she could not forget how my “little black eyes would follow her every move and try to absorb every correction.” I admitted that I would sometimes not get the combination properly because I was too enthralled just watching her move! We talked for hours, going through the recollections of my two- year scholarship at the Vaganova School and my subsequent professional career in Russia, until the time I left for home. Before we could stop ourselves, we were both in tears. “You have become my happiness, Lisitchka,” she said tenderly in between sobs. I smiled through my own tears and hugged her really tight, murmuring: “That’s because I had the best ballet teacher in the world!”
v v v
Prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde was the first foreign soloist of the prestigious Kirov Ballet in 1984. She is today directress and faculty member of the Ballet Manila School, where ballet profes- sionals are steeped in the Russian Vaganova method. Known as “ballerina ng bayan ” for her work in popularizing ballet among the masses, she has performed on television and in dilapidated school auditoriums and makeshift platforms in shopping malls and in towns and barrios.
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker