The desire to give children a better life. That’s one of the big, enduring themes in stories about why people leave everything they know behind, to immigrate to another country. And it’s what inspired Ida Beltran Lucila and Jojo Lucila to leave thriving careers in the dance world in the Philippines to start over in Canada. The two met at Ballet Philippines in the early 1980s, where Ida would go on to become a principal ballerina. Jojo’s career as a dancer would end with an injury in his early twenties, but he continued as a choreographer for the Filipino military, whose musical productions routinely involved many hundreds of dancers. But widespread corruption and a political scandal that brought down a president left the couple despairing for the kind of futures their three children faced in a country where patronage seemed to rule the day. “We wanted to raise our children in a society of meritocracy so that they grew up knowing that the work that they invested in would yield something other than patronage,” says Ida Beltran Lucilla. But the sacrifices would be huge along the way. Settling in Edmonton, it was tough going at first, as the couple realized that their lack of contacts in the dance world in a new country would challenge their ability to make a living doing what they not only loved, but excelled at back home. “So in the early years I worked in the call centre for Pizza Hut and my husband was working at Sobey's. I think at that time I sort of lost my identity. Because my identity was so tied with my artistic achievements and not being able to do that here. I know now I can say that I sort of lost myself.” Listen as Ida and Jojo share their inspiring story of rebuilding their lives in Canada, creating opportunities for themselves and others in the Filipino community in Edmonton along the way.
PP:
The desire to give children a better life.
That’s one of the big, enduring themes in stories about why people leave everything they know behind, to immigrate to another country.
Sometimes the need to escape is desperate and urgent, like in times of war, or after a natural disaster.
And sometimes the reasons are less immediately dramatic, but urgent none-the-less.
Ida Beltran Lucilla
There was a time of political turmoil in the Philippines. The president at that time was being accused of widespread corruption.
PP:
This is Ida Beltran-Lucila, former principal ballerina with Ballet Philippines.She’s travelled the world, danced in some of ballet’s most challenging roles.
Ida
The Nutcracker. I did Odette in Swan lake.
We wanted to raise our children in a society of meritocracy so that they grew up knowing that the work that they invested in would yield something rather than patronage.
PP:
Ida and her husband Jojo have three children together. They had spent decades building careers in the performing arts. Jojo was one of the country’s leading choreographers.
Jojo Lucilla
big productions and you deal with thousands of dancers.
In my career as a choreographer, I did a lot of things for political figures I was involved in choreographing Independence Day for presidents
PP
Ida and Jojo were both at the top of their game when that political turmoil Ida spoke of led them to make the biggest decision of their lives.
They moved to Canada.
Ida 12:41
There were some signs that showed us that possibly Canada was the right choice for us.
And then on that long flight to Canada, that's when we just started to cry and, you know, think about the family and the things that you left behind.
PP:
On this edition of Countless Journeys, Tina Pittaway brings you their story.
From the high-flying world of international dance, to the hard realities of starting over in a new land.
Ida
So in the early years, um, I worked in the call center for Pizza Hut and my husband was working at Sobey's.
PP:
A story of perseverance and incredible dedication to their children that has ultimately paid off.
Ida
No regrets at all. It's like the Phoenix rising. You have to go through a fire to be able to rise up to something really great.
TAKE MONTAGE
PP:
Welcome to Countless Journeys from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.
My name is Paolo Pietropaolo and producer Tina Pittaway is here with me as well.Hey Tina!
TP: Hi Paolo!
PP:
I’m really looking forward to getting to know about Ida and Jojo’s journey - you had a chance to speak with them earlier this year... How did you hear about them?
TP:
Well I first learned about Ida earlier this year when she was chosen by Canadian Immigrant Magazine as one of the Top 25 Immigrants for 2021. And her story really captivated me.
PP:
Yeah it seems like they left a great deal behind to come to Canada - as I mentioned earlier, Ida was a principal ballerina for Ballet Philippines.
