Philippine dance

DE 0TEYZA, TOTOY (Remedios Alvarez de Oteyza) b. Manila 20 Jun 1920 d. 25 Jun 1978. Dancer, choreographer. She was born to Carlos de Oteyza, a journalist and enterpreneur, and Manuela Alvarez, a pianist and singer. Two sisters were visual artists and a brother was a musician. She finished high school at the Assumption Convent. At age eight, De Oteyza studied ballet in Spain and later in Manila with Luva Adameit. Because of poor health she had to quit the groups she had joined in Spain. In Manila, she continued study- ing with Paul Szilard; in 1948, she took an intensive course with visiting couple Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, and with Mia Slavenska in 19-73. Then she went to Europe, studying under Markova and Dolin in Liverpool, and Olga Preobrajenska, Lubov Egorova, Leo Staats, and Jeanne and Nelly Schwarz in Paris. De Oteyza started to choreograph at age 12. An Egyptian suite, to Grieg, which she composed for the Manila Carnival, won first prize. De Oteyza founded the Classic Ballet Academy in 1947, which became the Ballet and Dance Center in Makati which she ran with Inday Gaston-Ma:ii.osa. They both founded the Hari- raya Dance Company in 1968. She had joint projects with Paul Szilard and Manalo Rosado in the 1950s, Ballet Philippines, and Ballet Federation of the Philip- pines in the 1970s. She also taught at the CCP Dance School. Many of her students made their mark in Phi- lippine ballet. She was noted for her abstract ballets in the neo- classical vein, among them choreography for two piano concertos by Grieg and Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, Cesar Franck's Symphonic Varia- tions, Khatchaturian's Masquerade Suite, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol, and Ravel's Bolero. On the other hand, she also did story ballets: lbong Adama (Adarna Bird), 1970, co-choreographed with Gaston-Ma:ii.osa, to mu- sic by Rodolfo Cornejo; and The Haunted Ballroom, 1973, to· Dohnanyi. For Ballet Philippines, she choreo- graphed Spectrum, 1972, to Cornejo, and Prelude, 1977, to Alfredo Buenaventura. Her last work was the choreography for the dances in the opera La Giocon- da, 1977. In 1976, De Oteyza was honored at the First National Ballet Festival for having "unreservedly sus- tained the classical tradition in dance." In 1977, she received the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the City of Manila. Hariraya Ballet Company, Dance Concert Company, and the Philippine Ballet Theater paid tributes to her.

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Together with her pioneering contemporaries, De Oteyza transmitted the classical dance tradition from the first Filipino and foreign teachers to the next gen- eration who would forge more permanent institutions in Philippine ballet. • B.E.S. Villaruz

DIZON, REY b. Manila 13 Feb 1955. Dancer. Dizon studied at the University of the East and danced in its folk and contemporary dance company. In 1973, he trained at the CCP Dance School and became a mem- ber of Ballet Philippines in 1974. Among his teachers were Garth Welch, Gerard Sibbritt, Tony Llacer, Eddie Elejar, Alfred Rodrigues, Armin Wild, Norman Walker, and Rochelle Zide Booth in ballet; and Alice Reyes, Tony Fabella, Gener Caringal, Pauline Kaner, Takaka Asakawa, David Hatch Walker, and Norman Walker in modern dance. While in the Philippines, he danced the lover in Gener Caringal' s Ang Sultan (The Sultan), 1973; as the boy in Alice Reyes' Dugso; Harle- quin in Fokine' s Le Camaval; the central pas de deux with Elizabeth Roxas in Caringal' s Rite of Spring; and as Alainlthe butterfly boy in Fernand Nault's La Fille Mal Gardee, 1969.

