‘Giselle’ gala performance honors dance great Tita Radaic

In the history of dance in the Philippines, few people have done more to fuel the talent of Filipinos in classical ballet than Felicitas Layag-Radaic.

After shaping her dance career in Paris, Madrid and London, “Tita” Radaic brought her skill and knowledge back to the Philippines. She first brought the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus to Manila and founded her own dance school. She also co-founded Dance Theater Philippines and later co-authored our very own National Ballet Syllabus. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Ballet Manila’s Artistic Director, was one of her earliest students, and so, coming full circle, Ballet Manila’s gala performance of "Giselle" at the recently concluded Dance.MNL was dedicated to the one and only Mrs. Radaic.

Taking the title role for the tribute was Ballet Manila’s Joan Emery Sia. A soloist quickly rising through the ranks with her natural flexibility and gifted body for dance, Sia was a student herself of Mrs. Radaic in St. Theresa’s College. She recently represented the country in the 2015 Asian Grand Prix, Seniors Division, and took home the bronze medal.

Partnering Sia was Romeo Peralta in the role of Albrecht and Francis Cascaño as Hilarion. The Ballet Manila corps de ballet performed perfectly in sync, transforming from the colorful peasants of Act 1 into the hivemind of pale white wilis in Act 2.

Ballet Manila was joined by soloists from its two partner companies for the evening, Regina Magbitang and Jared Tan from Philippine Ballet Theater performing the Peasant Pas de Deux of Act 1, and Steph Cabral from Ballet Philippines who took on the role of Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis.

Upon curtain call, Mrs. Radaic herself was invited to take a bow, facing a standing ovation from the entire CCP Main Theater audience, as her former students (now dancers, teachers, and school directors themselves) showered her with bouquets of flowers. Mrs. Radaic graciously thanked her supporters throughout the years, and empowered the audience to support dance further. She spoke of how a dancer trains tirelessly for weeks, months, years, purely for their audience, and named them “the pride of the country.”

At the age of 80, Tita Radaic’s name has become almost synonymous with Philippine ballet. Herself one of the first Giselles in the country, it was fitting that her tribute should summon the three biggest ballet companies in Manila – Ballet Philippines, Ballet Manila, and the Philippine Ballet Theater – to collaborate for the full-length production. Almost all ballet dancers today can trace their dance roots back to Tita Radaic. And certainly, without her hand, our country’s dance scene would not be the same. — BM, GMA News

Dance.MNL ran from June 14 to 26 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Mika Fabella was a company scholar at Ballet Philippines and is currently a graduating student at the University of the Philippines Diliman, majoring in Dance.