It will be a full circle moment when the full-length romantic ballet Giselle has its gala on June 25, 8 p.m., at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
This tribute performance dedicated to dance icon Felicitas “Tita” Radaic, long dreamt of by her student Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, is itself a nod to Mrs. Radaic’s tribute to her own teacher, Anita Kane, back in 1988. In that show, it was Lisa who danced as Giselle, while this time around, it is Ballet Manila’s Joan Emery Sia – also a former student of Mrs. Radaic – who will be taking on the lead role.
Giselle is a highlight of Dance.MNL: The Philippine Dance Festival, bringing together Ballet Manila, Ballet Philippines and the Philippine Ballet Theater for a first-time collaboration on a full-length production.
Lisa believes honoring one’s teacher is important, especially with her exposure in Russia to “jubilee performances” which marked milestone birthdays of teachers and dancers. This explains why she is happy that she is finally getting to do this tribute, despite Mrs. Radaic’s initial reluctance.
“There is no doubt that teaching is one of the noblest of professions. It is a selfless giving of one’s knowledge and skills, passing down everything to the next generations. This is what dance teachers do and I firmly believe that it is important to acknowledge this and say ‘thank you,’” Lisa points out. “With Mrs. Radaic turning 80 this year, it is about time that we all band together and give this tribute to her.”
Lisa notes that passion, tenacity and commitment are key traits Mrs. Radaic ingrained in her at a very young age as a student at the St. Theresa’s College School of Dance. “Mrs. Radaic is one of the most stubborn teachers and visionaries I have ever met. She is a force to reckon with. And this I learned by example. Most of the odds were against her especially because she was constantly fighting for survival in a dance world with limited resources. And yet, she prevailed. It’s an amazing feat! She is an amazing woman.”
Perhaps, it is also Mrs. Radaic’s example of holding free ballet performances for the public that planted the seeds for Lisa to later on adopt the mission “bring ballet to the people” through Ballet Manila. In the 1980s, Mrs. Radaic helped spearhead Ballet at the Park at the Rizal Park, a joint program of her own Dance Theatre Philippines and the National Parks Development Committee. As a DTP member, Lisa recalls many Sundays spent dancing in those park shows where audiences were treated to classical ballet fare for free.
Mrs. Radaic’s love for ballet is an enduring one, with Giselle particularly close to her heart as she is known to have been one of the very first Giselles in the Philippines. Training under ballet teacher and choreographer Anita Kane, she would eventually become principal dancer in the Anita M. Kane Ballet Company in the 1950s. Through her performances with the company, including in Giselle, she was described then as “the most lyrical dancer the country has produced.”
In 1988, Giselle would again play a big part in Mrs. Radaic’s life. In January of that year, it marked the anniversary of Dance Theatre Philippines at the Meralco Theater. Then in April, she would help mount the ballet again, this time at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and with the Philippine Ballet Theater, with her teacher Anita Kane herself in the audience.
On June 25, Giselle once again unfolds in yet another milestone event for Mrs. Radaic.
In one of the old DTP souvenir programs, Mrs. Radaic shares the commitment it takes to dance, but also the rewards one gets from doing it. “Ballet is good training ground for children who will one day be adults – they learn to get up and go, even after a fall, to finish the dance even when they are tired, to go up on their toes even when these are blistered and hurting, to give joy and share in it through something they all love, something beautiful – the Dance.”
The Giselle gala features Joan Emery Sia as Giselle, Ballet Manila’s Romeo Peralta as Albrecht and Ballet Philippines’ Stephanie Cabral as Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis. The iconic peasant pas de deux will be performed by Philippine Ballet Theater’s Regina Magbitang and Atlanta Ballet’s Jared Tan. BM will provide the corps de ballet.
BP artistic director Paul Morales and BM artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde – both of whom, incidentally, had Mrs. Radaic as their first ballet teacher – will take on the mime roles of Duke of Courland and Bathilde, respectively.