EVERY year, the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines (ARDP) makes it a point to do a season of dance.

In 2024, ARDP did “Carmina Burana,” “Sayaw Tungo sa Kalayaan” for First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, tour of the rock opera ballet, “Rama Hari,” in Bacolod and Dumaguete, tour of Asia, did workshops, couple of more shows and a wonderful Christmas presentation, “Puso ng Pasko” last December.

“We did a lot last year,” the National Artist proudly said at their recent media conference held at Blackbird at Nielson’s Tower in Makati City.

For 2025, ARDP starts the year with “Pagdiriwang: Sayaw Alay sa Sining,” a celebration that goes onstage April 4 and 5, with afternoon and evening performances at the Globe Auditorium Maybank Theater at the BGC (Bonifacio Global City).

“We do our continuing ability to perform, stage, teach, create, educate and travel to bring our art even to the barrios and the cities,” said Alice.

“This is wonderful because I’m always happy when we can do and present repertoire pieces. We are able to present the old classics for this generation who have not seen it yet. The dances were done back in the seventies.”

“Pagdiriwang,” as the name suggests, features a vibrant celebration of dance. The program features a compelling mix of masterworks including “Amada,” by Alice, alongside pieces by renowned international choreographers.

ARDP president Tats Rejante Manahan announced “Amada” is the work of Alice, who collaborated with National Artist for Music Lucresia Kasilag. The costumes were done by Salvador Bernal, National Artist for Theater and Design.

ARDP is also staging Denisa Reyes’ “Muybridge,” a dance she created for seven male dancers to show off their virility.

“Denisa is here and will be working with the dancers to make sure it is exactly how she wants ‘Muybridge’ done,” Alice said. “So we are very fortunate to have that.”

The company is also doing “Songs of a Wayfarer,” by choreographer Norman Walker, with music by Gustav Mahler. “He was one of the teachers and choreographers early on who really know our existence as a company,” said Alice.

“He really created pieces for the company, even travelled with us, trained and taught our dancers.”

At the same time, ARDP is balancing the dances with the world premiere of Augustus “Bam” Damian III’s neo-classical piece, “Ces’t La Cie,” featuring performances of new dancers. “So it will be totally different and exciting,” Alice said.

“I’m looking forward to how the company tackles that ballet,” Alice said. “We are also doing Carlo Pacis’ ‘Nocturne,’ the pas de deux from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.”

ARDP will also present a wonderful, yet dynamic contemporary solo, “Moon,” by Kun-Yang Lin, who is very generous with his works, with music by Dead Can Dance. “So the presentation is a balance of group and solo artists,” Alice said.

To be presented, as well is Adam Sage’s classical ballet, “Glinka’s Valse,” with music by Mikhail Glinka.

ARDP is hoping to get venue grants for the company’s presentation next year. “That didn’t materialize for 2025,” Alice said. “But we are very fortunate to be given a partnership with the Globe Auditorium Maybank Theater this year.”

Former dancer of Ballet Philippines and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Candace Adea will be the guest performer in “Amada.”

She branched off and accepted a membership with West Australian Ballet in 2018. “Before Candace retires, we want to feature her as a guest artist in this production,” Alice said.

Alice returned to the Philippines in 2017 upon the request of Margie Moran Floirendo. “To help her make sure that Ballet Philippines got to its 50th anniversary,” said Alice. “Which we did in 2019 and ended in 2020 when COVID overtook all of us.

“There were those amazing dancers who were suddenly left jobless without a performance venue and training. We were able to work something out.

“We were able to talk to the CCP into putting a wooden floor in the lobby and they were able to put wood on the marble floor. That was immediately after the lockdown ended. That was still the CCP Dance Workshop that we used and carried the CCP name.”

Former CCP artistic director Chris Millado came to watch the new works of one of its resident choreographers.

“We have many choreographers who are very talented,” Reyes beamed. “Five or six choreographed regional dances from the Visayas. So we called it the Visayan suite. That was in July 2022.

“Chris proposed that we launched my company in Dapitan in Mindanao at that time. That was Chris’ idea. Lana Jalosjos, who was managing and running the family’s estate in Dapitan, came to Manila and saw the company. She said yes.”

Lana Jalosjos invited Alice and her team to Dapitan and the delegation flew out to Mindanao. “That was still the pandemic and we were all wearing masks including all the dancers,” Alice recalled.

“We launched ARDP there. The brilliant idea of Chris Millado.”

Since then, ARDP stages regional performances every year. “We take ballet out to the region,” Alice said. “The launch was the first time the dancers were able to go out of the CCP. That was the beginning and it was such a success.”

ARDP has lined up a regional tour. “We can announce it already because we have to make plans,” Alice informed. “We have to get sponsors and book theaters and venues. We couldn’t do the performances overnight.”

When Alice was artistic director of Ballet Philippines, she disclosed she used to plan five years ahead.

ARDP is planning a tour of “Sayaw Tungo sa Kalayaan” this year. “We had very concrete plans to tour it to the US West Coast,” Alice disclosed.

“But with the terrible fire that happened in California, we had to postpone the tour to next year. They need to do so much rebuilding and cleaning up.”

Still, ARDP will tour in the local front in partnership with the Department of Tourism (DOT).

They will also restage and tour “Tales of the Manuvu,” after “Rama Hari” was presented in Bacolod and Dumaguete last year.

“We were told to just present ‘Rama Hari’ in one theater so that will be a permanent destination for tourists,” Reyes said. “If something can do that, we are ready. Playing both Sita, Karylle (Tatlonghari) has a different interpretation from Shiela’s (Valderrama-Martinez).”

Meanwhile, “Tales of the Manuvu” takes a lot of planning, according to Alice. “First, we will restage ‘Tales of the Manuvu’ in Manila, then in the provinces, too.

“There’s great interest in presenting it in at the University of the Philippines Diliman Theater, because the current president, lawyer Angelo “Jijil” Jimenez, is a datu of the Manuvu,” informed Alice.

Then, “Puso ng Pasko,” which features well-loved Christmas songs, will be restaged this December.

ARDP is also working something out to present and tour the new wonderful piece, “Mga Kwento ni Juan Tamad,” which one of their young choreographers, Earl Sorilla, did to Toto Soriano’s music.

“The full-length ballet is a new piece for children’ theater,” said Alice. “I hope to be able to work and finalize something with Secretary Sonia Angara of the Education Department. That’s plenty.

We knock on doors and when it opens, we go through it.”

AUTHOR PROFILE

Leah C. Salterio