The Amazing Fe Sala-Villarica!

Staging a live performance is an extremely taxing feat, physically and mentally. The multifarious aspects of production that demand keen attention can itself alone already boggle the mind. And there’s the infinite stretch of patience and tact needed in dealing with all the people involved in the endeavor – from the performers to the backstage and technical crews and the various other support groups.

The meticulous attention to details required for seeing to it that all production elements are going right and ready on time may seem like a superhuman trait and, thus, very hard to come by. That is why directors are often regarded with awe and amazement. They belong to the special breed that dares to do the tasks that overwhelm ordinary mortals.

I know from my own experience that directing, be it film, television or live theatre production, is a damning job. Moreso live theatre, since here there are no second takes and the performance takes a life of its own once the curtains go up. The only possible control that remains with the director is in how he or she handles herself in reaction to what happens on her stage. 

Directing live theatre is definitely not for the weak- or half-hearted. The task calls for a burning passion that never flickers; thus, the job can tire both body and soul. Anyone who survives is an artist par excellence — like Fe Sala-Villarica!

Madame Fe has been consistently nurturing and promoting the art of classical dance for well over half a century now. Her Balletcenter in Cebu preceded Manila’s pioneering Ballet Philippines by almost 20 years. She regularly presents ballet performances, always to a full house that reverberates with thundering applause.

People in their 70s or 80s are lucky enough to be still around, even if they could no longer get up from bed or, at least, get up from bed on their own. Madame Fe is different. This special lady not only gets up from bed on her own, it looks like she gets up from bed every morning without any difficulty at all. And she’s approaching her 90s!

Of course, for one who manages to direct a ballet production of the scale of The Sleeping Beauty, with all the dancing and a multitude of a cast that includes little children, simply moving around is never a problem for sure. She has the drive of a teenager, and the discipline that teenagers don’t have. Self-control (in physical terms, at least) is one of the practical benefits of a ballet training.

Fe Sala-Villarica is an embodiment of the values of her lifelong advocacy. The lady is beautiful, both as a person and as an artist. Such description, though, is restrained by the limited scope of my own vocabulary. I am careful, as well, not to use a superlative word; for fear that it might seem like plain puff.

If only I were better with words, I could probably be more apt in my description of the lady. Yet, perhaps I could say amazing without risk of being construed as exaggerating. Amazing is what I honestly think she is.

And since a work of art is a reflection of its creator, I say that her The Sleeping Beauty presentation recently at the Onstage of Ayala Center–Cebu was just that, too — amazing. I watched it three times during its two-weekend run and am still eager to go yet another time, if there’s a re-run. A show by Fe Sala-Villarica is always a guaranteed treat.

I’m sure that, like the rest of us, her life has had its bumps and tumbles. But those couldn’t bring this one special lady down to her knees. Always, she stands on her feet – always poised and graceful like the true prima ballerina that she is. 

It’s the degree of difficulty that one is able to hurdle that defines the range of her achievement. Whether on the performance stage or in life at large. Madame Fe has done very well in both realms, no doubt. Amazing, indeed.

Brava, Fe Sala-Villarica!

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