A DANCER ON STAGE... AND OFF
CRISTINA ESCODA WAS ALWAYS A CORPS DE BALLET member – “one of the group, one of the swans” – and she loved being part of the group. “I always liked to be support,” she says. Years after her career as a ballerina, Escoda has found her place as artistic adm
Escoda started ballet as a young CCP Dance School scholar in the ’70s. Performing with the then CCP Dance Company (now Ballet Philippines), she was spotted by choreographer Alfred Rodriguez who suggested to her parents that she continue training at the Royal Ballet School in London. From there, Escoda started working professionally as a dancer when she was 18.
Dancing her way around the world, she was part of Lisbon’s Companhia Nacional de Bailado, the Royal Ballet of Flanders in Belgium and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montreal. Then, a friend suggested she audition for ABT in New York.
“I was very happy in Canada, I had been there for a while and I was sort of growing up through the ranks, but ABT… you can’t ignore it,” she says.
“I auditioned when Baryshnikov was director, Kenneth MacMillan resident choreographer and Twyla Tharp was there,” Escoda shares. “The first few months in ABT, I was really a small fish in a big pond, I was so overwhelmed to be surrounded by all these amazing dancers that I was in the company with… a little girl from Manila. It was overwhelming.”
At the age of 30, Escoda decided to bow out gracefully from the physically-demanding work as a dancer, before she had to deal with any injuries. After taking courses in Art Administration, she found a job with the administration of the Martha Graham School. “When I was a student at CCP, the Graham company came and I fell in love with the company. I fell in love with the work, the theatricality of it, the drama,” Escoda remembers. Years later, she found herself working with Diane Gray, who she remembered seeing dance in Manila as a child. “She was very nurturing. It was my first administrative job. I had never done anything else in my life other than dance.”
After her stint with the Martha Graham School, Escoda found a position at an architectural firm. She was working there when ABT called, needing someone to take charge of rehearsal scheduling. “It was a very difficult job, but a very key job, to make sure that all the dancers get rehearsed,
all the ballets get rehearsed,” she says. She happily returned to the ABT as part of the artistic staff. “It’s a wonderful life, you travel the world and I got to come back and go on tour, but I didn’t have to wear pointe shoes anymore,”
After six years as rehearsal coordinator, another position opened up, and Escoda was named artistic administrator. “I consider myself the chief of staff to artistic director Kevin McKenzie. It’s a support position again,” she says – but an important position no doubt, as Escoda deals with the company’s day to day work, attends to the needs of visiting dancers, appeases the choreographers and plans constantly for ABT’s next seasons. The last time Escoda visited the Philippines was last year, accompanying ABT dancer and fellow Filipina Stella Abrera, who performed in Giselle for Ballet Philippines’ (BP) 45th anniversary.
“I’m so proud of her. She’s a true artist, a true Filipina artist. I feel like she’s got some real Filipina qualities to her,” says Escoda.
“Stella has drop dead gorgeous Filipina looks,” Escoda adds. “And she has a humility about her, but a quiet pride, too.”
Earlier this month, Abrera was promoted to principal dancer, becoming the first Filipina-American principal dancer in ABT’s history. At the same time, Misty Copeland was also promoted to principal, making her the company’s first African-American female principal dancer.
“Stella’s promotion is very exciting! I am so happy for and proud of her, as is the whole of ABT – she is much beloved by all the dancers and staff,” says Escoda.
On Copeland, who has become a household name in the US, Escoda says, “Misty is one of the most humble dancers I know. The more celebrity she gets, the more grateful she gets.”
During her last visit to the Philippines, Escoda was able to meet the dancers of Ballet Philippines and sit in on their rehearsals. She singles out Jean Marc Cordero and Richardson Yaddao as two of the exceptional BP dancers that she noted. “The corps de ballet was beautiful, coming from someone who was part of the corps de ballet,” she says. “The Ballet Philippines dancers are very dedicated and focused.”
In the future, the artistic administrator hopes to bring a group of ABT dancers to Manila to interact with the local talents.
Meanwhile, she forges on with her duties at ABT. Fresh off their 8-week regular season at the Metropolitan Opera House, Escoda is getting ready for the company’s next season and tours in Istanbul, California and Washington DC.
“It’s a really hard life. I was really lucky,” Escoda reflects on her life as a dancer.
“Do not think about what it can give you. It’s not about the celebrity. It’s about doing something that you love. If you really love it, just do it. Just be grateful. It has to be your passion,” she advises aspiring ballerinas.
“It’s very challenging. Everyday I can’t believe I’m here doing this. It’s really humbling,” says the ABT artistic director. “It’s difficult work because you deal with different personalities; there’s always injury, there’s always heartbreak; there’s never enough time. But you just try and try, and at night you watch a performance and it’s just amazing. I was always amazed… I’m still amazed that I work here.”