My childhood dream was to be a ballerina. But right before I was about to enroll in a ballet school, my yaya told me that if I do the ballet split too much my legs would get stuck in that position forever! I was too uto-uto (gullible) so i believed her and skipped ballet school.

Ever since then I get jealous whenever I see ballerinas. I grew up wearing my hair “bunhead” style with matching skirts —tutu like or something flowy — any skirt that would make me feel like i’m prima ballerina Lisa Macuja will do! I watched her danced on a few of her tv show appearances and thought I wanted to be just like her. She hadn’t founded Ballet Manila — our country’s premier classical dance company — back then yet or at least I didn’t know about it.

All i know is that i wanted to twirl nonstop on a dreamy stage in a fluffy tutu, which is pretty much what Jasmine Pia Dames did on the ballet I watched at The Aliw Theater. She killed that twirl BTW and i was really impressed by her dancing. It almost made me want to call my yaya and pour out my frustrations on her “YAYA WHYYY?”. 

Jasmine played Kitri (Lisa Macuja’s signature role) in the classic play widely known in the ballet world as one of the hardest pieces to perform — Don Quixote (by Ballet Manila). Its a light, funny, and playful take on Kitri and Basilio’s love story. The casts are not only great dancers they’re also great at catching things thrown in the air whether its a flower, a cup, or a ballerina! I really enjoyed their performance, the beautiful costumes,  and picturesque stage design. My favorite part would have to be Act 2. Everything — the sprakly costume, the fairy tale-like blue set, and Kitris’s dance sequence were just so beautiful.

Congratulations to Ballet Manila and to the most elegant ballerina, Lisa Macuja! I’m already too old to chase after my childhood dreams of becoming a ballerina, so I’m happy I get to watch and live the dream through plays like this. Looking forward to their  next performance season which is set to open in August!