SAVED BY THE LAST DANCE
Celebrating Steps Dance Studio’s 25th anniversary with performances by American Ballet Theater’s principal dancers
When I first got assigned an interview at Steps Dance Studio, I smiled. How wonderful was it that I had the opportunity to go back to a studio I used to basically live in—one that has very much shaped me into the person I am today—and interview its founder and Ayala Foundation’s director about CENTEX?
I’ve always admired the collaboration between Steps and CENTEX, Ayala Foundation’s flagship educational program. Along with attending school, a select few of students are selected every year to take part in Steps Dance Studio’s rigorous training program.
I can attest firsthand to how incredible the CENTEX program is. Not only does it lift underprivileged children out of poverty and empower them with a future in dance, it teaches many privileged children about inequality in the Philippines.
I remember going to class alongside the CENTEX kids every day. I’d spent my childhood growing up in the idyllic neighborhood of Dasmariñas while my classmates commuted from Tondo in the wee hours of the morning. Our conversations occasionally fumbled, what with my Tagalog being close to nonexistent. Their English, on the other hand, was more than proficient. I was preoccupied with what new Yumiko leotard I’d buy next while the girls were hoping I’d sell my old, perfectly good ones that I’d just gotten “tired” of. I’d complain about my baon not staying warm while everyone else was just thankful food was being provided. Our backgrounds could not be more different, and I soon found out just how naive I was. But despite the fundamental differences in how we (the group of friends from international schools who attended Steps along with me) grew up from the CENTEX scholars, everyone became the best of friends. Our barkada was one to contend with. Every Saturday, we’d look forward to 12 hours spent at the studio, dancing together, laughing
too loud, giving all the ates a headache with our antics. In Steps, dance equaled us, brought us together, united us in love for an art and a joy in adolescent dance friendships. Our school friends didn’t understand the level of commitment and discipline we had to have in order to balance our training and academics at a young age. So we at Steps turned to each other for support. And support one another to the ends of the earth, we did. Such was the power of this collaboration between Steps and Ayala Foundation.
Last Tuesday, I got to sit down with my tita Sofia Elizalde, founder and artistic director of Steps Dance Studio, and tita Joana Duarte, senior director for social development at Ayala Foundation. During our time together, between laughs, I got to hear all about the fundraising performance being held for Steps’ 25th anniversary.
This year, American Ballet Theater’s (ABT) resident Filipina principal dancer Stella Abrera will be performing at Maybank theater alongside her longtime partner and fellow principal dancer James Whiteside.
For those not already aware, being a principal dancer at ABT means you have reached the height of your career as a dancer. Thousands of dancers all over the world devote their entire lives and career to becoming principals in world-class companies like ABT, but only a handful make it in any given year. Having Abrera and Whiteside performing for us in Manila in the intimate setting of Maybank theater is nothing short of a treat. On any other day of the year, you’ll be jostling for tickets to watch them at Lincoln Center, or on some other large, worldfamous stage. I, for one, will never forget the sense of wonder that filled me when I watched ABT’s staging of Le Corsaire in New York.
What’s more, Abrera’s husband
Sascha Redetsky, a former principal at ABT, has recently been appointed head of ABT’s Studio Company. The Studio Company is meant to train rising stars in dance for careers in ABT or other premier companies. Early this year, Step’s own Elwince Magbitang, former CENTEX Tondo Scholar, was invited to join after training in New York at the renowned Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Dance (JKO) for only a year. Also with him in New York is Step’s Raye Vince Pelegrin, who was granted another year of full scholarship at JKO, which is ABT’s official ballet school. Elwince and Vince were members of my barkada at Steps, and seeing them go from Saturdays in the studio with the rest of us to dancing full time in New York at one of the best schools in the world (and balancing homeschooling programs by CENTEX at the same time!) is nothing short of amazing.
Along with performances by Abrera and Redetsky, we will be treated to pieces performed by the Studio Company, and one of Elwince’s first performances with ABT will take him home to the country and dance school with which his path to success all began. If you don’t find poetic beauty in that, readers, I’m not sure what to tell you!
This Sunday, it is my honor to announce Steps and Ayala Foundation’s fundraising performance for Steps Dance Studio’s 25th anniversary: Ayala Foundation x Stella Abrera and Rising Stars of American Ballet Theater featuring James Whiteside.
Thank you, tita Sofia and tita Joana, for all that you and your organizations do for the Philippines. You are bringing world-class art to us Filipinos, yes, but you have likewise brought Filipinos to the forefront of world-class art. For this, we are nothing short of grateful.
Not only does CENTEX lift underprivileged children out of poverty and empower them with a future in dance, it teaches many privileged children about inequality in the Philippines.