Review by Joelle Jacinto
European audiences traditionally shout “Encore!” at the end of a performance if they liked it so much and wish to see a replay. Philippine Ballet Theatre had announced a season of mainly full-length ballets for 2019, but in September, replaced one production with Encore, which features the repertoire that PBT brought with them on their quite successful June 2019 tour of the USA. The programme is a mixed bill of some of their most exciting and impressive works, and features a company of persuasively strong dancers, both in technique and personality.
Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
The show begins with Vinta, a powerhouse staple that checks everything off the ideal repertoire list: technically demanding, opulently aesthetic, intelligently crafted, culturally relevant. Choreographed by Gener Caringal, Vinta has been in PBT’s repertoire since 1989, and is consistently performed as a representation of both the grandness of native Philippine culture, and the impressive skill and lines of the classically trained local ballet dancers.
Led by Regina Magbitang and Matthew Davo, Vinta straight away establishes PBT as one of the strongest dance companies in the region. Magbitang’s performance in this Vinta has improved by bounds from previous performances, opening herself up to the voluptuousness of the role and lengthening herself out as the choreography demands.
Davo is not as effective in Vinta as he is in Sa Entablado, the second of three Filipino ballets in the programme, where his boyish personality stands out as the exuberant señorito trying to impress the dalagang Filipinas who parade around him. He is also physically better suited to partner Veronica Atienza, whose smile is as coy as her movements and extensions are effortless.
Matthew Davo partnering Clarise Miranda and Ana Mikaela Samson
Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
Actually, both Vinta and Sa Entablado, which is from Tony Fabella’s Mantones de Manila, have been significant to PBT’s repertoire as they served these two functions of technically demanding ballets representing culture. While Vinta is inspired by Muslim culture from Southern Philippines, Mantones depicts Spanish Filipino dancing traditionas that were eventually developed as Philippine folk dance, to which Fabella pays tribute in this choreography. Sa Entablado, translated as On the Stage or Onstage, is the third section of Mantones, contemporizing Philippine folk dance into ballet, and again showing off their dancers at a highly technical level. From their performances at Encore, it is easy to see why PBT was a hit in the US.
Veronica Atienza and Jared Tan in the Don Quixote grand pas de deux
Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
Vinta was followed by the grand pas de deux from Don Quixote, featuring Atienza, special guest Jared Tan, and a corps de ballet of PBT’s current aspirants. It is important to see Atienza flex her talents in a grand pas, but perhaps she is too dainty for Kitri. Meanwhile, it was exciting to see Jared Tan return to the CCP Main Theatre stage, still full of the bravado he was known for before he left for the US, but with a distinct maturity that you cannot overlook. The only thing more exciting than his performance that evening is news that he plans to stay.
The second grand pas of the evening, Flames of Paris with Magbitang and newcomer Dominador Delmo, somewhat paled in comparison to Don Q, despite the obvious technical wizardry of both dancers. I found Delmo quite raw, his technique unpolished. Heavily relying on his capacity for tricks, he was more an acrobat than a dancer. Since he is given these demanding dances so soon, we can only hope that he and his dancing grow up quickly.
Kim Abrogena and Jimmy Lumba in Merry Widow pas de deux
Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
Perhaps the lack of sophistication of Flames of Paris was also made noticeable by the pas de deux from The Merry Widow, which came before it. Performed by Kim Abrogena and Jimmy Lumba, it didn’t have any fiery, acrobatic tricks, only gorgeous, mesmerizing dancing. Abrogena, in her billowing gown, was breathtaking as she consumed all the space on the dance floor while Lumba ably whirled her around, and we could see the joy that was blossoming from this small tryst from the full length ballet.
The second half of Encore was a short version of Serye at Sayaw, artistic director Ronilo Jaynario’s teleserye ballet that was initially a collaboration with the ABS-CBN Orchestra, where symphonic versions of current Filipino pop songs accompanied a danced narrative about a young woman choosing between two lovers.
Kim Abrogena and Matthew Davo in Serye at Sayaw
Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
Each song could be performed as stand alone dances, with different members of the company taking turns performing the same three main characters of the story. For example, Abrogena and Davo portray the main couple at the beginning and the end of the serye, but in between, their story is told by Ana Mikaela Samson and Kazier Policarpio in Ngayon at Kailanman, Tan in Anong Nangyari sa Ating Dalawa, Atienza in Ikaw, Magbitang and Mark Joseph Pineda in Hanggang sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggang with Delmo as the rival lover, and Gladys Baybayin and Julafer Fegarido in Kailangan Kita. They all wear the same colors to identify themselves as the character, with both leads in white, while the rival is in red, and they are joined by the full company in different colours.
The shorter version is indeed tighter than the original, and the new pace makes the story more engaging, allowing the audience to enjoy the dancing more than the convoluted drama. Jaynario excels in complicated contemporary ballet partnering, challenging his dancers with death-defying lifts and throws, especially in the Magbitang-Pineda-Delmo trio and in the Baybayin-Fegarido duet, although I did find the latter a bit too much already.
Ana Mikaela Samson and Kazier Policarpio in Serye at Sayaw
Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
I appreciated more Abrogena and Davo’s bittersweet duet to Muntik Nang Maabot Ang Langit, and Samson and Policarpio’s heartbreaking duet. I find interesting that after relegating the story to a lower priority, I am suddenly now looking for it. When I had seen the original in 2014, I felt that the dancing was dragged down by the story, because it was a shallow TV drama plot, and of course the dancing should be more valuable. But this time, I am more interested in how the dancers should be telling their story, which I felt Abrogena and Davo, and Samson and Policarpio have achieved successfully, as with Tan’s and Atienza’s respective solos. Now that the dancing is quite satisfying, I want to actually care about what happens.
All photos by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
As Abrogena and Davo lead the full cast to a rousing finale to Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika, we do indeed feel that our music is beautiful, our dancers are beautiful, and it is so much more fun in the Philippines. It is not a Filipino tradition to shout, “Encore!” at the end of a show, but we did shout “Bravo!”, all full of euphoric Pinoy pride. I am definitely looking forward to more of this energized, engaging PBT in 2020.~
