Prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde brushed off Hollywood actor Timothée Chalamet’s controversial statement about ballet and opera.
In a lighthearted video, she said the actor’s remarks ignited a fire not only inside her, but in the ballet world itself.
“Dear Timothée Chalamet, I just want to thank you – thank you for renewing the fighting spirit in me and the fighting spirit in all of us, ballet dancers,” she said.
“Ballet Manila has always been dedicated to bringing ballet to the people and more people to the ballet for the last 31 years, and sometimes we take it for granted.
“And it took you just one statement to wake us all up to the fact that what we are doing is very relevant and that we really care,” she added.
The prima ballerina also invited viewers to see their production of “Sleeping Beauty” on March 13, 14, and 15 in the Aliw Theatre in Pasay City.
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Filipina dance icon
Macuja-Elizalde is considered the Philippines’ first prima ballerina.
She started training for ballet at the age of eight, later receiving a scholarship from the USSR Ministry of Culture at the Leningrad Choreographic Institute, now the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St Petersburg, Russia.
She then became the first foreign soloist to ever join the Kirov Ballet or the Mariinsky Ballet, one of the world’s top ballet companies.
The Filipina icon founded Ballet Manila in 1995, which has become the country’s largest classical ballet company.
Aside from that, the prima ballerina is also known for training many young dancers, including students from public schools, making an art form considered by many as exclusive more accessible to the general public.
‘No one cares about this anymore’
Oscar-nominated star Chalamet has been in hot water after his conversation with Matthew McConaughey resurfaced, where the two discuss the challenges faced by theatrical films in the streaming era.
“I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though, like, no one cares about this anymore,’” Chalamet said.
“All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there,” he added.
Since then, several ballet companies and opera houses, as well as big names in those fields, have clapped back at the actor.
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Elan Castanares 
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Shameeka Voyiya