Accents
Joy in our world
Radiant joy is what we wish and pray for all of the world—the radiance springing from a deep sense of Faith, Hope, and Love — St. Paul’s credo that encompasses all religions, or no religion, too, as the Beatles would have it.
The radiant joy we experienced in the last gasps of 2008 is spilling over to 2009. How else could I describe the feeling, but exuberant Faith, Hope, and Love as we applauded in standing ovation the cast of Moscow Ballet’s The Nutcracker Suite in its South Carolina’s performance, Dec. 26. Faith, Hope, and Love, ingredients that bring about that Lightness of Being we felt with every suspended pose of the ballet dancer up high, her lithe figure on tiptoe on her partner’s shoulder.
Beauty of form, grace, and music that one sees only on film comes to life in flesh that was so near to the touch. We were seated on Row A of the North Charleston Center for the Performing Arts. At $60/ticket, we got the closest seats for this show long dreamed of by our granddaughter Danika.
The theme of recovered possession, the nutcracker gift, is uplifting to the young, drives home the moral of the triumph of goodness over evil. The Mouse King, in the role of antagonist, gets his comeuppance from the Prince, the hero who restored the nutcracker for the lovely Clara (she’s Masha or Marie in other adaptations) cuddling it dearly at the closing scene.
Ballet doesn’t give names—the complete absence of speaking lines is to be expected—so that we have to refer to the synopsis to better understand the story. At the lobby gift store, we bought a souvenir book, Tales of Classical Ballet, that carried this quote: “The Nutcracker Ballet is based on Alexandre Dumas’ adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman’s story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. …the famous Russian composer Tchaikovsky [created] music for the ballet based on the story. The Nutcracker was first performed…in St. Petersburg [Russia] in 1892. This most beloved holiday treat is over 100 years old and is performed in countries around the world.” Considered a Christmas staple, it is currently on tour in more than thirty states in the U.S. The Waltz of the Snowflakes was mesmerizing. We were suffused in the ambience of the holiday season with the dancers seemingly afloat in shimmering white.
What makes The Nutcracker entertaining for both young and adult devotees of ballet is its “grand divertissement” of dances from Spain, China, Arabia, Russia, and France capped by the Waltz of the Flowers. Moscow Ballet has adaptations of Cinderella, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty, and children will surely delight as these characters leap from the pages of their book. Us adults steeped in literature will wonder how deeply ballet could make us empathize with Shakespeare’s “star-crossed” lovers, Romeo and Juliet, as they rise to tragic heights. Or how much quixotic we could be, i.e., foolishly idealistic, when brought to the performance of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote de la Mancha. (Go on, Don Quixote, go slay your windmills while we continue to slay ours in the non-ballet reality of the crass, putrid, sickening state of Philippine politics.)
The anthology mentions more classic tales adapted to ballet, but with the prohibitive price of tickets, how many more performances could we afford to see? Boils down to economics, if you ask me, bringing me to ask an interesting question.
In the whole of their lifetime, how many of the kids in Bayan Ko would ever have a chance to see a live ballet performance? How many are so deprived in the enjoyment of the arts, ballet in particular? To be awed, excited, inspired by the beauty of form, movement, and music—arts that promote an inspired life—we wish that for our people, too.
Relevant to mention here multi-awarded Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, the country’s foremost ballet dancer recognized in both Russia and in the U.S. Says the Internet’s Wikipedia: “Macuja-Elizalde has performed the principal roles in over 200 full-length and contemporary ballets in some 81 cities, spanning five continents. Her repertoire as principal includes: Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Giselle, La Bayadère, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, La Fille Mal Gardée, Coppélia, La Sylphide, Romeo and Juliet, Les Sylphides, Carmen, Pineapple Poll, El Amor Brujo, Serenade, and the role of Cio-Cio San in the world premiere of Thomas Pazik’s Madame Butterfly.”
Now 44, she has two children with husband Fred Elizalde. She is the Artistic Director of Ballet Manila and Vice-Chairman of the Philippine UNESCO National Commission. She had been a Commissioner of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women.
To quote further: “Hailed as the ‘ballerina of the people’, Macuja-Elizalde is committed to bringing ballet closer to the hearts of the Filipino masses.” There you go. Wonder when ballet in its high perch will come down and enthrall the masses of Iloilo. (Email: lagoc@hargray.com)