Tony Fabella

Tony Fabella is a Filipino choreographer who is considered an institution in the Philippine dance circuit. Some of the most noted dance pieces Fabella has choreographed through the years include “"Dancing to Czerny",” “"Dancing to Verdi"”, “"Sayaw Pinoy",” and “"Dalagang Pilipina".” Citation |last= |first= |author-link= |title=Dancing for Fabella |newspaper=Manila Times |pages= |year=2008 |date=January 28, 2008 |url=http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/jan/28/yehey/life/20080128lif2.html ] Citation |last = Lanuza |first = Juan Antonio |author-link = Juan Antonio Lanuza |title = Benefit concert for Tony Fabella |newspaper = BusinessWorld |pages = |year = 2008 |date = February 06, 2008 |url =http://www.bworldonline.com/BW020608/content.php?id=202 ]

“"Tony Fabella is one of the country’s most talented and most prolific choreographers,"” notes Ballet Manila artistic director and prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, adding “"He has given many choreographic gems to Ballet Manila and to me, personally, as gifts of his wonderful talent, without asking for remuneration for such beautiful and intricate works that always delight the audience."”

Current affiliations

Fabella is also a board member of the Manila Dance Foundation and president of the Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation, established to manage the Quezon City government's Performing Arts Development Program. Fabella was among the country's three most distinguished dance professionals who in 1994 helped put up that program in order to seek out gifted and artistically inclined children from among the city's marginalized sectors, and provide them with free training in the performing arts. cite web |last= |first= |authorlink= |title=Foundation History |work=Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation Website |publisher=Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation, Inc |url=http://www.qcpa.org/about.htm |format=HTML |doi= |accessdate=2008-02-05]

Awards

Among many other accolades, Fabella received the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1984 and the National Commission on Culture and Arts’ 2003 Alab ng Haraya Award.

Illness and fund-raising efforts

In 2007, Fabella was diagnosed with colon cancer and has been undergoing radiation therapy to combat the disease while still on its early stages.

On February 7, 2008, Ballet Manila undertook a benefit performance for Fabella, called “Ballet Manila Dances Fabella”, at the Star Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, featuring some of the choreographer's most popular works. The media noted the event as "a meaningful tribute to a passionate and indefatigable Filipino artist no balletomane should miss."

References