Philippines of Paul Nijinsky (not related to Vaslav Nijinsky) of the Imperial Russian Ballet was held for the benefit of the Belgian Red Cross. The venue was the old Manila Hotel Roof Garden and the repertoire included Greek, Egyptian, ancient and new classical dances. According to Alejandro, costumes were done by Leon Bakst and most of the dances were performed barefooted.
This revelation is of course a gem from the past for the history-conscious balletomane. Bakst is a name directly linked with Sergei Diaghilev who launched Vaslav Nijinsky’s career which created an unmatched sensation at the turn of the century, the same period that fanatic dance historians would like to refer to as the “golden age of dance.”
As if this revelation were not enough, dance chronicler Alejandro (who used to dance and choreograph) also wrote that one of the greatest ballerinas of all time, Anna Pavlova, also danced at the original Manila Grand Opera House in 1922, some two years before she announced her retirement. (This is a discovery I couldn’t believe until Mr. Alejandro asserted he had in fact a slide of the souvenir program of Pavlova’s Manila engagement.)
Dame Margot Fonteyn in her book, “The Magic of Dance, “described Pavlova as a “unique phenomenon, without explanation, like the evening star or the Chinese flower that blooms only once in a hundred years.”
If early and current accounts are to be believed, local dancers were at one time or another inspired by Russian dancers.
The late National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquingco admitted to me she fell in love with dance at the age of 12 when she saw a Russian dancer named Olga Dontsoff perform in Bacolod. Mrs. Goquingco, whose accomplishment as a choreographer is a near legend in this country, did not even foresee that many years after her first glimpse of a Russian ballerina, she herself would be the object of generous praises from Russian artists.
After her Filipinescas’ stint in Russia, even Russian ballerinas cheered her. Ludmilla Filina, prima ballerina of the Leningrad State Ballet, lauded the dance company’s “high artistic quality.”
Another outstanding Filipino figure in dance also in awe of Russian artists was Maniya Barredo, who had a triumphant reign as prima ballerina of Atlanta Ballet in the United States. Maniya who was part of that Stars of World Ballet organized by Dame Margot Fonteyn once intimated to me she couldn’t help watching from the wings each time Maya Plisetskaya was about to enter the stage and dance. From the wings, and watching Plisetskaya unfold her magic, Maniya said she didn’t hope to catch up with Plisetskaya’s art. “Plisetskaya is all magic. She is very human in her approach to ballet. I will never do the Dying Swan after I saw her do it.”
The dance intercourse between Russian and Filipino artists and balletomanes is indeed astounding considering the fact that this country has no tradition to speak of insofar as ballet is concerned.
While the Philippines is indeed not a part of the early sanctuaries of ballet, it is a source of cultural pride that Manila has seen a part of the Russian Imperial Ballet, that it had seen the legend that was Anna Pavlova and had witnessed for the first time the early 80s the great Maya Plisetskaya.
When the Russian dancers finally share the stage July 10 with Macuja-Elizalde’s Ballet Manila, one can derive divine inspiration from the fact that Anna Pavlova was once here 60 years ago although in another theatre.
For once, Manila will once again witness the best of ballet from the new generation of dancers that include Jurgita Dronina, principal dancer of the Swedish Royal Ballet and Dutch National Ballet paired with David Galstyan, soloist of the Ballet du Capitole Toulouse, for the Le Corsaire pas de deux and Don Quixote pas de deux; Yana Selina and Maxim Zyusin, soloists of the Marinsky Ballet in the Blue Bird pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty and the Giselle pas de deux; Viktoriya Ananyan and Alexander Zhembrovskyy, soloists of the Dutch National Ballet, featured in two contemporary choreographies; Marina Mishina and Dmitry Zagrebin, soloists of the Bolshoi Ballet in the Flames of Paris pas de deux and the La Fille Mal Gardee pas de deux; and Yelizaveta Cheprasova and Filipp Stepin, soloists of the Marinsky Ballet, for the Corsaire pas de’Esclave and Balanchine’sTarantella.
Macuja-Elizalde, together with Ballet Manila, will also perform several numbers from their repertoire: Tony Fabella’s Dancing to Czerny, and Bam Damian’s contemporary pieces Rebel and Reconfigured.
When that July 10 dance event unfolds, it will confirm the observation that Manila is also a city where you see the world’s greatest artists perform.
(For a rare evening of ballet at its finest, get your tickets to Today’s Stars of the Russian Ballet with Ballet Manila from Ticketworld at 891-9999 or www.ticketworld.com.ph, or through Ballet Manila at 400-0292, 525-5967 or e-mail info@balletmanila.ph. Proceeds from this one night performance will benefit SCEI’s programs for the improvement of culture and arts teaching in the Philippines.)
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