Pepe's Secret Christmas

CEBU, Philippines - Ever seen a pig twirl and dip in a tender love dance with a farm goat? Or a beer-bellied carabao doing the Gangnam?

This and other storybook fantasies came to life in Steps Dance Project's Yuletide ballet production "Pepe's Secret Christmas," an all-original Filipino musical which kicked off Ayala Center Cebu's "Wrapped in Love" series of holiday events.

Two back-to-back performances were staged last December 1st at The Terraces, but a day before that, Steps Dance Project director Sofia Zobel Elizalde related in a press conference the inspiration behind the concept. As a kid, Elizalde had always been captivated by the animal illustrations of Beatrix Potter, a British classical author most famous for her children's book Tale of Peter Rabbit. She thought it would be nice to create something similar, but in a Filipino setting.

"Then we thought we wanted to make it a Christmas theme for the whole family to enjoy for free. If we wanted the quick way, it's just easy for us to adapt another Western play, but we wanted to support Filipino talent and come up with something original," said Elizalde, who founded Steps Dance Studio in 1994 which has since become known for producing fun and customized dance concerts.

The plot of "Pepe's Secret Christmas" is simple: it is the last day of the Misa de Gallo and little Pepe finds himself falling asleep at Mass. After admonitions from his Nanay to sit up and pay attention, he is suddenly transported to an enchanted hidden world where farm and forest creatures speak, sing, dance and dress like people --- a Filipino Never-Neverland! Turns out, animals also celebrate Christmas and have their own way of saluting the Niño.

It is set during the country's Commonwealth Period (1920s-1940s), a time in our history that the musical's production and costume designer Gino Gonzalez described as an "Age of Innocence" or a "gentle era."

Front and center was a blown-up canvas of a countryside landscape by Romeo Galicano, setting off the locale where Pepe's 45-minute story unfolds.

Pepe is played by charming 12-year-old Lope Tobias Lim (his dream is to become a professional modern jazz dancer and is currently training in ballet, jazz and modern dance), and we bet a few kids in the audience were inspired to learn ballet after applauding his pirouettes.

During Pepe's journey to Never-Neverland, he would meet many animals (portrayed by top scholars of Steps Scholarship Foundation) garbed in traditional Filipino attire who would showcase their dancing skills and teach him a lesson or two: there's Kulas Kalabaw, Totong Tandang, Inday Inahin, Karding Kanding, Pepita Pusa, Asiong Askal, Matinik na mga Matsing, and the three blind mice who would all come together for a Christmas bayle.

Forest creatures also joined in the revelry. Out came the voluptuous Dahong Palay (green snake) and the colorful Alitaptap (fireflies). Last to make a graceful entrance was the regal Tikling (heron) who gave nod to a Visayan classic by dancing to "Usahay."

Director James Laforteza and his associate choreographers Jeffrey Espejo and Jun Saagundo created a mix of kundiman, tribal-inspired and contemporary music, with one original Tagalog composition thrown in.

But it was all about the dancing, and Steps showcased what they're best known for, which is classical ballet, modern and jazz dances. And just for fun, Kulas Kalabaw would indulge Pepe with a five-second "Gangnam Style" move.  

It might have been a Christmas production, but the underlying message of "Pepe's Secret Christmas" for young and adult audiences alike was something we should be reminded of whatever time of the year. That is, kindness and respect for all living things, not only to people, but to our environment as well. Pepe's new-found friends taught its viewers that what we thought were warring animals can find it in themselves to be harmonious too, and that whatever humans do will affect these creatures' way of life.

Floy Quintos wrote the story, Katsch Catoy was lighting and technical director, music arranger was Jeff Arcilla, while Mountain Rock Productions crafted the realistic masks from Gonzales' designs.

For majority of Filipino audiences, ballet is still regarded as a high-brow form of entertainment that only the stiff and uppity seem to enjoy. Bringing the graceful art to a mall setting for free is slowly helping dispel that notion, said Elizalde.

"I think that false notion stems from the fact that it's mostly performed in theaters. With what we're doing, we are bringing theater to the malls. But we still make sure to give top-quality performances even if it's outside the theater."

Elizalde and the people behind Steps are hopeful that more Filipinos will learn to appreciate the dance and that it becomes an annual holiday tradition for the malls.

"We'll be glad if this will be a yearly partnership with Ayala, because it is a perfect gift we can give to the Cebuano audience," she said. (FREEMAN)