Liza Macuja protégé bags silver medal in New York

An 18-year-old Filipina ballerina won top honors in the 8th New York International Ballet Competition (NYIBC), the equivalent of the Olympics in the ballet world.

Christine Rocas, a protégé of prime ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, arrived home before noon yesterday aboard Cathay Airways Flight CX-901 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. She was accompanied by her dancing partner and fellow member in Ballet Manila Company, Francis Cascaño.

Rocas shyly presented her silver medal to journalists minutes after she disembarked from the plane, while Elizalde was on hand to welcome her.

"I’m proud to have given my country honor by winning the medal," Rocas told reporters.

Rocas received her formal ballet training exclusively from Ballet Manila, founded by Macuja-Elizalde, since she was 10.

She won the silver in the women’s division, beating 26 other ballerinas from 19 countries including the US, Canada, Australia, Latvia and Russia.

Since no one got a perfect score, the gold medal was not awarded during this year’s NYIBC, which is held every three years. Japan’s Hanae Seki won the bronze medal.

Aside from the silver medal, Rocas was also awarded the Arpino Award — a one-year contract with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. Rocas, however, is still deciding whether to accept the offer.

For her part, Macuja-Elizalde expressed deep pride in the accomplishment of her protégé.

"This is an example of how a student surpasses a teacher. It is a significant achievement that is unprecedented in Philippine Ballet history," she said.

Macuja-Elizalde, Ballet Manila artistic director, herself bagged the country’s first major international award in ballet — coincidentally, also a silver medal in the Asia-Pacific International Competition in 1987.

Macuja-Elizalde and her contemporary Anna Villadolid were the most popular ballerinas in their prime in the late 1980s to the 1990s.