A ‘King’ of All Trades: Kasilag’s Work on Ballet
Ballet and composers evolved side by side to befit the tastes of the different art periods– from the Renaissance, Romantic, Classical, and then to Modern– exploring new movements and styles. Just to provide a brief history of ballet, it originated from Italy around the 1500s, during the Renaissance period. The Italian term balletto comes from the Latin root word ballare, which means “to dance.” Italian dance styles were introduced into French court life when King Henry II married Catherine de Medici of Italy.
The ballet we know today has come leaps and bounds– or should I say grand jetés and sautés– from Renaissance ballet. Court dancers would wear many layers while they danced. From masks to pantaloons, large headdresses and ornaments. These costumes were very restrictive as one can imagine, therefore limiting a dancer’s movements to curtsies, promenades, small hops, slides, and soft turns. Shoes were also much different than those we know today as they were actually more similar to formal dress shoes rather than pointe shoes or ballet flats. Over the next century, the French would progressively take over and codify the official ballet terminology and vocabulary during the reign of King Louis XIV’s, who actively participated in many dances of his time.
King Louis XIV
Alongside the development of dance different musical instruments began to emerge– the most popular being the violin. Other well-known instruments were the earlier version of the trumpet and cornett, the lyre, the hurdy-gurdy, as well as the recorder and bagpipes.
Giovanni Battista Lulli, more commonly known as Jean Baptiste Lully, was an Italian composer who was a part of King Louis the XIV’s court band. After joining the king in a court production, he officially became the court composer. His influence in dance music introduced faster dance tempos, as well as having a single composer write music for a single production– a feat never before tried at the time. These developments came together to form the stage of ballet performances we see today: an elevated platform where the dancers perform, and an orchestra pit for the musicians and their instruments.
Jean Baptiste Lully
Another of Tita King’s many achievements was her becoming the president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Seeing that she was very involved in the arts, she was able to compose a number of ballet productions such as Ang Sultan and Amada. As a composer, she worked closely with her choreographers to be able to capture the essence of each production. Tita King composed the musical score for Ang Sultan in 1973, alongside Gener Caringal who choreographed. Kasilag’s involvement in the production is however, something that came after its production. Ang Sultan’s choreography a product of a workshop on choreography, it also had a different music to come with it. It was a later choice by Caringal to adapt the choreography to Kasilag’s Divertissement for piano and orchestra, which he had rearranged and borrowed at first without Kasilag’s permission. Kasilag, initially upset, later allowed for the adoption of her piece as the music for Ang Sultan
The dance focuses on the pre-hispanic society in the Philippines where despite the prevailing caste system during those times, a princess falls in love with a man from a lower caste. The music that was used, which uses motifs of the singkil rhythm, as well as the kulintang, accompanies the sultan’s powerful movements. The two lovers of a different caste are accompanied by the dramatic rises of the strings and the flowing movement of the piano, a contrast to the rigidity of the former mentioned motifs of the sultan.
Amada, a story set in a 19th century hispanic Manila, evolves around an aristocratic couple of Doña Lupeng and her husband Don Paeng with the themes of Philippine lore, literature, music, and ethnic movement. This production was the masteral thesis of Alice Reyes, the CCP Artistic Director, at Sarah Lawrence College in 1969. Reyes was the choreographer while Tita King was the composer. Amada is one of the first pieces that delved into the aspect of Philippine mysticism, being based on Nick Joaquin’s text The Summer Solstice, which narrates a Doña Lupeng’s release from initial patriarchal subservience towards ascendant femininity after witnessing the festival of the Tadtarin. The festival is notorious event where the goddess of the Earth enraptures a woman who becomes the “tadtarin”, all women being especially adored and taking the dominant role on this specific day. The story opens with Doña Lupeng witnessing the husband of her cook, Amada being particularly subservient to Amada who has taken to shouting and remaining in ecstatic isolation in her room half naked. This sight leads to events that unfold with Doña Lupeng visiting the festival of the Tadtarin and eventually joining in with the others, and later forcing her husband to submit to her. The story remains a debated topic on it’s place in being feminist, or the opposite for its radicality.
Lucrecia Kasilag’s composition for Amada is not typical of her compositions, proving to have less of a coherent melody and acting more as music that accompanies dance movements within the ballet. An oppressive patriarchal atmosphere is depicted by the pulsating notes of the piano that pierce the silence, while the enchantment of Amada and the other female servants dancing in the festival of the Tadtarin are depicted with quirky and flighty melodies on the winds, that contrast the pressurized atmosphere when Don Paeng appears.
Tita King was an exceptional talent and a wonderful icon, especially here in the Philippines. She has truly left a mark in our music history, and she has truly given the Filipino audience the opportunity to better appreciate music, as well as provide the right sound for our local ballets. As can be seen with Ang Sultan and Amada, which have become pioneering works in the Philippine Ballet scene, it marks her being a ‘King’ of all trades when it comes to the arts
Works Cited
“Ang Sultan.” Jacob’s Pillow Dance.
https://archives.jacobspillow.org/index.php/Detail/occurrences/31117. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
“Amada.” Jacob’s Pillow Dance.
https://archives.jacobspillow.org/index.php/Detail/occurrences/31121. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
Dees, Pamela Youngdahl (2004). A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers: Women born after 1900. California: Greenwood Press.
Ducksters Education Site. “Renaissance: Music and Dance.” Ducksters.
https://www.ducksters.com/history/renaissance/music_and_dance.php. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
Nedvigin, Gennadi. “A Brief History of Ballet.” Atlanta Ballet.
https://www.atlantaballet.com/resources/brief-history-of-ballet. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
Republic of the Philippines. “Lucrecia R. Kasilag.” GovPH.
http://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippine s/lucrecia-r-kasilag/. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
Riley, Danny. “Leaping into the Future: How Ballet Music Took Center Stage.” Bachtrack.
https://bachtrack.com/at-home-guide-ballet-music-lully-stravinsky-mendelssohn-june-20 17. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
Salido, Caroline Besana (2002). "The Piano Compositional Style of Lucrecia Roces Kasilag
(Master’s Thesis). Retrieved from OhioLINK ETD. (Accession No. 1038863092)
Samson, Helen (1976). Contemporary Filipino Composers . Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Company
So, Selena. “A Comparison of Lucrecia Kasilag’s Piano Compositions of the mid and late 1900s.” Ateneo Blue Sound. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
Vallejos, Caesar. “Ballet Philippines stuns anew with revolutionary, divergent moves in ‘The Exemplars: Amada and Other Dances’.” EagleNews. http://www.eaglenews.ph/ballet-philippines-stuns-anew-with-revolutionary-divergent-mo ves-in-the-exemplars-amada-and-other-dances/. Date Accessed: December 7, 2018.
Image:
Image of Jean Baptiste Lully retrieved from: https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/jean-baptiste-lully-458.php
Image of King Louis XIV retrieved from https://www.biography.com/people/louis-xiv-9386885
Image of Alice Reyes retrieved from http://www.eaglenews.ph/ballet-philippines-stuns-anew-with-revolutionary-divergent-moves-in-the-exemplars-amada-and-other-dances/
Alice reyes as Amada, Caringal as the Lover - https://artaturningpointe.blogspot.com/2017/10/then-and-now-ballet-philippines.html