REPORTS, FEATURES

Ballet community up in arms over new artistic director

AUTHOR

PABLO A. TARIMAN

DATE

FEBRUARY 12, 2020

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Supporters of Alice Reyes circulate this message in Facebook.

The scenario looked like a surprise sequel from the 1977 film, Turning Point, starring among
others Mikhail Baryshnikov and Leslie Browne.

Saturday last week on February 8, 2020 to be exact, Ballet Philippines Foundation president
Kathleen L. Liechtenstein issued a memo announcing the appointment of Russian danseur
Mikhail Martynyuk as the new artistic director of Ballet Philippines for the 51st and 52nd
seasons for the years 2020 to 2022.

Martynyuk replaces Alice Reyes who founded the company and was artistic director from 1969
to 1989.She came back two years ago after being proclaimed National Artist for Dance to
reclaim her post from Alexander Paul Morales who held the position from 2009-2017.

The board of trustees further added Reyes will finish her term in March 2020. “The Board of
Trustees of Ballet Philippines is grateful for her efforts in contributing to the success of the
season that has upheld the standard of excellence of the national dance company.”

As expected, Reyes quickly resigned upon learning of the memo which obviously caught her by
surprise.
The same memo said Martynyuk will arrive in Manila March 15 for a “seamless transition.”

It looks like the transition will be far from seamless.

When the memo was posted on FB, the social media became an angry platform to denounce the
action of the newly installed Ballet Philippines Foundation president.

Dancer-choreographer Edna Vida asked if Ballet Philippines board was infected with a deadly
virus to act the way it did.

She said there was nothing wrong getting a new artistic director for a 50-year old dance
company. “But to get one without the right DNA is lethal. Was our soul sold to a Russian at a
steep price? Apparently,” she rued.

National Artist Alice Reyes: removed as artistic director of company she founded
She pointed out that BP is one of the few companies in the world that can perform classical ballet
and modern dance with equal excellence. “This was the vision of Alice Reyes -- the founder,
artistic director emeritus and National Artist, Alice Reyes -- from the very beginning. This
exceptional artistic thrust stood the test of time that even in her absence the company progressed.
The BP DNA remained consistent in the veins of the artistic directors, dancers, choreographers
and staff that followed. Will it die this year? Ballet Philippines will die over our dead bodies, all
of us who gave our blood, sweat and tears to it for 50 years.”

In her opinion, the company should not be run by an artistic director who has no inkling of
company’s sacrifice, repertoire, and Filipino soul. “We question the decision of the BP board of
trustees to hire Mikhail Martynyuk without consultations from the artists.”

Dancer choreographer Hazel Sabas said the appointment is a major setback in Philippine dance.
“I returned to my beloved homeland after 30 years of living, working and breathing dance
abroad. Who is K. L. Liechtenstein to make such a disastrous decision? Never heard of her.
Maybe I’ll trace the dots, get some answers, clear assumptions and arrive at the bottom of this
fiasco.”

Dance scholar Ricca Bautista posted on FB: “We do not need a Russian artistic director to
legitimize Ballet Philippines. Philippine ballet belongs to the Filipinos. As a dance studies
scholar, I maintain that appointing a Russian director for Ballet Philippines after its 50th year is a
blatant recolonization of a dance form that has flourished in the country for over a century
through Filipinization.”

Speaking as a dancer and anthropologist-in-training, Bautista added she is aware that there may
be other issues that people bring up about the company and its history. “But this appointment
speaks of larger issues about how those in power are trying to Europeanize us,” she added.

As an educator, she is worried this issue will eventually be dissipated without critical questions
raised in the dance community and in the arts policy sector. “I am worried that this acceptance
means we are complicit in such outdated colonialist thinking and more so that the people in
power funding the arts will not see it that way. Dancers are not often vocal about issues of
power. But this time we are making our statement.”
Mikhai Martynyuk in Varna

Dennis Marasigan who has collaborated with Ballet Philippines on many projects said it is
troubling that the appointment of the new artistic director is reported to have been done without
consulting current artistic director Alice Reyes contrary to accepted practice in almost all major
performing companies in the world.

Choreographer Norman Walker added his voice to the controversy: “It always amazes me how
boards of directors all over the dance world suffer from the same delusion that they know better
than the founder of the dance company they are ‘supposed’ to serve. It is a delusion that has seen
the termination of many companies here in the US, and that arrogance has now infected BP.
Alice Reyes is Ballet Philippines! That is an internationally known fact. That the board of BP has
chosen to ignore her: her persona, her talent, her known expertise, and her genius says a great
deal to the dance world. It is apparent to anyone with a modicum of intelligence that the whole
situation is rife with ‘political maneuvering.’ When ‘politics’ impinges on ‘art’, ‘Art is always
the victim.”

Martynyuk the newly designated artistic director is a star dancer of The Kremlin Ballet theater
and has the honorary title of People's Artist of the Russian Federation. A prizewinner of the
Vaganova Prix and Arabesque-2002 ballet, Martynyuk is a winner of the First International
Ballet Competition in Astana. He has guested many times with Ballet Manila to great audience
and critical acclaim.

(Concert Advisory: In view of the DOH advisory to avoid gathering in crowded areas due to
threat of 2019 coronavirus, Itim Asu and Other Dances scheduled February 21-23, 2020 has
been cancelled by the board of trustees of Ballet Philippines Foundation until further notice.
Tickets for Itim-Asu may be used in the next show, Rama Hari.)

TAGS

BALLET PHILIPPINES

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