Jay Valencia-Glorioso: Never stop

MANILA, Philippines - It was a defining moment in the life of the high school dance student at St. Theresa’s College, Jay Valencia.

“Tita Radaic had choreographed Penumbra, a particular dance through the (modern) Martha Graham technique,” she recalls. “There was something about the music that was very, very soulful. So at that particular moment I could not contain this feeling, parang it was pouring out. So much passion, so much soul to give. I felt it throughout my theater guild. That was the beginning…”

And she went on to become not just a dancer but a trained singer (mezzo), actress, campus journalist (still with ties to the College Editors Guild), student activist, wife (married to the banker Senen Glorioso), mother, grandmother of two, voice teacher, and executive director of her own agency MusicArtes, Inc.

And, incidentally, she has just won an Aliw Award for her role as Dawn Zulueta’s imperious mother in the play A Little Night Music.

“Why ang artistang Pilipino maraming soul? Why so much passion?” She asks, and she answers the question: “Maybe it’s because of our legacy, our heritage from Spain (she has a Spanish great-grandfather), we were colonized, we fought and all that. With me, it’s genes from my mother.”

Their father Artemio Valencia was a realtor but their mother Nena Garong-Valencia (both from Oriental Mindoro) was a pianist and singer. And all the nine Valencia children (six boys and three girls) took after their mother. A sister of Jay, Sonia, is a well-known pianist, teacher and actress. The youngest sibling, Teresa Brossner, married to a German, sings abroad.

Jay may be a veteran of musical theater and the legitimate stage, but you can count on your fingers the movies she has made. “I once appeared with Tommy Abuel and Gina Alajar,” she recalls. “I forgot the title. Pangarap something. I played the sister of Gina.” The movie is sometimes re-shown on TV and she gets a kick when friends tell her they saw her in it.

Other movies were a French production shot here in the Philippines, and a film by an aspiring director (whose name she also forgot) in which she played a teacher in a squatter’s area.

When she was young, Jay appeared on the Cultural Center of the Philippines stage as Gregoria de Jesus, wife of Supremo Andres Bonifacio, in composer Jerry Dadap’s Andres Bonifacio: Ang Dakilang Anak Pawis (in my biased opinion, the greatest Filipino musical ever).

As Madame Thenardier in Repertory Philippines’ Les Miserables

“My most special role,” she enthuses. “The character of Gregoria de Jesus speaks to me very much because I was a campus activist, I loved writing and then she was a feisty character, very loving to her husband, a strong nationalistic person. I really enjoyed playing that role opposite (the late great baritone) Elmo Makil. God bless Elmo. I enjoyed most Filipina hero roles like that.”

Another acting triumph was the non-singing role of legendary soprano Maria Callas in the Philippine Opera Company’s Master Class. Jay really dug deep into the role, the soul of the tormented opera diva. And at one point, in a bravura sequence, she approximated the hoarse voice of Callas’ uncouth husband, Aristotle Onassis.

Cherie Gil later reprised the same role, also to great acclaim.

And there was the time Jay did Nick Joaquin’s Larawan (A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino) in three languages: Filipino, English and Spanish. She was cast as the headstrong Candida, one of the two Marasigan sisters.

How does she handle conflicts and disagreements in the theater, where egos abound and tempers often rise?

“I will always wish for a peaceful resolution and understanding,” she shares. “If it’s not possible at that time, then it’s best to let time heal any conflict, turn pages and move on.”

The veteran singing actress concludes: “The theater scene has really been vibrant. It’s wonderful. I believe that’s my calling for the remainder of my life — to keep sharing, to keep teaching, to keep learning, you never stop learning, and to be able to produce a few meaningful productions.”