By Susan A. De Guzman
Ballet Manila artistic directors Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso are conducting an intensive dance workshop in Jakarta in what could be the initial step towards the establishment of Indonesia’s first professional ballet company.
The Jakarta Intensive Dance Workshop and Showcase 2016 (JIDWaS 2016) will be held at the Katinka International Dance Sports Center, with the workshop scheduled from July 12 to 16 and the showcase set on July 17.
Jakarta-based Filipino dance teacher Edmund Gaerlan coordinated the event – said to be the first involving a prima ballerina – with the support of dance advocate Catherine Kasim who owns and operates the Katinka International Dance Sports Center.
Macuja-Elizalde and Barroso will teach ballet and contemporary technique classes for boys and girls in the workshop offered to dancers in the intermediate and advanced levels.
They will be joined by another guest teacher, France-based contemporary dancer and choreographer Ernest Sarino Mandap.
Participants to JIDWaS were selected via a video audition.
Gaerlan, who has been living in Jakarta for 20 years, said the workshop could pave the way for the eventual organization of a permanent ballet company.
He said that while Indonesia has a lot of ballet schools, mostly in Jakarta, there is still no professional ballet company in the country.
Three ballet schools which have been operating for over 50 years run their own student company or semi-professional company, according to Gaerlan.
“Putting up a company needs time and money. So we would like to start off with giving workshops to intermediate and advanced students who may someday be ready to go to the next level,” he said.
Macuja-Elizalde expressed both cautious optimism and excitement over JIDWaS 2016. “There is only so much you can accomplish in one week, so I am not really expecting too much too soon. But I hope to be able to gain an insight and perspective into the ballet dance scene in Jakarta, introduce the Vaganova technique into their training and begin a professional collaborative relationship with a potential Ballet Indonesia.”
The possibility of holding Ballet Manila performances in Indonesia could also be explored, she added.
Macuja-Elizalde underscored the significance of the Jakarta workshop for the company she co-founded with Barroso 21 years ago. “Ballet Manila is spreading its wings not just as a company but as a training ground for professional dancers in Indonesia. We have had two Indonesian dancers as part of the company, Yanti Marduli in the past and now Anindya Krisna, so I am really hoping Ballet Indonesia gets under way soon so that more classically trained Indonesian ballet dancers have job opportunities in their own country.”
Dance workshops are reportedly becoming frequent events in Jakarta, with ballet schools inviting guests from abroad to teach in their schools. The workshops are sometimes opened to the public.
Katinka International Dance Sports Center’s Kasim agreed to finance and host JIDWaS 2016. “She is a passionate and avid dancer of Latin and ballroom dance. And she understands that in order to have good quality dancers, you have to learn from good quality teachers. Because I have a lot of artist-friends in the Philippines, my obvious choice was to find good teachers from the Philippines. We are lucky to have our three guest teachers,” Gaerlan enthused.
The interest in ballet, specially for performances, is said to be growing in Indonesia even as local culture puts a limit to it, said Gaerlan.
“Even if it has been around for more than half a century, we have to take into consideration that Indonesia is predominantly a Muslim country where strict laws on body exposure are observed,” he said. “However, times are changing. People are starting to accept, albeit slowly, ballet as an art, to be enjoyed and watched.”
For Gaerlan, JIDWaS 2016 could yield dance talents interested in turning professional.
“I expect to be able to find ballet dancers who are ready or want to prepare to get to the next level of their dancing careers. To find those who are willing to improve their artistry. To find enough passionate dancers to continue to hone their talents and develop to be professional dancers,” said Gaerlan.
He added that regular workshops will be undertaken so that the training and preparation of these dancers would continue.
The idea of putting up Indonesia’s first ballet company came about in 2010 after Gaerlan met with Macuja-Elizalde after watching a Ballet Manila performance. She introduced him to Yanti Marduli, an Indonesian then dancing with Ballet Manila.
“I told Lisa I could suggest more (Indonesian) dancers to go to BM. She blurted out, Why don’t you start a company there? I asked, how? She said, I will help you. We are lucky enough to have Lisa honor her word that she would help me start Indonesia’s first ballet company. So now, we start the search. We put up a workshop. From there, we’ll see how it goes.”
Gaerlan was formerly with Ballet Philippines. He joined the City Contemporary Dance Company Hong Kong in 1994. The following year, he moved to Indonesia upon the invitation of a friend, Yasinta, to teach at the Ballet Sumber Cipata, one of the Big 3 ballet schools where she was a dancer and teacher.
In 1996, Gaerlan and Yasinta opened their own dance school, Genecela Dance Centre. The pair got married in 1997.