Lisa Macuja-Elizalde gets 60-piece orchestra for 60th birthday
MANILA, Philippines — Ballet Manila, the dance company of Prima Ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, recently wrapped up its world premiere of its new original ballet, “Florante at Laura,” in Elizalde’s Aliw Theater in Pasay City.
Since the world premiere was held close to Macuja-Elizalde’s 60th birthday last October 3, the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth presented with a 60-piece live orchestra to match Lisa’s age.
The live orchestra performed under the baton of Toma Cayabyab, son of National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, for the “Florante at Laura” world premiere on October 12, 13 and 19.
“My 60th birthday wish is that the Filipino audience and even the international audience will come and watch ‘Florante at Laura’ in Aliw Theater and be transported to a new world than the world of Francisco Balagtas and come to the ballet, like the ballet, like what they see, and come again and again to the ballet,” Macuja-Elizalde, Ballet Manila's Creative Director, shared in an exclusive interview with Philstar.com.
Macuja-Elizalde vowed to restage “Florante at Laura” again and again to show the fresh choreography by Gerardo Francisco, who also choreographed the ballet company’s award-winning “Ibong Adarna;” and British choreographer Martin Lawrance, who is behind Ballet Manila’s full length innovative retelling of “Romeo and Juliet” in the Filipino setting.
Breathing life into the production is the original score of Ryan Cayabyab, who for Macuja-Elizalde, is “a Filipino Tchaikovsky — sweeping, dramatic, powerful, and romantic.”
“I was so very thrilled when National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab said yes!” shared Lisa in a statement.
“It had been quite some time since I wrote a large musical work,” said Cayabyab, “Everything is a surprise and wonder for me. I challenged myself into accepting this landmark ballet production, and I hope that it becomes an important legacy for all of us involved in it.” — Video by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo; video editing by Anjilica Andaya
