Fifty years ago, Alice Reyes was putting together the first Cultural Center of the Philippines summer dance workshop, the premier project of her then-fledgling dance troupe, the Alice Reyes Modern Dance Company.

Fast forward to the summer of 2019, and the Ballet Philippines Artistic Director and National Artist for Dance is once again busy directing the recital for Ballet Philippines’ 50th summer workshop, one of the company’s many productions to celebrate its golden year. It all comes full circle. “Did I think I’d be here for the company’s 50th year? No,” she admits with a laugh. “But I’m very thankful that I am.”

An indelible part of the Filipino culture and identity, Ballet Philippines has defined and continues to define the local dance culture and industry. Within five decades, it has developed over 500 choreographic shows of full-length classical ballets, internationally recognized masterworks, and indigenous works inspired by Filipino folklore and social issues—an impressive mix of Asian, Western, indigenous, classical, and contemporary styles and genres.

These prolific efforts have brought the company renown within the international dance community, given the wealth of international-caliber talent it has developed, from dancers, choreographers, and teachers to producers, artistic directors, and arts management people. Plenty of former company members have gone on to perform internationally and establish their own dance companies and dance schools—and more talent is yet being nurtured and developed through the company’s Dance School. Students come from different walks of life and different regions in the country, with hundreds of them beneficiaries of the school’s Noordin Jumalon Scholarship Program. All of them get the top-notch Ballet Philippines training.

“That first dance workshop was the springboard for all of these,” Reyes reflects during a brief rehearsal break. “Now, there are so many other summer dance workshops all over. But if you look at most of them, they came from us; Ballet Philippines is the root. We definitely have made a very strong mark as representatives of the incredible Filipino culture.” 

Starting small

The story of Ballet Philippines is closely tied to the history of the theater that houses it, which is also celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Reyes recalls, “That was the first big moment for me: the fact that Manila—that the country—had a theater this incredible, beautiful, and technically fantastic. It was mind-shattering to me.” She had been preparing to fly to the United States when she happened to see the newly built CCP. “That was what convinced me to stay.” Reyes worked on getting the approval of then CCP artistic director Lucresia Kasilag to hold that first summer workshop in the theater, and upon getting the green light, called on fellow National Artist for Dance (and Ballet Philippines co-founder) Eddie Elejar to find dancers to invite to their group.

From the start, Reyes had a strong vision for the company: The dancers would be treated as artists and professionals, with respect and dignity. “We paid them from the start because I was always horrified whenever artists are made to sell tickets [to their own shows] to make money.” Daily and constant training were also non-negotiable. “They needed to be taking dance classes and rehearsing every day; there was no other way.”

But in contrast to the grand goals of uplifting dancers and professionalizing dance, as well as the invaluable benefit of having a theater to call home, Reyes saw the necessity of making smaller strides when it comes to the details of building and strengthening a dance company. In fact, no one served as president in the beginning. She took on the responsibility later on out of necessity, on top of working as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer.

“I’ve always believed in starting small. The tendency is usually to make big, grand plans, and then it becomes hard to make them possible. With me, I’ve always started small: making what’s available work, and just keeping it growing and growing.” The company started with a three-performance subscription, which then grew to four then five. Soon enough, they were selling annual subscriptions, one season after another. Currently, the company permanently employs 60 people.

It takes a village

Immersed in the amount of work it took to run a dance company, no one in Ballet Philippines really stopped to predict whether it would become the cultural institution it is now. However, the support it got early on, in particular from Bancom Development Corporation founder Dr. Sixto “Ting” Roxas and former CCP president Teresa “Bing” Roxas, gave Reyes the indication that the company could survive. “We didn’t have a board in the beginning, but when people started pledging their support, it began to come together. We had ambassadors, presidents, figures from the international dance community as members.

“So we had teachers, choreographers, and dancers, we had board members who believed in the company, we had built an audience and a very solid base of subscribers—and of course, we had the theater. That’s when I knew Ballet Philippines can and will go on.”

That knowledge gave Reyes the confidence to step down as president 20 years after the company was formed—a major change that she took time to put into motion, given how closely she was associated with Ballet Philippines. “It was my responsibility to convince everybody that they could survive without me. ‘Oh no, the company will die because you’re no longer there’—I had to convince them that it was bigger than I am.” She mentored the company for five years before people accepted the fact that the company has its own life. “That’s when the transition became total.”

Despite being away from Ballet Philippines for 28 years, Reyes never forgot the amount of effort that goes into keeping the company running. When she returned as president in 2017, she wanted to highlight all the artistic directors who have steered the company into what it is now. “And it takes a village to keep something like this going because behind every artistic director are teachers, choreographers, ballet masters, costume-makers, the props guys, the crew…Plus, of course, the board. It takes a community.”

