When ABT dances 'the controlled chaos' and Licad plays 'the hardest in the literature'
Music and dance can uplift the soul and this couldn’t have been more evident than at the recent gala of the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Studio Company and Cecile Licad at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati. The full-house audience was simply enraptured by a repertoire of classic and contemporary choreographic works that showcased to great advantage the lyricism and technical virtuosity of the elite group of young dancers, complemented by the riveting, masterful performance of the beloved and most celebrated Filipino pianist of our time.
What made the show even more stirring was the fact that it was for the benefit of Ayala Foundation’s CENTEX which has been transforming the lives of so many economically disadvantaged children and their families through quality, holistic education. It also marked the homecoming of Vince Pelegrin, a former STEPS dance scholar who is now a member of the ABT Studio company. He was mentored by STEPS founder and gala chairperson Sofia Elizalde, who first organized the gala in 2018 when he and fellow scholar Elwince Magbitang were discovered by Sascha Radetsky, artistic director of ABT Studio Co., and Stella Abrera, who was ABT principal dancer then and is now artistic director of ABT’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. The two boys got scholarships for the school and made it to the studio company, while Elwince is now with the mother company. Sascha and Stella flew in to stage the production and conduct master classes in Manila and Cebu.
The studio company is comprised of 12 dancers, between ages 16 and 21, selected from all over the US and abroad where ABT keeps a global presence through cultural exchanges. With members from the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Brazil and Spain, most came from the JKO school “which has 350 students on average, showing how there is a very small opening,” according to Stella.
Diversity is also reflected in the repertoire for the evening as related by Sascha: “From different genres and costume design to music — there’s jazz, minimalist house, solo piano, big orchestral pieces, opera — so the dances are also varied, a hallmark of ABT to keep the dancers well rounded.”
Their extensive and rigorous training allowed them to tackle the intricacies of the opening number — Knife’s Edge, Houston Thomas’ exploration of the possibilities of classical ballet techniques which were bent, stretched and expanded to create new forms and combinations which the dancers executed with the precision of a sharp blade as Johannes Goldbach’s soundtrack of knives swished in the air together with drums and other percussive sounds.
Aleisha Walker, who was here to dance for the second gala in 2019, created Do You Care?, winner of the Young Creation Award at the Prix de Lausanne competition last February. Brady Farrar eloquently interpreted “the controlled chaos and uncertainty of everyone’s emotions and actions going through a difficult period” with the piece Nocturnal Waltz by Johannes Bornlöf, recalling the time when she lost a few people in her life.
Vince made his first appearance that evening with Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, set to music originally composed for Act 3 of Swan Lake which George Balanchine rediscovered and re-choreographed. Vince and Sylvie Squires elegantly glided into the romantic grand adage and had alternating solos that displayed well-honed technique, gleaned also in Vince’s partnering that exhibited precise lifts and catches, concluded by the final fish dive that elicited a rousing applause from the audience.
Baroque and opera fans saw a different take on Cecilia Bartoli’s recordings of Steffani, Handel and Vivaldi as interpreted by Hope Boykin in ...if it ain’t BA-ROQUE. Styling the dancers in costumes that alluded to the old with ruffs and waistcoats, the choreography was decidedly now with syncopated jazz movements alternating with classical steps that would morph into jive, reflecting her training at Alvin Ailey.
The program after the intermission brought on the fireworks with the Flames of Paris Pas de Deux performed by Madison Brown and Takumi Miyake who wowed the audience with their musicality and athleticism. Takumi’s fantastic tours en l’air and revoltades with clean landings caused audible gasps that easily made him a crowd favorite.
Concerto by Kenneth MacMillan with music by Shostakovich provided a respite of sublime poetry with Kyra Coco and Finnian Carmeci doing a pas de deux with grace, belying the difficult, controlled movements that resulted in abstract forms which the duo suffused with so much emotion.
Cecile Licad’s entrance is never less than dramatic and the collaboration with Vince upped the ante even more, not to mention this was a jazz piece by Art Tatum, Tatum Pool Boogie, which is not in her usual repertoire of classics. It was quite difficult to prepare for because the notation she found was not clear so she had to listen to the recording and do her own: “But I love challenges,” she says. “I don’t like repetitive stuff.” Getting the right timing together with Vince was also another factor. The fast footwork needed in certain parts was demanding but Vince compensated with his good sense of rhythm and “rizz,” his Gen-Z colleagues’ term for charisma.
For her solo, Cecile chose Chopin’s Études 10, 11 and 12, “the hardest in the literature,” she said, “instead of the No Other Love I would usually play here.” As expected, she nailed the challenges of multi-octave leaps and tricky articulations with her judicious phrasing and signature fire.
For the last piece, she played Scarlatti for The Go-Between, a work by Gemma Bond for eight of the dancers. “It’s like heavenly music and doing it the first time with the kids was really energizing,” Cecile recalled. Bond tried to make the neo-classical piece more playful and acrobatic to showcase the dancers’ versatility as well as their rhythm and coordination.
Thunderous applause marked the curtain call, a fitting goodbye to send the group on their way to an outreach tour of the Ayala Malls in Cebu and Davao. They left with a lot of goodwill which they had already gained when they visited the CENTEX school in Tondo before starting their rehearsals for the show. Sascha related that “it was an opportunity to see the incredible work at the school, to see these kids who have this aptitude, commitment and pride in what they’re doing. It was a visceral experience to see with their own eyes who they’re dancing in service of. It imbues it with so much meaning.”
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The gala show was co-presented by Patek Philippe and BPI Private Wealth in cooperation with Globe and Seda Hotels. The Ayala Center Cebu and Ayala Malls Abreeza were sponsored by Globe in cooperation with Seda Hotels, Philippine Airlines and Pearl Farm. Follow the authors on Instagram @rickytchitov; Twitter @RickyToledo23; Facebook - Ricky Toledo Chito Vijandre
