Ballet dance though it seems so light and graceful when it is dance compare to rugged and fast modern dances, the span of life to dance it is ironically short as the Philippines’ first and prima ballerina Miss Lisa Macuja or Mrs. Lisa Macuja- Elizalde testify in her farewell dance held last first week of October this year(2011).
Her last performance tagged as “Swan Lake” dances or “Swan Song Series” is way for her to say that she exist as the first prime ballerina of the Philippines that not only gave honor to the Filipino ballet artists here in the Philippine but also in other countries. For a ballet artist’s retirement means the death of her name as a ballet artist; the lost of career and the name attached to it. It has somewhat disturbing psychological effects on one’s psyche that all that the one have diligently work for just lost by a simple retirement paper. It is better to die physically on the height of ballet career than be lost away from the mainstream ballet dance attention silently without the knowledge of everyone in the world. But that is the way for every known career; a retirement is inevitable and imminent albeit one doesn’t want to. One has to let go the fame and prestige of one’s hard own career for the sake of one’s health due to aging process.
On her last full length performance, Miss Lisa Macuja will perform all the signature roles she have played and dance on a ballet presentations she have danced, that is Odette/Odile for the Swan Lake ballet dance; Juliet for the ballet dance Romeo and Juliet; Kitri on the ballet dance Don Quixote and Giselle on the ballet dance Giselle. This full performance of Miss Macuja has started last October 7, 2011 and will last as announce when.
The retirement of a ballet artist is usually as it is said starting from the age 30 years old up and sometimes it depends to the decision of a ballet artist when he or she will retire as long as she or he can still carry the ballet dancing. As for the Philippines’ prima ballerina, she is already 47 years old and it is only necessary for her to retire though reluctant to do so. Moreover, even though she will already retire on her ballet career, according to her, she is happy and grateful because:
“Not many ballerinas have the privilege of planning their own retirement, so I am blessed to be able to have this series,”