Ballet Manilas recent production OPM at OPB (Original Pilipino Music at Original Pilipino Ballet) must have presented such a challenge because it featured three new Locsin dance pieces the solos Ritwal and Agila, created for BM for the New York and Tokyo international ballet competitions this year, and Urbanatives, this early, a Locsin minor classic.
Agnes Locsin is the last person I would associate with Lisa Macuja-Elizaldes Vaganova-trained Ballet Manila. BM is known for its tour de force performances of classic ballets, as well as some neo-classical ones, while Locsin is known for her neo-ethnic dances, angular and sometimes stark, often moving at speeds that prove to be challenging for most dancers.
However, this was not the first time Locsin and BM came together. She already created for the company Sayaw sa Pamlang, a dance I have yet to see.
Locsins Urbanatives, the longer of her dance pieces featured that night, was just one of the highlights of BMs OPM at OPB. Also featured were the late Eric V. Cruzs neo-classical Visions in Blue, and Tony Fabellas Dalagang Pilipina, which featured 16 ballerinas sashaying in gowns by Auggie Cordero, and Dancing to Verdi, a grand divertissement to Verdis most popular tunes.
Urbanatives is a choreographic collage, episodic in treatment, of life in the city. Images of workers rushing to work in the morning, women praying in church and men playing hooky are contrasted against the travails of a housewife looking after the needs of her husband and keeping house.
There is something spare about this ballet. Movements are kept to a minimum in most instances, the same gesture repeated over again. Sometimes, you would think the dancers werent dancing, since they move as if they were simply walking down the street. It is because of this familiarity that Locsins scenario rings true.
The choreographer also audaciously decided to keep Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, as the housewife, from dancing. For three quarters of this dance piece, she doesnt dance at all. You see her facing an imaginary mirror combing her hair, beating eggs for breakfast, dressing her husband. You cant miss her on stage, because her presence has little relation to the turmoil of the city that is happening just beside her, of course danced by the rest of the company.
It is only near the end of the piece that she finally erupts into a solo and truly, what a solo of joy, of freedom, of being unfettered by the cares of the day. And Macuja-Elizalde moves from acting to dancing without any difficulty.
Of course, this is an Agnes Locsin solo, and that would mean rolling on the floor in the most difficult of positions, a body twisted into a pretzel and held for moments. The moves may be awkward, the poses unnatural, but Macuja-Elizalde adds a sense of poise and grace to her dance, showing that in this singular moment in this housewifes day, she is able to find herself, even if only for a moment.
At the end of the ballet, the housewife joins the city folk in their ceaseless walk in life but this moment is short and purely in her mind. She leaves her place from the group and returns to her home, alone, radiant and with a smile on her face. This housewifes life may sometimes be like hell but she has found her place in it, and it keeps her whole.
The Locsin solos Ritwal and Agila are simple introductions to the choreographers art.
In Ritwal, a girl seems to unfold like a flower, from bud to bloom. The body twists, turns and contorts without end long before we even see the dancers body in full. And then, the dance ends, just a short minute or so.
Mylene Aggabao managed Ritwal pretty well, although her body lacked the angularity I have always expected from dancers doing a Locsin solo.
This was not the case in Agila. A male soloist is asked not just to contort his body without end, but, at one point, even raise his leg in the air and hold it for a couple of seconds. As the eagle poises into flight, every beat of the birds wing is coupled with the distinct isolation of lats. This is not just a solo, but also a display of a dancers brawn. Just as the lights dim, the eagle is in flight, and the dancer seems to float in the air er, on the floor, his arms and legs beating in different directions.
Alvin Santos was a surprise, his lean body all muscle and strength. Too survive Locsins Agila is proof of a dancers excellent training, and that he showed fully.
Apart from the big numbers, there were three other dance pieces featured during this ballet. Gerardo Franciscos solo Hunting was a faint echo of Loscins pieces; it lacked the intensity and excitement of the other solos.
Then, there were the two pas de deux that were so different from each other. Bournonvilles Kermesse in Bruges pas de deux is a classic duet, performed prettily by Marian Faustino and Ricardo Mallari. Faustino had her solos down pat, and while Mallari had the energy and strength for his leaps, he seemed to lack self-confidence executing them. You could see it in the way he mentally counted his moves and estimated his landings.
David Campos Canteros Masque of the Red Death pas de deux was unlike any pas de deux Ive ever seen. Not only is it set to the music of Metallica as performed by the cello quartet Apocaliptica, it also requires the ballerina to gyrate on stage. Yes, Elline Damian proved that she can outdo anyone in a body language contest. And did I forget to say that she was gyrating en pointe? Aided by partner Eduardo Espejo, she added not just class and pizzazz to this short piece but also lots of sensual heat.
One unforgettable moment in this too short pas de deux is when Damian leaps into the air and is caught by Espejo in his arms in a split. Really awesome! When will Ballet Manila mount Campos Canteros Masque of the Red Death? I hope they do it really soon.
Eric Cruzs Visions in Blue evokes the flight of birds in the sky. Set to Vivaldis "Winter Concerto" from The Four Seasons, it prepared the audience for the variety of dancing they would expect.
Tony Fabellas Dancing to Verdi made another appearance on BMs program. Together, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso led the companys dancers in impressive ensemble dancing.
However, of the evenings longer ballets, it was Fabellas Dalagang Pilipina that truly brought dazzle and beauty. Imagine 16 ballerinas in gowns by Auggie Cordero? A fashion show, and not a ballet? Not really.
It opens with Lisa Macuja-Elizalde sashaying to an intimate version of Dalagang Pilipina. As the melody is repeated over again, it gains richer texture with changes in orchestration, much like in Ravels Bolero. And with the change in texture come more dancers on stage, all arrayed in sumptuous gowns fit for a ball. By the pieces finale, all 16 dancers are busy executing a Balanchine finale, as Macuja-Elizalde makes another entrance, this time in a new gown in black and fine, elegantly decorated with ostrich feathers.
You might think the whole dance is a glamorized fashion show, and it is to some sense. But Fabella doesnt camp it up until the end when all the girls do a balletic version of voguing. Its lots of fun, yes and just perfect to end the programs first half.
Maybe Ballet Manila can be convinced to restage Locsins full-length masterpiece Encantada. It hasnt been seen in a decade and its theme of environmental conservation and protection, as well as colonization, is still very much relevant today. Maybe, maybe not. But more Agnes Locsin, please.