vinta

thesis journal entry # 5

(I wrote this last Friday but was only able to upload it today because I went and packed for my trip after I wrote it and couldn't be bothered to go online. And then, after dinner, I went to watch Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, which is a marvelous movie, you should go see it. When I got home after my date, I had to go to sleep because my flight the next day was at 5:30am and my parents wanted to leave the house at 2 because they believed with all their heart that you needed to be at the airport two hours before your departure time. I'm currently in a rush to print these out for my Research prof so I'm not bothering clarifying the tenses and when I felt all this exactly. But I know you're smart enough to figure all that out. So.)

We don't have ballet class today because it's the anniversary of the EDSA revolution; we're not off because we're observing the holiday, we're off because our studio is located a block away from the EDSA shrine and it might mean we would be unable to get to the studio to rehearse because of all the traffic and blocked roads and no transportation. Otherwise, we would have rehearsed, I'm pretty sure of it.

Anyway, I've decided today to reflect on the pieces we're performing tomorrow in Davao. We're performing for the NCCA-sponsored Sayaw Pinoy, a festival of dances in celebration of National Arts Month. I'm surprised that we're only dancing in Davao this year. Last year, we danced in Pasig and again in Cebu, while the other participating groups got to perform at two places each also, all throughout the Philippines. Also, I didn't see a schedule this year, so I'm not sure how many other performances there were. But I'm assuming there are other performances.

We're performing Vinta, Tzigane and the Grand Pas De Deux from La Bayadere. Today, I'll discuss my thoughts of Vinta.

Vinta has been in the PBT repertoire for a long time now; if I remember correctly, it was first danced by Lisa Macuja as the lead dancer. Most of PBT's principal dancers had performed not only the lead, but had gone through the ranks, dancing the roles of the corps de ballet, then of the demi-soloist before dancing the part of the lead.

Vinta is an abstract, thematic ballet inspired by the sailboats of the same name in Mindanao. It is in classical ballet form and danced en pointe, but somewhat stylized. The movements are polished with touches attributed to the Muslim - flexed hands, angular arms and legs, heads held regally high while maintaining an aloof veneer, with eyes cast down. The women wear long-sleeved unitards with muslim patterns at the hems of the pants and sleeves, a pearl- studded headband, and wear a malong around their bodies and use them in the dance. The three men are in unitards fashioned in a Venus cut, and end right below their knees.

Vinta was choreographed by PBT's current artistic director Gener Caringal to music by Vangelis, soaring and evocative electronic music with symphonic and rock elements, and with a sampling of waves crashing and wind howling in the background. Lengths of cloth are stretched across the stage at the start and end of the dance. These cloths, as well as the movements of the dancers are supposed to evoke the Mindanao sailboats on the water. It is unclear whether we are the sailboat or the crew of the sailboat or the waves that push the sailboat. But then, that's the fun part of the abstract ballet, we can be anything.

I'm dancing as one of the four corps de ballet girls; there used to be six but over time, they had to cut two of the girls out of the choreography because it was performed a lot during tours. In the past year, there was a chance to make it six again but that was dropped because the costume mistress couldn't find the other two corps de ballet costumes, which must have been buried so deep in the costume room from all the years they weren't brought out to be performed in.

Anyway, I love dancing Vinta. Even as one of the corps, I think it's not a kulelat part because most of the dancing in Vinta is difficult; in PBT you're cast in Vinta when you get to a certain level in the company. If you perform Vintaon a level that doesn't meet the choreographer's standards, you're screwed. I'm serious - there are a lot of horror stories about making mistakes in Vinta that were seen by Tito G. Let's just say that Tito G can be a sweet man but he's really a terror when it comes to discipline, dancing and performance.

(No, he doesn't hit us, if that's what you thought I meant. You don't have to physically hurt someone to make them scared of you. And it's more like scared enough never to make that mistake, or any mistake, again.)

Back to my point. I love dancing Vinta because the movements are demanding and precise, but they really flow into each other - as long as you remember where your hands go while holding and letting go of that malong. It's pretty good dancing and there's a lot of triumphant senses of fulfillment when you exit that stage after dancing your best. It's also very musical, even driven by the music at times. And the dance is so structuired that even the patterns made on the floor while crossing each other make interesting shapes that contribute to the overall effect of the dance.

The lead boy in Vinta had been performed by Manny Molina, Nicolas Pacana, Raoul Banzon, once or twice by Osias Barroso Jr, Quincy Jacinto, Ron Jaynario and Lucas Jacinto. Lucas and Quincy are my brothers, Raoul is my uncle, my mom's brother. At one early performance of Vinta, performed by Lisa Macuja and Nicolas Pacana, with my family in the audience, Julie Borromeo, whom my Dad used to dance for during his time, had remarked to him, "That shouldn't be him (Pacana) up there. You know, everytime I see this, I can see you dancing."

My Dad used to be not only Tita Julie's star dancer, but also Lucresia Urtula's when he was dancing for Bayanihan and Conching Sunico's when he danced for Karilagan. People would call his dancing "magnetic" and "earthy." He had (and still has) this suave way of moving and a stage presence you can't ignore. His favorite beef about his dancing was that he was never tapped to play Prince roles, which always went to Nonoy Froilan and Franklin Bobadilla; Dad was always the contravida. But he was the kind of villain that made women swoon - my mother fell in love with him when she saw him dance an Igorot warrior solo.

Princes hardly make effective Vinta leads. Pacana is one example, Shaz Barroso is another. While Lisa mostly trusted Shaz to partner her throughout her career as a ballerina, she would only perform Vinta with Shaz a few times, and then mostly with Raoul, who is more a rogue than a romantic lead.

Then came the time Quincy was cast in Vinta; everyone was so awed by his attack of the role, from Tita Julie to adoring audiences to our younger brother Lucas. So much so that when Lucas was cast in Vinta after he came back to dancing professionally and Quincy left for the States, he was very afraid to dance it, afraid that he'll perform it and forever hear, "Well, it wasn't as good as Quincy's."

Lucas is a Prince. When he was way younger, he was even dubbed "The future Prince of Philippine Ballet," the next Prince after Nonoy Froilan. And he did live up to it. He is tall, regal and handsome and he can do clean yet impressive turns, jumps and tricks. Quincy is more like my father, always ticked off at Lucas because he's the obvious Prince, never mind if his roles have lots of meat on them already. Quincy was expected to do a fantastic Vinta and he delivered. People weren't quite as sure of Lucas in the same role.

But the day of his Vinta premiere came and the same people were stunned (myself included, but not quite as much, I think). Lucas had somehow found enough mojo to be convincingly magnetic and powerful. He did it so well, that in the past two years, nobody else has danced his role in Vinta except for him.

One of his secrets to success is quite funny. I said him once, "Ang galing ng Vinta mo ah." And he replied, "Kasi pag sinasayaw ko, iniisip ko na (and he strikes a strong Vinta pose) ako si Quincy."

Actually, there was one person who wasn't quite impressed with Lucas' first Vinta performance. That would be my Dad. He gave my brother pointers about what to do with the role, how to approach it. Over time, Lucas has studied, applied and perfected them and his Vinta keeps getting better and better with each show. A couple weeks ago, at the La Salle show, I thought it was his best performance yet. As he gets better dancing this dance, so do I feel that my dancing this dance has also improved. I suppose it's one of the reasons why I love dancing Vinta so much. Or any kind of dancing in general.