In the process of chronicling dance and archiving photos and articles, I couldn't help but sit and ponder about what could have been better. 2016 was a very exciting year for the dance community. With all the inspired initiatives that were launched to catapult dance into the radar, 2016 was quite an enjoyable buzz. While I see dance as a passionately growing industry in the Philippines there are certain aspects that in hindsight didn't make sense to me. I speak not just as a dancer but generally as a balletomane who lives to experience and SHARE as much dance as possible.
DANCE MANILA
I grew up feeling the intensity of the rivalry of the three major companies Ballet Manila, Ballet Philippines and Philippine Ballet Theatre. While the company dancers remained friendly toward each other, there was an ethnocentric culture that thrived. Perhaps it was about artistic pride, perhaps it was about bruises that had not yet mended, perhaps it was simply the brunt of competition but the autonomy (and possibly indifference) was an unspoken truth. That is why the Dance Manila Festival was such a jolting phenomenon. While the companies have worked together before in certain productions, it was mostly out of compliance to a higher authority or endeavors that were ultimately beneficial. Dance Manila was an initiative born out of the three companies new artistic friendship. The Festival as declared by the festival directors was meant to unify the dance community and celebrate the triumphs of the industry. The festival was ambitious it aimed to nurture talent with the series of open class workshops. It aimed to open communication lines through the conferences. Lastly it aimed to showcase pinoy pride with the series of dance galas. The imagery was so positive and people flocked. I realized the declaration of the festival to the public was unifying in itself. That was already something to be thankful for. However, as I took part in all the activities, I realized that change was not quite here yet. There is much to see beyond the surface.
After having seen several performances one after the other, I felt that the repertoire and to a point even the casting represented division instead of collaboration. Each gala night supposedly had a purpose. Winners night was supposed to be about quite literally the wins. Ballet Filipino was supposed to be about the best of Philippine Dance. Next Generation was supposed to be a showcase of the new generation. Diaspora was about Filipino art migration. The list goes on. But every show felt the same, a hodgepodge of anything under the sun really. To give an example, there were three versions of Romeo and Juliet, two versions of Diana and Acteon, two versions of Black Swan. It seemed like a who can do it better competition. Perhaps if you only see one show then it would be acceptable. If the intention was for the festival to be consumed as a whole it was quite repetitive. Ballet Filipino did not have any Filipino feels, it was a regular mix of pieces using Filipino dancers. That's about it. Overall it felt like the shows were in itself a competition not really about presenting a repertoire with a perspective or a unifying message. While I will admit to enjoying the beautiful dancing, I guess I just expected more. In one of the dance conferences it was mentioned that one of the goals of the Festival was to differentiate the companies to enable them to find the right audience. There was a very thin line differentiating the companies.
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| BALLET PHILIPPINES Photo Courtesy by Stan de la Cruz |
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| PHILIPPINE BALLET THEATRE |
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| PHILIPPINE BALLET THEATRE |
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| BALLET MANILA |
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| BALLET MANILA |
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| BALLET PHILIPPINES AND BALLET MANILA |
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| PHILIPPINE BALLET THEATRE |
SEASON SENSITIVITIES
Unfortunately the unity was also short lived. The season shows of the three companies and other private initiatives made it difficult to gain access to all the shows.With Dance Manila opening the dance season, I expected collaboration and cooperation to be reflected in the season offerings. In hindsight since seasons are prepared a year in advance, perhaps the companies could no longer adjust too much. I realize that but I'm hoping 2017 will be different.
In 2016, PBT offered Swan Lake excerpt as part of their Great Classics in June, then it was offered by Ballet Manila as part of The Fairy the Princess and the Swan in November and now Ballet Philippines will close with a full length Swan Lake. Ballet Manila did an excerpt of Nutcracker followed by Philippine Ballet Theatre's full version of "The Nutcracker" Who did it best? Only a handful of avid ballet fans will pay tickets to watch all versions with almost identical repertoire. While there are dance addicts like me who will flock, non ballerinas will probably make a singular choice.
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| BALLET PHILIPPINES .Photo by Justin Bella Alonte |
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| BALLET MANILA |
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| PHILIPPINE BALLET THEATRE |
While I'm positive there was no intention from any of the three companies to pit each Company against each other in brutal weekend ticket wars, I reckon the companies felt the adverse effect of the direct competition in ticket sales. If Manila were a little bit like London or New York this would be completely feasible what with thousands of theatre fans.
LET'S JUST WATCH ALL THE SHOWS
2016-2017 is ending quite soon with yet again two companies performing at the same time. Ballet Manila's Don Quixote and Ballet Philippines' " Swan Lake'' are both opening this Feb 24, 2017 until March 6, 2017. I hope that people watch both shows because they will surely be worth every penny. But I hope its the last time that people have to make a choice between companies. The target market though expanding could be bigger and sharing the attention is always a good thing. All three are brilliant in their own way, and it would be just wonderful if people could see more of each Company this year.
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