The remarkable Marcelo Gomes

He appears on stage, moving in a long, easy, bounding gait. The audience is forthwith ambushed by the fine physique of this 21-year-old, six-foot Brazilian dancer. Just by his entrance alone you know he’s good.

Marcelo Gomes reminds me so much of Fernando Bujones who came to perform Swan Lake with Ballet Philippines many years back. They have the same Latin fire and flair, same clarity of line and smooth technical execution. No doubt he will become a major star of New York-based American Ballet Theater, one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the world.

I did my own little ambushing on his final performance of the Philippine Ballet Theater’s 15th Anniversary Gala. Up close he is as personable and guileless as he is on stage. Scuttling about in his dressing room after the show, packing and readying for the company’s cast party, he reminded me of a race horse cantering after an easy sprint to victory.

"At first, when Gladys (Celest) and Julie (Borromeo) invited me here, it was tempting but scary. This is so far away. I didn’t know the conditions of the theater, the floor. It was a risky situation. But once I arrived and saw the potential of the girls who were so strong, when I saw in them the joy of dancing, it was great!

"Some dancers in the United States don’t enjoy dancing even if they’re given a million things. I mean dancers here are not as financially compensated as those in the US. To see them dance with so much enthusiasm makes me inspired."

Gomes began dancing at the age of five. He recalls picking up his sister who attended ballet school and watching the young dancers intently. "I mimicked them and said, ‘I can do that too!’ When I told my parents I wanted to dance they were very supportive. They said I could stop if I wanted to but I kept feeling the urge."

He received his early training in Rio de Janeiro. At 13, he attended the Harid Conservatory in Florida for three years after which he was awarded a scholarship to the Paris Opera Ballet School. Looking back at his stint with the French school he says, "technically, it was the most refined thing. I realized there were so many things I was doing wrong which I had to correct and it helped me tremenduously. All my life I had worked with French teachers. It was always like that."

He was vacationing in Brazil when the American Ballet Theater went there on a tour. He took class with them and was promptly invited to join the company. At 16 though, his parents thought it was too early for him to join a professional company such as the ABT. "To join them so soon and so easily, they said, would make me bored in no time. I had to finish school. I hated the idea but now realize it was a wise suggestion."

He did join the ABT in 1997 and after three years of corps work he is now on his second year as soloist. Not surprisingly he was given principal roles when he was still in the corps de ballet. "They give you the experience to test you out. Mostly it’s done during tours. There are not enough principals on tours so that’s when there’s room for everybody."

He has received numerous awards including second place at the National Society of Arts and Letters, the Soloist Revelation Award at the Joinville Winter Festival, and the Hope Prize at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland. Some of the ballets in the ABT repertoire that he has performed major roles in are: Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsaire, Sleeping Beauty, Taming of the Shrew, Balanchine’s Theme and Variations and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.

"ABT artistic director Kevin McKenzie is easy to work with," Gomes reveals. "The dancers feel good and there are so many modern stuff which I love. With (choreographer) Twyla Tharp I have a special relationship. I love working with her and doing her ballets." He mentions Guillame Graffim, principal dancer of ABT, as a special coach who has helped him a lot.

"In ABT everyone is so different, it’s a good composition. Everyone is nice, there are no cat fights on stage. Someone once said, ‘We need bitches around here!’ and I said, ‘No we don’t!’"

Is the star system back in your company, I ask, remembering Natalia Makarova, Fernando Bujones, John Meehan and Martine Van Hamel, who were some of the big ABT stars who came to perform with us. "Yes, it’s still there," he replies. "Julia Kent is now our prima and there are Alessandra Ferri, Julio Bocca (who also guested in Manila) and lots of other excellent principals. You sell the company by name and I think it’s good."

Seeing the PBT danseurs eyeing him doggedly he knows that they too are thinking, "I wanna do that!" Gomes has this advice for them: "Wait, and work hard. Be patient in ballet. I, too, got very frustrated with roles I didn’t get. Have a sense of humor. I tell myself, look where they are – those who got the roles – and look where I am now. Financially I’m good, living in New York. I live by myself, do what I want. I don’t go wild but that’s good," he adds with a smile.

We bid each other goodbye and he sprints off to join PBT dancers Guada de Leon, Katrina Santos-Mercado and guest artist Sonny Locsin. After signing autographs for a group of avid fans he rushes to the car. I see instant camaraderie from the exchange of shrieks and guffaws. Tossing pressure to the wind they are laughing in back of the elegance and solemnity of their performance on stage. It is such a different scenario.

If the dancers’ enthusiasm gave Gomes inspiration he gave them back something too… a peek at their own tremenduous possibilities. He’s well on his way to a remarkable peak and he has taken our dancers along this leg of his journey.