Pandemic scenarios in the dance world in 2020:
-National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes was preparing for re-staging of Rama-Hari when the CCP theaters closed.
-National Artist for Dance Agnes Locsin’s Locsin Dance Workshop (LDW) in Davao City was preparing for an annual recital when the lockdown was imposed. She has no choice but to go online and cancel the dance event.
-The Vella Damian School of Ballet in Quezon City was all set for a recital at the Meralco Theater when a nation-wide lockdown started. Even with costumes and souvenir programs already done, school opted for cancellation.
Along Yakal St. in Makati City, there was an active dance mentor who runs the Perry Sevidal Ballet school for many years.
Sevidal was an active member of Ballet Philippines for many years until her retirement on the ballet stage.
To illustrate, she was in the corps de ballet in Swan Lake Act Two with the legendary Odette of Alicia Alonso of Cuba and in the Giselle Act Two with the equally famous Natalia Makarova opposite Patrick Bissell.
So many beautiful ballet memories.
But the one that shattered her was when the Perry Sevidal Ballet school had to ultimately close due to the pandemic.
It is virtually a one-woman school with a couple of student assistants who through the years had become competent teachers.
She recalls a slice of her dance life in March 2020.
When the pandemic stated rearing its ugly head, a parent of one of her students advised her to close the school for the safety of everyone. It is a hard decision for her. For many years. dancing and teaching ballet were what remained of her life.
On March 13, she made a difficult decision.
She had to finally close the Perry Sevidal Ballet. “I had about fifty students at that time. I had teachers teaching modern and tap dances apart from classical ballet.”
When the school opened in September of 1994, she started with three students in a rented studio along Yakal St. in Makati. It was owned by Teta Sugay, a very good friend of then future National Artist Agnes Locsin and a very good tap teacher. “Later, I moved to another building on Bakawan Street owned by a parent of a student. I decided to live where my new dance studio was. The school grew and I had to move again. This time I rented the lot and built the structure for a bigger dance studio.”
Until it closed in 2020, the Perry Sevidal ballet school lived for 18 years. “I taught nonstop and shared everything I know while dancing for many years with Ballet Philippines.”
The school offered classical ballet, modern jazz, hip-hop and even karate before the pandemic.
As enrollment dwindled and her modest savings depleted by monthly rental and other expenses, she decided to close her school and go back to her native Pangasinan on October 10, 2021. “I packed my things and demolished the building and sold scraps to a junk shop.”
She also brought home her ten fur babies. “I even dug the remains of my two dogs I buried in my pocket garden.”
She resumed teaching in her province in February this year but after a couple of months, she stopped. “People in the provinces have a different orientation. They thought that after a month of ballet lessons their kids can already go on stage and dance. Parents say their kids got easily tired and needed to rest. I told them ballet is not a hobby. To go far in this calling, dance needs passion and dedication. One day, I will teach again and tell beginners what going into dancing really entails.”
She had her taste of teaching online which was not easy. “My students had to adjust with the space available in their homes. They had to learn to focus on their teacher through a mirror. We had to learn and be very technical about adjusting the TV monitor to the laptop or to our respective gadgets. It meant buying cords and camera to make teaching more convenient and be able to enlarge our images visually. It was challenging if your wi-fi is weak. I had to increase my MBPs to get a strong signal.”
She noticed kids had some difficulty concentrating because they had virtual lessons in the comfort of their homes. “I had to focus well to keep their attention glued to their gadgets. In 2021 and 2022, we had two virtual recitals. Class and rehearsals were twice or thrice a week. My very loyal assistants would record and then edit for some polishing until it was ready to be shown on YouTube or ready for livestreaming.”
Luckily, her former students — Raisa Medina and Solenn Consing — who took baby ballet from her have matured and have become good assistant teachers while pursuing other career paths. “I am very proud of them because they are very smart and very good dancers as well.”
She persisted on some online teaching and face-to-face lessons whenever she sees enthusiastic students. “I no longer have a studio in Manila but still I have a few students left. I learned to keep on pushing and just moving forward until there are students who want to learn and experience the art of dance which is where my heart still is. I am happy where I am now.”
(Perry Sevidal Ballet on its 29th Year presents: A Day of Dance on July 1, 2023, 11 a.m. at Dancing Queen Studio in Makati Cinema Square, Makati City.)
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