Lisa Macuja-Elizalde

Infobox Artist
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name = Lisa Macuja-Elizalde

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birthname = Lisa Teresita Pacheco Macuja
birthdate = birth date and age|1964|10|3
location = Mandaluyong City, Philippines
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nationality = Filipino
field = Ballet
training = Russian Vaganova technique
movement = Classical
works = "Don Quixote", "Swan Lake", "Giselle", "La Bayadere", "Sleeping Beauty", "The Nutcracker", "Le Corsaire", "La Fill Mal Gardee", "Coppelia", "La Sylphide", "Romeo and Juliet", "Les Sylphildes", "Carmen", "Pineapple Poll", "El Amor Brujo", "Serenade", "Madame Butterfly", and "several Philippine contemporary ballets"
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Lisa Teresita Pacheco Macuja-Elizalde (born on October 3, 1964) is a Prima Ballerina. She is the first Philippine ballerina, and first foreigner who ever joined the Kirov Ballet in 1984. She is regarded as the most phenomenal ballerina the Philippines has ever produced. In the Philippines, she is the Artistic Director of Ballet Manila and Vice-Chairman of the Philippine UNESCO National Commission. She was also the Commissioner of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women.

Biography

Early Years

She was born at Lourdes Hospital in Mandaluyong City, Philippines. She is the daughter of Cesar Macuja and Lisa Pacheco. She is the second among four siblings. Her elder brother, Julio II (Joly) was born in 1963. She had a younger brother who was a teenage actor and musical artist named Jerome who was born in 1967, but died on a fatal car accident on September 30, 1984, just three days before her 20th birthday, during her first season at the Kirov Ballet. She is the sister of Gia Macuja Atchison, actress and musical artist, who was born in 1971, and married to musician Robert Atchison.
Raised as a Catholic, she attended St. Theresa's College in Quezon City, Philippines, where she was a consistent honor student in grade school until she graduated salutatorian in her high school class.
At age 8, she started her first ballet class with Felicitas L. Radaic as her mentor, who kept a vigilant eye on her early years as a ballerina, and saw her through five Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) syllabus examinations in the ten years while she was under her school.
At age 11, she danced onstage for the first time in a ballet recital called Twinkle Toes in Tinsel Land that was shown on February 29, 1976 at the Meralco Theater, Pasig City, Philippines.

Career

In 1982, she was a scholar of the USSR Ministry of Culture when she entered the Vaganova Choreographic Institute, currently known as the Academy of Russian Ballet at Saint Petersburg, Russia. She trained under former Kirov ballerina Tatiana A. Udalenkova who taught her the Russian Vaganova technique. At the Leningrad Choreographic School, she was coached by Natalia M. Dudinskaya, then, under the artistic director Konstantin Sergeyev. She graduated at the top of her class in 1984, as she became the first foreigner to be invited to join the Kirov ballet. At the Kirov, she was taught by Galina P. Kekisheva, under artistic director, Oleg Vinogradov. It was at the historical Maryinsky Theater that she first premiered as principal ballerina in The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, and Giselle.
In 1984, on a television interview during the 245th graduation program of the Leningrad Choreographic School at St. Petersburg, Russia, Konstantin Sergeyev spoke this words in Russian language (translated to Englsh) about Lisa Macuja: "Especially remarkable is Lisa Macuja, who is exceptionally gifted. She is striking. She is like a spark, a spark full of life. She is graceful and virtuosic in her technique. She excites the audience. This is a great art; and it is her art and her natural talent."

Personal life

She is married to Fred J. Elizalde. They have had two children together: Michelle Elizabeth (born July 28, 1998) and Manuel Cesar (born August 27, 2000).

Awards and Recognitions

Awards

*Special Prize for Artistry by the House of Diaghilev in Moscow (1992)
*International Diaghilev Ballet Competition in Moscow, Russia, 5th Place (1992)
*USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi, Semi-Finalist (Senior Division) (1990)
*Quezon City’s Outstanding Citizen Award (1989)
*Manila’s Patnubay ng Kalinangan at Sining (1988)
*Asia-Pacific Ballet Competition in Tokyo, Silver Medal (1987)

Recognitions

*The Order of International Friendship awarded by Russian President Vladimir Putin (2001)
*Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP U.S.A, 1997)
*Ten Outstanding Young Filipinos (TOYF, 1995)
*The Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service (TOWNS, 1989)

References

*Ballerina of the People. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Angela Blardony Ureta, Susan A. De Guzman. 2006. ISBN 978-971-93615-0-3
*Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance. Basilio Esteban S. Villaruz. 2006. ISBN 978-971-542-509-4

External links

*http://balletmanila.ph/principals.shtml
*http://www.inquirer.net/vdo/player.php?vid=648 Lisa Macuja on ballet and child development
*http://www.zanortepride.com/2008/02/blog-post.html "Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas" from ABS-CBN's The Music of Dreams