Philippine Ballet Theater in the 21st Century
By Rome Jorge, Lifestyle Editor
Photos by Rene H. Dilan

Once, a fearless ballerina came before a queen’s palace and proposed a grand stage be built for the kingdom. She even held brilliant performances to raise a fortune for its construction. But the queen revealed herself to the wife of a brutal tyrant and a woman whose beauty was belied by her avarice. She not only stole from the people but also purloined the ballerina’s idea. She built the great theater but also let many artists of the land languish without an audience at her royal court. Many fled fearing for their lives. Only those she personally favored—artists who shamelessly chose to ignore her abuses—benefited from her lavish patronage. But the day came when revolution swept the land. The despot was toppled and the queen dethroned. Then, 10 masters of dance, the brave ballerina included, came together—not to squabble on who could now receive patronage—but to unite as children of the revolution. This tale is no mere fancy fable like those of swan princesses, sugarplum fairies and sleeping beauties; this is the true-to-life story of Philippine Ballet Theater.

Julie Borromeo, co-founder of Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT), recalls: “When the Marcoses ruled, they were at first very popular. At that time, we were performing at FEU [Far Eastern University] Theater and the in PhilAm Life Theater. What I did was, I knocked on the door of Malacañang a few weeks after their inauguration and I looked for the first lady. I pleaded with her, ‘Madame Marcos, please give us a National Theater. We have so many fantastic theaters but we have nowhere to see our craft.’ So what I did was, I offered her a production Flower Drum Song. We put that up with [Broadway star] Maureen Tiongco and she raised half a million in four days. And that started it. Madame raised the theater now known as the CCP [Cultural Center of the Philippines].”

Borromeo chose not to suffer silently. “We were denouncing the fact that the arts were being used as a monopoly. And so we went to congress, and we were asking for equity. We were on TV during the day Martial Law was declared. Actually, Tita Radaic and I were so frightened and [Philippine Educational Theater Association founder and current National Commission for Culture and the Arts chairman] Cecile Guidote-Alvarez had already fled. Our friends, [late National Artist for Cinema] Lino Brocka and the others were already taken in,” she reveals.

Like many conscientious artists of the day such as Brocka and Guidote-Alvarez, Borromeo was identified with the anti-dictatorship movement. She attests, “We wanted to be free to express our art and we really fought for it. And we got it.”

“After the revolution and the Marcoses left, we did the first ballet but we never got subsidy. It was given to Ballet Philippines. So, the many schools that were there banded together and demanded the CCP to give us subsidy as well. They could not give our schools the subsidy so we banded together, grabbed our best students and that became the PBT. Up to this day, PBT will never die because all our best schools give their best dancers to the company.”

She declares, “I was always there and I fought very hard not just for my self but my colleagues. I always felt that dance should not be exclusive. I think that if you share it with others it would be greater and it would be stronger.”

“It was a child of the revolution. That is why you see the vibrancy here. You see the love,” she attests.

Today, BPT is one of CCP’s resident companies. “We call it a seasonal residency. We have three seasons in a year. We have three big ballets to perform every year. We have small subsidy—very tiny. But it’s worth all the hard work,” she explains.

PBT continues to sustain itself despite these challenging times. Borromeo explains how: “Hard work and dedication. It’s all for love. And I supposed that the artists are still regrouping right now since the government won’t give us money, we beg. We’re like paupers. We beg for sponsors. And people keep us afloat.” Thanks to the Meralco Theater, “We have a home and we don’t have to pay for the rent and we can hone more artists,” she adds.

Mentor first and foremost

Now in her gilded years, Borromeo tirelessly continues to train a new generation of danseurs and ballerinas. “PBT has come up with a very new crop of dancers. So, all the soloists you’re going to see, and the dancers you’re going to see is the new crop. They are all new and I would say that I’m excited to work with them because they are very enthusiastic. This batch is less than a year old.”

She notes, “Can you believe that most of them started from hip-hop? The timing, the energy comes from hip-hop. A lot of them gravitated to dance for us through scholarships.” PBT’s 10 founding dance schools continue to send its finest dancers and serve as the company’s artistic council.

Unlike other dance companies were terror tactics and negative reinforcement are the norm and dancers are perpetually threatened with expulsion, PBT boast a jovial atmosphere under Borromeo’s exacting yet motherly tutelage. Its young dancers are bound by esprit de corps and brim with glee.

