Ballet Philippines ballerina Candice Adea was too busy preparing for her performance for the Winners Gala of the recent USA International Ballet Competition (USA-IBC) in Jackson, Mississippi, that she didn’t have a chance to bask in the moment after winning silver in the competition’s senior division. There was so much to do in the hours after the winners were named that she didn’t really appreciate the prize until she got back home.
“We had to rehearse again, we had to mind our costumes and prepare for the Winners Gala,” she says. “We” refers to her and partner Jean Marc Cordero, who reached the semifinal round in the same competition. “I was told that they were all celebrating my win here in Manila, but we didn’t really have a chance to do that there.”
The USA-IBC is an Olympic-style competition where budding ballet dancers compete for medals, cash prizes, company contracts and scholarships. Held every four years, it is considered the most important dance competition in the world where future ballet stars are literally discovered. For the 2010 competition, there were only two Filipinos among 119 contestants from 36 countries.
A veteran of similar dance competitions in New York and Tokyo, Adea says she knew the rigors the contest required of her. With her partner, they practiced their choreographies over a mere three months. She says most of the competitors had the luxury of perfecting their routines over the course of a year.
“We had our regular company rehearsals from 2 to 10 pm,” she says, “and it was only after that that we got to practice our dances.”
But their efforts paid off. Cordero reached the semifinal round, while Candice reached the finals. Although they were dancing together, the judges scored them separately.
Their winning piece? The pas de deux from Don Quixote.
Adea says 40 couples danced the same number during the competition from a shortlist given to all competitors. They realized that they had to offer something different to stand out from the crowd. For their version of the Don Quixote pas de deux, they combined the Russian and Cuban versions for a number that wowed both the crowd and the judges.
What was the secret to her success?
“You really have to believe that you will get it,” she says with a smile.
Adea will be debuting as Kitri in a full-length production of Don Quixote in February 2011, Ballet Philippines’ season-ender for its 2010-11 season.
The season, with the theme “Hero’s Journey,” opens this September 3 with September Gala, a concert of classical, neoclassical and contemporary dance pieces. The Manila Symphony Orchestra will accompany all evening performances.
Works to be performed include Michel Fokine’s Les Sylphides in commemoration of the Chopin bicentennial; the classic Diana and Acteon pas de deux as performed by Adea and Cordero; the premiere of Alden Lugnasin’s Bungansakit (Fruit of Sacrifice), which is based on a local legend from the choreographer’s own hometown in Leyte; and Victor Ursabia’s original dance work Sapin-Sapin.
The inaugural concert also sees the return of long-time BP ballet master William Morgan to coach the company just for this show.
BP’s “Hero’s Journey” season continues with Crisostomo Ibarra in October, Peter Pan in December and Don Quixote in February 2011.
For inquiries: 551-0221 or 832-6011.
In Photo: Candice Adea and Jean Marc Cordero portray Kitri and Basilio in the pas de deux from Don Quixote.