A spectacle unlike any other

The dance company’s 50th year will be a celebration of Ballet Philippines’ rich history and its vast contribution to Filipino culture. The upcoming season’s shows will feature many of the favorites in the company’s repertoire. In July, there will be a fundraising concert, sponsored by the Ballet Philippines Alumni Association, that will feature former company members who are now performing in other countries or have established their own dance schools. “The fundraising is for the company, so we can continue to buy toe shoes and fund scholars,” Reyes shared.

Then on September 29 will be Ballet Philippines’ 50th Anniversary Gala Show. “The gala is our way of having the public be part of the celebration,” described CCP President, former Ballet Philippines president, and head chairperson of the anniversary gala Margie Moran. To be held at the Marriott Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, it will be a spectacle that marries dance with fashion, with a runway show featuring designer Michael Cinco’s 50-piece Swan Lake-themed couture collection. “We have been planning this for two years.”

The decision to collaborate with Cinco happened after the two had met in Paris in 2017, and the idea of combining two artistic disciplines made sense. “We wanted something visual, that will inspire awe for both Ballet Philippines and Michael Cinco. Like many of our dancers and choreographers, he is someone who is representative of the Filipino culture and has made his mark in the international scene.” The Dubai-based designer’s creations have been seen on prestigious international red carpet events, such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globes, and the Met Gala, and included in the long list of celebrities whom he has dressed are Beyoncé, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, and Naomi Campbell. Cinco, who was given the Presidential Award for Outstanding Filipinos Overseas in 2014, is also part of the Asian Couture Federation, an elite organization of the best designers in Asia.

“People can expect the gala to be a combination of the classic and the contemporary,” Moran shared. “There will be models showcasing the couture outfits on the runway, and there will be our dancers doing a Swan Lake ballet performance.” One of them will be principal dancer Denise Parungao, who began her Ballet Philippines training as a scholar in 2010. Parungao has performed in the company’s full-length ballets The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, and Don Quixote, and in modern pieces such as Pauline Koner’s Concertino, Norman Walker’s Songs of the Wayfarer, Redha Bentifour’s Opera, and Reyes’ Amada, among others. The 2011 National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA) Luva Adameit awardee also won first prize in the first CCP National Ballet Competition in 2014 and competed in the USA International Ballet Competition in 2018.

With Swan Lake as a perennial audience favorite, Moran is excited about the audience’s reception to the gala show. “Given the inspiration, it will definitely be dramatic, glamorous, theatrical, and fantastic. I don’t think something like this has been done before, at least on the scale with which Ballet Philippines is doing it.”

The next 50 years

Beyond the gala show and all the other events lined up, however, remains the never-ending work of nurturing and growing the Filipino audience for dance. Reyes acknowledges, “That’s not easy, and it’s getting harder and harder, not just for us and CCP but all over the world.”

The fundraising efforts also never stop, as on top of maintaining the school and its 200 scholars, providing salaries and benefits to employees, and the daily necessities in keeping the company running, there are technical challenges in staging shows in a 50-year-old theater, no matter how magnificent and historic it is. “Lenses age. Equipment ages. There’s never enough money to fix the lights. CCP used to be the standard for theaters in Asia; now, we’ve been overtaken by Thailand, Singapore, China.”

While theater subscriptions remain strong—and are even increasing—philanthropic contributions from Ballet Philippines’ patrons remain necessary. Moran admits, “Finances are always an ongoing concern, and we’re just fortunate to have the support of people like Tony Boy Cojuangco, Don Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Mercedes Zobel, and Ignacio Jimenez.”

Competition from other theaters is also a factor, as well as the challenge of engaging with the short attention spans of a younger audience that likes instant gratification. Reyes sees the necessity of rebranding the theater experience into something cooler and more attractive to the millennial and Gen Z generations, citing an evening where high school students from San Beda College came to watch a Ballet Philippines performance dressed in suits and ties and cocktail dresses. “Kids today are all about the experience, so why not entice them to experience theater? It can be the setting for a date where they can dress up and still have fun. The marketing thrust of different art institutions needs to dig deep to bring out these kids and bring them to the theater.”

“Any artist must perform to a full audience, not to empty red seats,” Moran adds. “Fulfilling that is always part of the work.”

With 50 years under its belt and an unparalleled repertoire in Asia, however, Ballet Philippines has more than proven that it can take on the next 50 years no matter the challenges and changes ahead, especially with its home innovating along with it. The CCP will have its own 50th anniversary gala presentation also in September, and later in the year, it will launch its Artists’ Center to provide 40 new spaces where artist groups from different disciplines can rehearse for their CCP performances.

Besides, there will always be an appreciative audience, not just for classical ballet but for every dance genre. “Life is always changing; society always changes,” Reyes concludes. “But talent and good art always remain.”

This is a pre-event write-up commissioned for Ballet Philippines’ 50th anniversary in 2019. Lead image by Kazuo Ota on Unsplash.