“That’s why our dancers feel a lot; because they can really feel the hunger. It’s worth it to be there with them because they’re there for the love. The biggest and greatest natural resource of this country is the artistic talent of our people,” she proclaims.

Best known as a mentor, Borromeo perpetually trains young artists. Throughout its history, PBT has served as springboard for the Philippine’s most talented dancers. She explains the necessity for a new batch: “As you can see, our main dancers are now with the New Jersey Ballet.” The success of her students attests to that of her own.

Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Enrico Labayen, Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Plinky Recto, Cherie Gil, Hajjie Alejandro, Maniya Barredo, Noynoy Froilan, and Gloria Tobilla all trained under Dance Theatre Philippines, which Borromeo co-founded with Felicitas Radiac and Eddie Elejar in 1968. Later, Macuja would return after the People Power Revolution to become Borromeo’s principal dancer under PBT before following in her teacher’s footsteps and establishing her own Ballet Manila in 1995. Such is the affection that Borromeo fosters and the inspiration that she serves. The growth of the Philippines’ art scene and its reach across the globe owes much to Borromeo and her pupils.

Borromeo herself benefited from the tutelage of past masters. These include dancer mentors such as American Ricardo Casell, British Anita Kane, and Spaniard Ruben Nieto and voice coaches Dalisay Aldaba, Minda Azarcon, Mila Esguerra and Inez Zialcita. In New York, she was further honed in classical ballet by Dokoudovsky, Alexandra Danilova and Robert Joffrey and was influenced in contemporary dance by the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Luigi Center.

Yet Borromeo confides, “I used to hate dancing. It was my mother who forced me to dance. I was awkward though I did have beautiful long legs. Of course, the only things they were good for was they helped me jump higher than the boys. It took me 10 years to go on pointes. But because I persevered for so long, I learned to love it. That’s why I’m still here. I suppose as [Repertory Philippines founder] Zenaida Amador said before, ‘It’s better to have present idiots than to have absent geniuses.’ I was a present idiot.”

What was once hated has revealed itself as an enduring paramour. “I still have my love affair with dance.

It’s the longest love affair I’ve had. Dance is everything put together. It’s theater acting. It’s gymnastics in a sense that you have to have fantastic technique. You defy gravity,” she explains.

Ever the motherly mentor, Borromeo has allowed a new generation to hold the reins. “I’m now a great grandmother just yesterday. My three daughters took over my school. They sing. They act. And they do all forms of dance. We believe that a choreographer should know all forms.”

But as with any artist, Borromeo is best vindicated by her latest work.

Something old, something new

For its next performance, Philippine Ballet Theater’s new crop of dancers will perform an original dance theater piece authored by Borromeo 40 years ago.

Mir-I-Nisa, the first Filipino three-act ballet, is based on Jose Garcia Villa’s 1929 indigenous Muslim-Filipino fable. Featuring choreography by Borromeo and Radiac and music by Dr. Eliseo Pajaro, it was commissioned by Eliseo Pajaro to premier for the CCP’s inaugural season in 1969.

Mir-I-Nisa will once more be performed at the CCP’s Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo on November 6 and 7 at 8 p.m. and November 7 and 8 at 3 p.m. by the Philippine Ballet Theater as part of its 23rd season.

“I would say Mir-I-Nisa is the Cinderella of Filipino literature,” explains Borromeo. But in many ways, the tale is more poetic than its western counterpart. In the story, two princes—the noble Tashi and the boastful
Achmed—must vie for the hand in marriage of princess Mir-I-Nisa. The challenge is who among the two of them can dive deepest to retrieve a black pearl that the father casts into the sea. Achmed claims to have retrieved the prized pearl. Fearing the worst, Mir-I-Nisa weeps as she is betrothed to her unseen groom.

But her husband reveals himself to be her beloved Tashi. In the end, the king confides that, with a cunning slight of hand, he cast not a black pearl but a ball of salt into the ocean. His test was not one of bravado but one of integrity. “Honesty gets the price,” explains Borromeo.

Her choreographic interpretation of the story is no less poetic. “It’s totally underwater. So what I did was,
I conceptualized it as if it was about the kingdom of the pearls. So, you have the pink pearls, the white pearl who is the queen—all fantasy.” Her dancers’ movements are aquatic and serpentine. The glide and float with undulating grace through the stage.

The fable that Julie Borromeo’s dancers tell is as timeless and as poignant the story of Philippine Ballet Theater itself.

For ticket inquiries, call the CCP Box Office at 832-3704, Ticketworld at 8919-999 or the PBT Office at 632-8848.