Living the Tradition of the Nutcracker

Thewine is flowing and the tuna salad sandwiches are disappearing from the trays as the "dancers" gather for pre-rehearsal cocktails.

"I thought we were supposed to come in skirts," someone looks accusingly at two other women in jeans.

"I brought my shoes," says another, taking out a pair of high heels from her bag. "I’m dancing in these."

A few of the men and women gathered in the ballet studio at the lower basement of the CCP are seriously studying notes handed out earlier by the assocate artistic director. This is the second rehearsal for two sets of very special dancers, and tonight they will be going through their paces before the formidable artistic director, who has "threatened" to give them a "hard time" if they miss their steps. Which is perhaps the reason why the wine is flowing particularly quickly this evening.

Welcome to rehearsals for Ballet Philippines’ Nutcracker, which opens on Friday at the CCP Main Theater. Friday and Saturday gala performances will feature celebrity dancers in the grand ball scene of the Christmas ballet. Choreographer Edna Vida has set the ballet in 1920s Manila, and has included a grand Rigodon de Manila in Act One of the ballet. Twelve pairs per night will join the elegant dance, the women clad in period ternos designed by National Artist Salvador Bernal, who is also doing the sets for the ballet.

Central to all this is Sofia Zobel-Elizalde, who is instrumental in organizing the group of celebrity guests that includes First Daughter Luli Arroyo, CCP president Nes Jardin, Kit Zobel, Anton San Diego, Bea Zobel Jr., Patsy Zobel Halffter, Joel Uichico, Patxi Elizalde, Juan Miguel Ongsiako, Margarita and Eduardo Delgado, Sevrine and Edouard Miailhe, Marilen Elizalde, Andrei Roslovtsev, Junie and Fernando Peña, Claudia Tambunting, Ino Manalo, Nonoy Froilan, Gemma Garcia, Mia Borromeo, Tim Yap, Alfredo Roca, Rowena Chua, Baltazar Endriga, Aurora Sagaz, Emellie and Wilfried Vogelbacher, Nini and Noordin Jumalon, Joy and Jim Paolelli, Eda Grande, Ding Navasero, Seppo Suomela and Tereret Liboro.

This is actually a balik-Nutcracker for Sofia, who is fondly remembered as one of the most endearing Claras ever to receive a nutcracker doll. She played the role in Ballet Philippines’ 1979 staging of the ballet, and she recalls, "It was Nutcracker that introduced me to classical ballet and made me fall in love with it."

"As a child, it was really magical," Sofia continues. "You’re really into the story: what you do on stage is a reality. And you’re not concerned about technical things, so you’re having fun. I got to ride in the boat and everything!"

She had such "wonderful memories" of Nutcracker that she wants to share the experience with her friends, as well as her students at Steps Dance Studio, which she runs. "I want other people to experience how I felt when I watched and when I danced in the Nutcracker," she says.

Thus her two-pronged participation in this production: one of her students at Steps passed auditions for the role of Clara (see boxed story below), and she has organized a group of her friends–all non-dancers–to participate in the rigodon.

After her debut as Clara in the 1979 Alice Reyes version (for which she was paid a whopping P50!), she did the same role–this time en pointes–the following year in a version choreographed by Armin Wilde. The quintessential Clara, Sofia was to dance the role in subsequent productions of the Christmas classic until she left for school in Elmhurst, England when she was 13.

After struggling to balance academics and more intense dance classes in England–where she earned a Sylphide Cup for Outstanding Performance–she came back to what used to be her playground as a more mature, more technically-equipped dancer. Before that year was over though, she left again for New York to further her training.

Returning after a year, Sofia was hired as a company member of Ballet Philippines in 1987. It was at this time that Edna Vida first staged her Filipino version of the holiday favorite. No longer cast as Clara, Sofia danced the Spanish Dance in the Kingdom of the Dolls as well as the dance of the fireflies.

What did not change though, she points out, was the Nutcracker Prince: the stately and elegant Nonoy Froilan, the prince back when she was Clara, was still every inch the prince. (This time around, Nonoy joins the celebrity rigodon. Ed.)

Another balik-Nutcracker is associate artistic director Ida Beltan-Lucila, who is also restaging the ballet. She was the Sugar Plum Fairy in 1987. In between encouraging and cajoling her guest dancers and whipping them into shape, Ida–called Genny by the company–shares that this version is "the hardest Nutcracker I’ve ever seen–technically difficult in all the dances. The Sugar Plum Fairy variation, for example is almost four minutes long", more than double the length of other versions. One dancer quipped that choreographer Edna Vida has poured all her frustrations as a dancer into her choreography; Edna agrees, saying ominously, "Everything I couldn’t do as a dancer, I’ve put in here!"

But it seems not to have daunted the cast–at least not the professional dancers in the cast, who are enjoying the challenge of the piece. Says Genny, "The hardest part I think is capturing the mood of the era...their mannerisms, gestures, how they carry themselves, how they converse... It’s not simply the dance movements; it’s the whole atmosphere of the piece."

The rigodon dancers are assured that they will be given copies of the music so they can practice at home. That, and the written codigo that Genny has distributed eases some of their anxiety. They will have two more rehearsals before the curtains go up and it’s showtime. In full costume and make-up, with stage lights ablaze and the house lights dim on an expectant audience, Sofia and her friends will experience once again the magic of the Nutcracker, and it will be a magic that will cast its spell on the audience as well.

Ballet Philippines’ Nutcracker goes onstage at the CCP Main Theater from December 5 to 16. For show schedules and ticket information, call 551-0221 or 551-1003.