He joined Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1975 and later became one of its principal dancers. There he danced Frantz in Coppelia; Albrecht in Giselle; the Cavalier and the Russian Dance in The Nutcracker; Jean de Brienne in Raymonda; and the grand pas de deux in Don Quixote. He also danced the title role in Petrouchka and the principal parts in Balanchine' s Four Temperaments (Melancholic); Square Dance; Agon and Tarantella; in Nijinska's Les Noces; Milko Sparemblek's Ballade du Soldat; and Maurice Bejart's Firebird. After casting him in After Eden, choreo- grapher John Butler created a special solo for him in Quest. • B.E.S. Villaruz

DOMINGO, SONIA TANDOC b. Manila 10 Apr 1956. Dancer, teacher, choreographer. The daughter of banker Panfilo 0. Domingo and Deagelia Tandoc, she studied dance in London, and is also a certified public accountant, with a degree in accounting from the University of the East. She started ballet in 1968 with Felicitas Layag-Radaic and Marife Versoza at St Theresa's College. From 1971, she trained with Ruth French, Alex Morrow and Joan Hewson, becoming French's assistant in 1972. From 1977, she trained with Basilio, William Morgan, Eddie Elejar, Fernand Nault, Robert Barnett, and Mannie Rowe. She then danced with Dance Theater Philippines (DTP) and in Ballet Federation of the Philippines pro- ductions, and taught for Layag-Radaic at the St There- sa's College School of Dance. Between 1984 and 1989, she was ballet and rehearsal mistress for DTP, and in 1990, for Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT). Since 1985, she has been lecturer in ballet for the dance degree program of the University of the Philippines College of Music and its extension program. Between 1987 and 1990, she taught for the CCP Dance School. In 1992 she founded her own dance center in Quezon City. Cur- rently she is Philippine organizer for the Royal Academy of Dancing. She has danced major roles in Coppelia, Napoli, Fernand Nault's La Fille Mal Gar- dee, William Morgan's Czerniana and Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Swan Lake, Thomas Pazik's Romeo and Juliet, Eric Cruz's Interior Castle, Layag- Radaic's Tanan and Oy, Akin Yan! (Hey, That's Mine!), and Basilio's Mosque Baroque and Tropical Tapestry. In 1991, she choreographed Awit ni Pulau (Song of Pulau) for the UP Cherubim and Seraphim. She also restaged Giselle for DTP, and Romeo and Juliet for PBT. • M.G. Castro

DUBSKY-ZIPPER

DUBSKY-ZIPPER, TRUDL b. Vienna, Austria 21 Jan 1913 d. Los Angeles, California, USA 1976. Dancer, teacher, choreographer. As a child, Dubsky-Zipper joined Max Reinhardt's production of A Mid- summer Night's Dream and other productions in Europe. She studied dance at the State Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and later toured Europe as a soloist of Gertrude Bodenwieser's dance ensemble. She then taught at the Vienna State Academy and established her own school in 1931, with Jeanette Rutherstone. At the same time, she taught special courses in England, at the Bedford Physical Training College, the Royal Academy of Dancing, and for Margaret Craske. She also choreographed for the Camargo Society, collaborating with its musical direc- tor Sir Thomas Beecham. In 1934, she rejoined the Bodenwieser group. Invited by Kaethe Hauser to Manila in 1937, she taught modern dance at the Academy of Music and foreign dances at the University of the Philippines. Under the auspices of the Asociacion Musical de Filipi- nas, headed by Rosario Valdes, she formed Manila Ballet Moderne. In 1939, she married fellow Viennese Herbert Zipper, who had just been released from a Nazi concentration camp. A symphony orchestra con- ductor, Zipper took over the leadership of the Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) after the death of Alexander Lippay. In November of that year, Dubsky- Zipper premiered her works: Petite Suite-Au Bord de la Seine by Debussy, The Iron Foundry by Mossolow, Peer Gynt Suite by Grieg, and Voices of Spring by Strauss. In 1940, she presented Pictures at an Exhibi- tion by Moussorgsky, Plovetsky Dances from Prince Igor by Borodin, and The Toy Box by Schubert. The 1941 concert featured one new work, The Women of Aries to Bizet. The outbreak of WWII in December 1941 halted theater activities, and the Zippers joined the under- ground resistance. In 1942, Dubsky-Zipper conducted dance classes on the rooftop of her apartment, and her students, taking any means of transportation avail- able, paid their fees in cash or in kind. At war's end, she immediately revived Manila Ballet Moderne and presented dance concerts for the USAFFE troops, while Zipper conducted the MSO in 250 concerts held in ruined churches and the Rex Theater in Chinatown. Responding to a fund raising appeal from Pres Sergio Osmena, the Zippers went to the United States in 1946 to solicit funds in 21 cities. She performed and lectured on the United States West Coast, and later joined her husband in New York, establishing a school in Brook- lyn, teaching at drama workshops, and choreog- raphing for recitals and off-Broadway productions.

