The Alvin Erasga Tolentino Story

His name may not ring a bell this side of the Pacific, but in Vancouver, Canada, his home since 1983, Alvin Erasga Tolentino is hailed as one of the best Asian dancer-choreographers on the scene. "One of Vancouver’s most prolific and Canada’s gifted male contemporary dancers" (The Georgia Straight). "One of the 21 artists and performers who will change the face of culture in B.C. in the 21st century" (Vancouver Sun). Paeans to his work include superlatives such as "devastatingly beautiful", "totally captivating", "enigmatic and compelling".

Alvin’s passion for dance is clear and undisguised, even at first meeting. "My fascination for dance has led me to a lifetime commitment to dancing and dance-making," Alvin says in his artistic statement. "For me, dance is more than simply movement. It is a gateway to the spirit, an abundant source of knowledge and unpredictable experiences. Dance has given me a personal vocabulary with which to express both the conscious and subconscious workings of my mind, bringing life and meaning to your and my world."

Alvin is the child of parents not given much to the world of the arts. His father works with cars while his mother is a costume designer and seamstress. "My mother has an instinct for the arts but not the way I have," says Alvin.

He points to an aunt, a dancer living in Spain, as a possible source for his artistic leanings. "My parents knew I was different. They saw that I had some facilities, some ideas and ways very different from other children but they thought it was just a phase," Alvin recalls. "As a child, I was always interested in dance, in movement. I was fascinated with ethnic dancing and you know, in school there were a lot of festivities and I would join. But I never had any formal training."

With his family, Alvin moved to Vancouver or, as he romantically puts it, "the Western World." He recounts: "It was not until I moved to North America that I realized that my fascination for dance was not just barrio fiesta. I realized that I could actually become a real professional artist and make a living of it and make something of myself as an artist."

Alvin turned serious during his high school years when he began to take classes in the evenings. After school, he ventured out into the world of dance, traveling to different places in North America, training professionally in art and dance at The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, York University’s Fine Arts in Toronto and at the State University of New York’s Limon Institute.

He spent two years at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, immersing himself in classical ballet. He left after deciding that it was not the place he wanted to be. "I wanted the rawness of modern dance," he explains. "Modern dance is grounded, it’s versatile, it’s free. The essence of freedom was what I wanted. So I left ballet and pursued modern dance seriously and everything else fell into place for me. The lack of male dancers in the world put me in a place where, I, having the talent and the capability, could be successful."

Today, he is one of the most dynamic members of Vancouver’s artistic community. He is the only Filipino dancer and the most active of a visible minority, an Asian artist and, he adds, a gay man and a person of color.

"It’s very elite," say Alvin when asked how he felt about being described as Vancouver’s most gifted and prolific male dancer. "I think I’m really lucky, being a man of color, being ethnic and having a real solid place in Canada and in Vancouver. But you know, I’ve worked hard and I’ve performed with many dance companies."

Alvin has been an independent dancer in Canada for more than a decade now. That means being able to choose where and whom to work for, says Alvin. Last year, he formed his own dance company called Co. Erasga, with a mandate to foster the active creation of innovative new dance works, concentrating on live performances and other multi-media art presentations involving visual arts, cyberspace, video and film across Canada and internationally.

"I love multi-media," Alvin enthuses. "I love the incorporation of video work in dance. I like to work with performance art, installation art pieces like sculpture. I love the essence of multi-media and the drama of theatrical stage and bringing the power of dance to the different art mediums."

Alvin has been in Manila the past three weeks working on "Field 1" for Ballet Philippines’ Neo-Filipino 2003: Balikbayan, set to go on stage on Feb. 7, 8 and 9 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theater). Neo-Filipino 2003: Balikbayan brings together Filipino artists based abroad like, aside from Alvin, Kristin Jackson, a Philippine-Irish-American choreographer, dancer and teacher whose choreography, for the past 15 years, has been astounding audiences in New York, Boston and Manila; Alden Lugnasin whose exposure to first-rate ballet masters and choreographers has motivated him to create six daring creations to date, including Aku which won the silver medal in the solo category in the Concours International de Danse de France in December 2000.

Balikbayan likewise explores other dance media with the participation of the award-winning music group Pinikpikan, set designer Bogie Ruiz and video artist Tad Ermitano for his video/computer installations distinguished by a visual/aural sensuousness.

NeoFilipino 2003: Balikabayan marks Alvin’s debut in the Philippines and the premiere of this new work inspired by the "kabukiran", the word he uses to describe the culture of rice and the pastoral environment and social milieu where rice is grown.

"We have a home in Cabanatuan where my grandparents owned land planted with rice," Alvin recounts. "My grand-father was the master of the land. I remember him on his carabao working in the field. I remember the rituals…planting the palay, bringing it home, etc. I remember standing before sacks and sacks of palay piled high on top of each other. We had five carabaos at the back of the house. After my grandfather died, this was all gone. When I went back there, my memories were gone. Where did it all go? Where did the carabaos go?"

Field 1, says Alvin, is the result of his attempt to capture the importance of the land and of rice to Filipinos as it was to his family in Cabanatuan. "Rice is kabuhayan, rice is kayamanan. Rice is important to Filipinos everywhere," says Alvin. Field 1 puts together an "abstract physicality", linking the kabukiran, the feelings of his family and his feelings about the land and the ricefields, about rice and how central it is, to their lives and to the lives of Filipinos.

Alvin is particularly excited about Field 1 because it is his first work to be presented in Manila. "It’s really nice to be back,"Alvin says, adding that the desire to return home to the Philippines really struck only when he was maturing. "I was in that place as an artist where I was beginning to look for authenticity of who I am. I thought perhaps I should go back to the Philippines because that is where I am from and that’s where my roots are. So I did."

So when Ballet Philippines Artistic Director Denisa Reyes invited him to join the Balikbayan project, it was an easy decision to make. "I wrote her and made a commitment. I told myself this will be a new seed…."