Many dance memories come to mind as National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes prepares for the restaging of Carmina Burana June 14 and15 at the Samsung Theater for Performing Arts.
“If my memory serves me right, we first did the Carl Orff opus with the Manila Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Helen Quach at the CCP main theater. We performed it with the full orchestra on stage and with the dancers sharing the stage with the conductor, singers, choir and the musicians. It was glorious,” she recalled.
This prompted her to mount a new Carmina Burana as a theatrical dance piece with sets and costumes by Salvador Bernal. “This 9th revival is the version we are doing now.”
The June 14 and15 staging has full complements of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Herminigildo Ranera along with the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Kilyawan Boys Choir, Inc. with baritone Byeong In Park, and soprano Lara Maigue.
It also includes Reyes’s Dugso (a groundbreaking collaboration with National Artist for Music, Dr. Ramon Santos), Norman Walker’s romantic pas de deux Summer’s End, and Augustus ‘Bam’ Damian III’s dynamic showcase of the company’s prowess, After Whom.
It may be noted that the full performance of Carmina Burana was recorded earlier by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Seiji Ozawa with the Filipino soprano Evelyn Mandac, tenor Stanley Kolk and baritone Sherrill Milnes.
Performing from the CCP main theater in 1975 to the newly constructed but smaller Samsung Theater in 2024 posed quite a problem. “Now we are working with our technical director Barbie Tantiangco on where to find space for the Madrigal Singers, the Kilyawan Children’s Choir and guest singers who should be all on stage.”
Her dance journey
Although she saw her first ballet with no less than Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin at the FEU Auditorium many years earlier, becoming a ballerina was farthest from her mind. “I don’t remember having reacted to that event as saying I wanted to be a ballerina. But like most impressionable kids, I was entranced by the beauty of that experience. Something about the music, the softness, the grace and the rapport between two people on stage touched me.”
Modern dance was really her cup of tea.
Her sojourn to contemporary dance started in the summer of ’64 when the cultural attache of the United States Embassy offered her a summer dance scholarship with dance icon Hanya Holm at Colorado Springs College.
It was followed by another invitation to bring her to New York to meet the modern dance community.
It opened her eyes and mind. “I finally gave in and said to myself, Face it. Dance, it is.”
National Artist for Dance
A turning point in 2014 was when she was declared National Artist for Dance after Leonor Orosa Goquingco who was one of her mentors. Years later, it was the turn of another former BP artistic director, Agnes Locsin, to be declared National Artist for Dance.
“Such a different world of dance now as it is with everything else in our lives. Thanks to the internet, everyone with a handheld smart phone has access to any dance, any dance company, any dancer, any dance event anywhere in the world. Anyone interested in dance is well informed. Before, we had to bring in the stars like Margot Fonteyn and Nureyev and teachers like Norman Walker and Chabukiani, among others,” she said.
She is grateful to be able to revisit some of her choreographic gems. “I think it is time for our young choreographers to work and meet the creative challenges and produce works that will carry on with the artistic excellence of the many masterpieces in our current repertoire. That is what I am doing now- challenging, encouraging, mentoring. I am proud of the new works that have been created and I take delight in seeing those on stage, just as I take great delight in bringing back old masterpieces in our repertoire.”
After 20 years, the transition saw her passing the baton of artistic directors to Edna Vida, Denisa Reyes, Agnes Locsin, Cecile Sicangco and others, including Bam Damian, Max Luna and Alan Hineline, and Paul Morales. “The company and its school grew, and expanded its repertoire of new works reflecting the times and the vision of each artistic director. When Agnes Locsin was able to finally travel, she gave us her works among them Igorot, Moriones and Encantada.”
She feels a lot more can still be done like funding dance workshops and providing scholarships to deserving dance students with talent to become performing artists and choreographers and teachers. “Let’s face it, dance can only thrive with creative collaborations unless you wanted to dance by yourself, for yourself, and in silence. As a creative dance artist, you needed to collaborate with dancers, with composers, designers, actors and singers, with technical people and most of all, the marketing people. You have to partner with patrons of the arts who can provide funds to enable you to create as an artist. In that sense, I would say choreography is a giving art.”
(Alice Reyes’ Carmina Burana is presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Alice Reyes Dance Philippines through the initiative of Senator Pia Cayetano. Performances are scheduled for 14 June 7:30 p.m. and 15 June at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Call 0967 153 6173 or email: [email protected])