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ARTISTS

DUQUE, MONINO S. (Felix Sanchez Duque) b. Tuao, Cagayan 9 Oct 1947. Lighting designer, technic- al director, set designer. He is the son of Oscar Duque and Mercedes Sanchez. He obtained his bachelor of arts in English literature, minor in communication arts at the Ateneo de Manila University in 1968. He took special courses in play production, acting, stage light- ing, and scene design at the Ateneo; and in stage lighting, stage design, theater history, stage makeup, costume, and dance at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA. He has been the recipient of scho- larships and grants: to study stagecraft at the East West Center, 1971- 1972; to observe theater in the United States, through the JDR III Fund, 1972; to observe theater in London and Stratford-on-Avon, through the British Council, 1973; to observe theater activities in Germany, grant through the Inter- Nationes, 1973; to participate as technical director and lighting designer for the official Philippine entry to the Festival Mondial du Theater in Nancy, France, 1977; to observe theater practice in major cities of Europe, through the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP); to observe theater at the Covent Garden in London, through the British Council; to visit Japanese theaters, through the Japan Foundation, 1987; and to observe theater in the USSR, through the CCP, grant 1990. He

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has attended, as official participant, the Mustika Malaysia, Genting, Malaysia, 1981, and the ASEAN Arts Festival in Kuala Lumpur in 1981 and in Hong Kong. He was the technical director for the International Arts Fes- tival held in Taiwan, Taipei, 1984, and director for the CCP' s performances at Expo '92 in Seville, Spain. Duque has conducted lectures on stagecraft and theater arts, on stage lighting design, and technical direction at workshops and seminars at the CCP, and at schools and colleges in Manila and in the provinces. He was appointed assistant technical director at the CCP in 1970. In 1986, he was appointed CCP associate arf..stic director 'for theater operations. He also served as production consultant and set designer for the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company, 1990- 1991. He has created the lighting design for plays, bal- lets, concerts, and other performances. For the CCP, he lighted Godspell, 1973; Madame Butterfly, with the Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera Company, 1982; and Magic Flute, directed by Sarah Caldwell, 1983; and Magsimula Ka (Begin Now), 1988. For the CCP Dance Company/Ballet Philippines, he lighted The Puppet, Variaciones Concertantes, and Baile De Ayer (Dance of Yesterday), 1974; Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1977; Giselle, with Natalia Makarova and Patrick Bissel, Concertina, and Shakers, 1979; Swan Lake with Yoko Moroshita and Fernando Bujones, The Sleeping Beau- ty, and Romeo and Juliet, 1980; and Dugso, Odysseus, and Cinderella, 1981. For the CCP Tanghalang Pilipi- no, he lighted Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden), 1987, and Francisco Maniago, 1988. For Dulaang UP, he lighted Alkalde ng Zalamea (The Mayor of Zalamea), 1990; Misteryo ng Pumpon ng Rosas (Mys- tery of the Rose Bouquet), 1991; and And St Louis Loves dem Filipinos, 1992. Other lighting design cre- dits include A Crowded Moment, for the Ambivalent Crowd concert at the CCP in 1970; Trojan Women for the Universiy of Hawaii at Manoa in 1973; Uncle Vanya for Teatro Pilipino in 1974; Taghoy ng Troya (Trojan Women) for the Manila Metropolitan Theater in 1979; and Manila, Manila As Time Goes By, for the inaugu- ral musical revue of the Manila Hotel in 1984. • M.L. Maniquis

