En pointe

When the white feet of dancers beat across the stage

the sound is like the wings of birds at dawn; fluttering,

and when the feathery light bodies rise en pointe, spinning

like the wind across a lake

the sight is romance, uttering.

Variation on a Theme

D.H. Lawrence

David Ira Rottenberg from Soldiers of Beauty

I haven't watched a good ballet performance in a long time (none of my friends don't ever seem to want to go with me!), so when Ballet Philippines delighted audiences with its performance of Crisostomo Ibarra, I was one happy clam. During the show, I played around with our Nikon D90 and snapped the photos included.

Crisotomo Ibarra was a contemporary dance retelling of Dr. Jose Rizal's pivotal novel Noli Me Tangere. The dance performance was part of SGV's 65th anniversary celebrations and Mr. Washington SyCip's 90th birthday. Atty. Minney Reyes, Dr. Rizal's great grandniece through his sister Saturnina, was also present to lend her support. She noted that it was a timely staging, as 2011 is also the year of the 150th birth anniversary of our national hero. She encouraged the audience to remember what Rizal died for and to live out those same heroic values everyday. The one-and-a-half hour show featured music by Jed Balsamo and choreography by Paul Alexander Morales, who also directed the performance.