A Small Tribute to Tony Fabella, the Little Big Man of Philippine Ballet

by Raoul H. Banzon, the ex-Nureyev of Tambo Brad Pitt y de Caprio Clooney
for RunThru dance magazine (Issue No.2 Jul-Sep, 2008)


Google his name in the internet and you read that Tony Fabella, the George Balanchine of the Philippines, has led an exemplary life in dance and is one of the country’s most talented, award-winning and prolific choreographers, considered an institution in the local dance circuit. One also reads that “Tony Fabella” is a big name in both the present and in the past history of local dance. I reckon he's probably from among the 2nd generation or batch of ballet dancers ever in the country. He trained in both classical and modern dance under the likes of Eddie Elejar, Jojie Felix-Velarde, Miro Zolan, Alice Reyes, Norman Walker, Takako Asakawa and others whom I know little about but whose foreign names sure sounded impressive to me. He danced as lead or principal for Bayanihan, Dance Theater and the Cultural Center of the Philippines Dance Company. He was company manager and resident choreographer of the CCP Dance Company and later teamed up with Eddie Elejar as co-director of the Goldcrest Dance Workshop, the New Alabang Dance Center, Manila Metropolis Ballet and Fabella-Elejar Dance Studios. He is Artistic Council member at PBT and currently a board member of the Manila Dance foundation and a co-founder and president of the Quezon City Performing Arts Development Foundation. Choreographing since 1970, he has been commissioned to do works for CCP, Dance Theater, Philippine Ballet Theater, Ballet Manila and other groups.

So that’s most of the stuff I dug up and plagiarized from the net about him. I am not really that close to him but I do know him and have worked under him in the past, so I can only try to express and pay my small personal tribute to him by writing about the fabulous Tony Fabs that I know of as a person and my experiences working with him as a dancer.

Though I initially heard of him during the time when he still had the Fabella-Elejar studio in Pasay Road, I actually first met him in the early ‘80s while visiting friends at the Manila Metropolitan Ballet company studio, then located at Goldcrest, in the Makati Commercial center. It was during the early days of my involvement in dance, when I considered myself a fresh newbie, even a noob, in this exacting and exhausting yet somewhat magical and alluring performing art. I used to hang around with the tall, big male dancers of that company whom, despite their being into dance just a year or two ahead of me, I still admiringly regarded as bloodied ballet veterans. I was visiting my danseur friend and UST architecture classmate Dell Caragan in the MMB studio when Tito Tony walks in with their lead dancer Luther Perez. I quickly noticed that they all showed a genuine warmth, a disciplined and solid respect for Tito Tony in his presence and it instinctively made me look upon him in awe and with automatic respect. Despite the man’s relatively short stature (shorter than me anyway) I instantly knew that this little man is really the ‘Big’ guy around these here parts.

At the start, I didn’t have to call him “Tito” Tony at all but just “Tony” since I thought he wasn’t that much older than I was and that was how my brother-in-law/dance inspiration/mentor and his contemporary, Eli Jacinto, addressed him. I figured our age gap may be just around ten years or so. But after several years of hearing him being addressed as such by my much younger colleagues in dance and after working with him, knowing his personality, reading of his big accomplishments and realizing that I am not his peer, I now absent-mindedly catch myself using the title, “Tito” (Uncle), before his name as a show of respect. I don’t know if that would just make him feel older though. But it sure makes me feel younger.

Surprisingly, Tito Tony was somewhat of a big motivator to me at something other than dance. Indirectly at that and at a time just when I needed it. I remember how I was impressed and inspired when I heard that he’s a graduate of Chemistry (or was it Civil Engineering) since I was then in the later stages of completing my own Bachelor of Science degree. It’s a bit difficult and kind of a struggle to be a male dancer and still be motivated enough to finish an unrelated and highly technical course in a university. Both pursuits demand all your time and attention and compete for your priorities when taken simultaneously. Some guys simply drop one or the other. So when I learned that he was able to dance and still graduate, it was clear to me that so can I. And I did. True story. Weird that.

Everybody in the local dance scene knows he’s very, very big in choreography, that’s for sure. Talented, prolific and very efficient. He can quickly churn out dances faster than anyone I know. Must have made hundreds of them. My experience is he comes thoroughly prepared, willing, able and with all his creative juices flowing. When he starts creating a new dance he comes equipped with a cassette tape of his music (no CDs then), a small, mysterious piece of paper containing the number of counts in his music (that was all greek to me) and the dance practically already done in his head. He’d go over some steps with you and finds the ones you looked good at and you proceeded from there. He later would add on the nuances then all that’s left for you to work on are memorizing the steps and perfecting the dance. Viola! That’s it, pansit. I remember him finishing dances in the span of one session or even one afternoon. His creative speed never ceased to amaze me.