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ELEJAR, EDDIE (Eduardo Causin Mendoza) b. Manila 31 Dec 1934. Dancer, choreographer. The son of Dr Sergio Elejar Mendoza and Felisa Causin, Eddie Elejar graduated from De la Salle University with a degree in commerce. While in college in the 1950s, he took ballet lessons with Ricardo Cassell and Totoy de Oteyza. He then trained with Olga Preobrajanska, Volkart, Karen Taft, Robert Joffrey, Maurice Bejart, and Marie Rambert in the 1960s. In the 1950s, Elejar performed in the productions of Cassell, like Love's Sorrow, 1951, Swan Lake, 1952 and 1955, Serenade for Strings, 1952, Merry Wives of Windsor as Falstaff and On Stage, 1953; of De Oteyza, like Prayer and Four Seasons, both in 1954, Four Ele- ments and Rhapsody in Blue, both in 1955, and the grand pas de deux from The Nutcracker and Don Quix- ote; as well as in productions of Trudl Dubsky-Zipper, like Midsummer Night's Dream, The Idol, and Pieta, all in 1953. When Alexandra Danilova carne in 1955, he danced in the classical numbers and in The Beautiful Blue Danube.

ELEJAR

With Maribel Aboitiz, he performed in Madrid, Barcelona, Zurich, and Lausanne with the Tena Ballet. Back in Manila, he danced with De Oteyza' s new Mani- la Ballet Company. In 1959 and 1960, he joined Bayani- han Philippine Dance Company's Philippine and world tours. From 1963, he started collaborating with Joji Felix-Velarde at the Philippine Women's Universi- ty as well as with Tina Santos and Bonnie Weinstein. He was premier danseur of Parnana Ballet from 1966 to 1968, with Greta Monserrat as his partner. He formed Dance Theater Philippines (DTP) with Julie Borrorneo and Felicitas Layag-Radaic in 1968. The company was launched with a production by Poul Gnatt. In DTP, he choreographed Katakata Sin Rajah Indarapatra (Stories of Rajah Indarapatra) to music by Jose Maceda and Gates of Hell to Verese. He was artistic director for Mir-i-nisa, 1969, which was in the Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) inaugural season. In 1970, he worked with Alice Reyes and Tina Santos for Alice Reyes and Modern Dance Com- pany. He directed Santos' farewell performance, where he partnered her and choreographed Varia- tions for Six. Elejar and Reyes then jointly founded and directed the CCP Dance Workshop and Company (now Ballet Philippines), for which he created Juliet and Her Romeo, 1970, for Reyes and Manuel Molina, Jewels, 1970; Juru-Pakal (The Enchanted Kris) and Who's the Clown, 1971; Trio con Brio and Kapinangan, 1972; Misang Pilipino (Filipino Mass), 1974; and Rigo- don Sketches, 1976. For the CCP, he choreographed Look Ma, I'm Dancing, Chopin Variations and Swan of Tounela. He danced in ballets by Reyes, Antonio Fabella, Miro Zolan, and Norman Walker. He also became production director of Ballet Fed- eration of the Philippines. Renewing ties with DTP, he choreographed Masks, 1981, for Anna Villadolid; Once Upon a Village, 1982, for Franklin Bobadilla; and Mutya ng Buhay (Muse of Life), 1986. With Fabella, he founded and directed the Manila Metropolis Ballet (MMB) from 1978 to 1988. Among his works in MMB were Mutya ng Nayon (Village Muse), Rigodon de Honor, Hayop ang GaZing (Fantabulous), Song Cycle, Piano Concerto, Iago, Morning Dew, and May Day Eve. With MMB's merger into Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT), he contributed a new Rigodon, 1989, and a restaged Masks, 1991. In 1991-1993, he was PBT' s artistic director. Elejar has had one of the longest dancing and creative careers in the history of Philippine dance. Considered the country's danseur noble for most of his creative years, he has partnered ballerinas from Inday