When you work with him you find that he can be both big fun and assertive. Though I hardly witnessed it personally, I heard that he can also have a rare big temper. Someone told me that Tito Tony once yelled in rage and threw a chair at some of his male dancers when they were screwing around during his company’s rehearsals. Pretty intense stuff, even for artists. But he was always patient, light-hearted and productive when working with other groups. Hearing that 'temper story' though kept me wary and on my toes at times. Like when you clown around a bit while working with him, he has this mannerism of reacting to an out-of-place joke with a super-quick, “hehehe”, then abruptly cuts the laugh off and his face instantly becomes unreadable. It makes you wonder if he really was amused or was taking no more nonsense or he’s about to explode in anger. That always got me guessing…and behaving, just in case.

His dances are a very big deal to the audience and dance critics, too. They instantly connect and always receive major appreciation and applause. Its partly his uncanny ability to choose music that everyone liked and partly how he enhanced the music with his magic touch in dance. The first ‘Tony Fabella creation’ that I ever danced was “Limang Dipa”, with music by Ryan Cayabyab, and it was always a hit and a Filipino crowd-pleaser whenever and wherever we performed it whether it be on local outreach tours or in the CCP and Meralco Theater. Some of the other dances I know of that received very good ovations (when done properly) here and aborad were his “Tchaikovsky Waltzes” for MMB, “The Company”, "Bonggahan", "Mantones de Manila" and “Beautiful Girls” for PBT and “Dancing to Czerny”, "Dancing to Verdi" and “Dalagang Pilipina” for BM. And his works and artistic direction aren’t limited to ballet or modern dance. He is also well known and popular in the outside-of-art world of rackets or projects for commercial or social entertainment of corporations and big business.

Most notable of all his qualities is that Tito Tony has a big, generous and fair heart. Everybody who knows him knows that. He was regularly commissioned by Lisa Macuja-Elizalde to create dances for her company and on two occassions, after completing each intricate dance, he surprised Lisa by not charging for them and giving them as his gifts to her instead. First, for her, then new and struggling, company and the second time, it was since it just happened to be her birthday. He also spreads around rackets/projects to available friends and colleagues instead of hogging them all which was a rarity in the biz. Together with Eddie Elejar, it was also their vision to help out the under-privileged street kids of Quezon City by setting up a performing arts school for them.

His big heart was most evident to me in the case of my dancer friend, Bobong Fortun, who has worked for Tito Tony for the longest time, the most recent being with the streetkids dance school project. Many times had he related to me how considerate and fair an employer Tito Tony was to him in so many ways. Tito Tony recognized and nurtured his talents and abilities, lent him his car, made sure he ate well, was treated well, forgave him his trespasses and paid properly and on time. Stuff like that. Then in 2006, Bobong was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and I later found out that Tito Tony et al paid for his surgery and hospital expenses. He was sent back to his home province and the next year I got to talk to him by phone as soon as I belatedly learned of his illness. During our conversation he said,“ Pare, wala talagang kinulang sa akin pagdating kanila Tony. Hinde ako pinabayaan. Talagang sinagot nila ako. Bow ako sa kanila, pare. Bow”. Sadly, that was the last time I talked to my good friend, Bobong. They caught his cancer too late and he expired a couple of months later.

Ironic that now the little big man of dance has also got the Big ‘C’ so soon after that thing with Bobong. Tito Tony has been diagnosed with colon cancer, too, but in the earlier stages, I think, and is presently undergoing radiation therapy. It’s no surprise that friends and supporters are organizing and raising funds to help him win his battle against this dreaded disease. So I’m praying that these efforts to help Tito Tony would have an even bigger response to what I’ve seen so far. I’m sure Tito Tony deserves it.

One more thing that I personally know about Tito Tony is that he is big in angels. You can find the biggest and most varied collection of angels in his house. If PBT director, his friend and dance colleague, Gener Caringal has his pig figurine and knick knacks collection, Tito Tony has his angels. These guys are quirky that way it seems. Last time I had visited his house (and that was a long time ago) there were angels all over the place. Big ones, small ones, scary ones and cute ones. On shelves, tables, walls, on the floor, at the garden, in books, etc. They were everywhere. I could have sworn I even saw one or two of them up on the rooftop. I hope those angels are still there, really watching over the little "big" guy.