ARTISTS

ELLA, RICARDO b. Sipocot, Camarines Sur 25 Aug 1958. Dancer. He first trained as a martial arts teacher, but shifted to dance in 1977 when he studied with Vella Damian. He soon joined Dance Concert Company, taking on soloist parts. Occasionally, he guested with Dance Theater Philippines, dancing in its tour of England and Scotland in 1979 and of Hong Kong in 1980. After training in Manila with William Morgan, Ella won a scholarship to the Australian Ballet School of Melbourne in 1981. Graduating in 1984, he joined the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 1985 and danced with the company until 1987. He took lead parts as Albrecht in Giselle, Siegfried in Swan Lake, and in modern ballets like Orpheus which earned him superlative reviews. He joined the Australian Ballet in 1978, taking the role of Athos in The Three Musketeers and Gum in La Sylphide. In 1989, Ella guested with Christine Walsh for the Ballet Philippines gala, and in 1990, he danced with Philippine Ballet Theater and the Australian Stars of Ballet under the auspices of the Philippine-organized Onstage Artists of which he and his wife Walsh are directors. His latest assignment was in the Australian production of The Phantom of the Opera. • B.E.S. Villaruz

ENRIQUEZ, MARGE CRUZ b. Quezon City 17 Oct 1958.' Dancer, dance critic. The daughter of Moni- tor Enriquez, an engineer, and Amelia Cruz, a dieti- cian,. she started ballet and jazz dance training with Josette Salang and Rene Hofilefta in Dance Arts Stu- dio. An injury made her turn to dance scholarship. After receiving her degree in broadcast communication from the University of the Philippines, she pursued a masteral degree in creative arts and interdisciplinary studies at the San Francisco State University, USA. Her graduate thesis was on religious dance in the Philippines, highlighted by a dance production of Dance Theater Philippines in Basilio-Ryan Cayabyab's Misa Filipina (Filipino Mass) at the Manila Cathedral, featured in video-film in 1985.

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ESPIRITU-BASILIO, EMERITA b. 6 Oct 1921. Teacher. Born to Cornelio Espiritu and Ceferina Vale- rio, she was married to Abelardo Basilio. She assisted Francisca Reyes-Aquino in editing and revising the six-volume Philippine Folk Dances. After graduation as valedictorian at the National College of Physical Education, she took up graduate courses at the Uni- versity of Santo Tomas (UST), where she later headed the physical education department. Although she taught for a while in Paraftaque in 1945, she spent most of her years at the UST where she formed and directed the Salinggawi Dance Troupe in 1967. She has been secretary, president, and adviser of the Philippine Folk Dance Society, and is business manager of the Francisca Reyes-Aquino Memorial Foundation. Most active in dance documentation, she published a compilation of Philippine folk dances, and implemented the video documentation of the dance, oasioas, for the UNESCO. • P.M. Arandez

FABELLA, TONY (Antonio Limuaco Fabella) b. Pagsanjan, Laguna 20 Mar 1941. Dancer, choreog- rapher. Born to Ricardo Fabella, principal of the Pag- sanjan Academy, and Luz Limuaco, he holds a che- mical engineering degree, 1965, from Mapua Institute of Technology. Fabella trained in ballet with Eddie Elejar, Joji Felix-Velarde, Nina Vyroubova, Natalia Mirskaya, Elvira Rone, Miro Zolan, Alfred Rodrigues, and Garth Welch. In modern dance, Alice Reyes, Norman Walker, Pauline Koner, and Takako Asakawa were his mentors. He was also a leading member of the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company, training under Libertad V. Fajardo and Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, and joining many of the group's world tours.