TP:
Yes. And she and her husband Jojo moved to Canada in 2005.
It’s quite the story of starting over, and gosh have they brought a lot to their chosen city…
Ida
My name is Ida Beltran Lucila and I am from Edmonton Alberta.
I was born in Manila, Philippines and I grew up in Quezon City, which is the capital of the Philippines.
I come from a family of six sisters and one brother.I come from a family of educators as well.
My mother as a young girl wanted to do ballet, but my grandmother made her do tap dance because that was the time of Shirley Temple.
That, that was her frustration. And so when she had daughters, she made sure that we took ballet classes.
And she even actually constructed the ballet studio in our family compound.
It was a very artistic environment.
It became a hub for the ballet world in the Philippines, because a lot of the dancers and ballet teachers would congregate and rehearse in that dance studio.
I remember meeting, foreign ballet teachers who turned out to be artistic directors of European dance companies. And, you know, encouraging me in, into my ballet career.
I started ballet at the age of nine.
As a young girl, I did not realise the magnitude of those words of wisdom from these famous and acclaimed dance artists.
Later on, as a teenagerdance has become an outlet, for my teenage angst for, for, for my creativity, a form of expression for me.
And then later on I wanted to get into it seriously to be able to expand my artistic horizons. I also wanted to travel.
PP: Quite an auspicious beginning for an aspiring artist
TP
It was. And Ida started working at Ballet Philippines in 1983 when she was 19, a government funded dance company.
Ida
Being a cultural ambassador, which Ballet Philippines was at that time was really, um, very enticing. And I, you know, ballet is a very young art and I wanted to devote time and see how far I could go.
You get to live different worlds in, in the different ballets and different roles that you perform.
And then the immediate fulfilment. When, when you hear the applause,
And then there's also the other aspect of being able to represent your country in, in festivals, international festivals and expressing your culture.
I found myself dancing lead roles, right? The Nutcracker. I did Odette in Swan lake, which I never imagined myself being able to do because I'm not tall. I'm not long legged. And the bonus about having ballets created for you as well, right? Because it shows how you are perceived by the choreographer and what you can do.
I remember in touring, we travelled to Russia. And we performed in the theatres of Kirov Ballet. And, you know, you, we meet the dancers of the Kirov, and they sort of talk to you in broken English. We try to converse.
And the same thing in China. We performed with the Beijing Ballet dancers and even with a gap in language there's still that sense of kinship because you're all dancers and you sort of know what each other is going through when someone does well. You know, the, the, the faces, the expressions, how you support each other, despite the language barriers.
So it really impressing me how universal dance is. Right. Regardless of language, it's, it's one, it's a language on its own.
PP:
That's a theme you often hear from artists- the way artistic practice enables you to overcome language barriers. I’m imagining these tours in Russia, China, big time roles - it sounds like Ida really was living the dream.
TP:
Absolutely with those big roles, as well her work as an ambassador with Ballet Philippines. And that’s also where Ida met her husband Jojo Lucila.
Jojo
I'm a part-time choreographer here, but back there in the Philippines I’m very much involved in the performing arts especially in dance,
That's my bread and butter there.
TP:
Jojo kind of fell into the world of dance by accident. He was trying out for the basketball team at the University of the East, in Manila where he was studying.
He didn’t make the cut, but he had a chance encounter with a group of dancers who were working out in a training room.
Jojo
So I passed that and then was these guys in there, they were like, uh, calling me, and then they invited me to try. “I don't dance. No, no, it's easy. Easy.”
TP
At the time, all men had to enrol in a mandatory two-year reserve officer training course.
This dance troupe that Jojo had stumbled upon was focussed on promoting Filipino traditional dance. It was funded by the government as part of cultural outreach.
And as the dancers explained to Jojo, if he joined the dance company, he wouldn’t have to do his two years of military training.
Jojo:
It's exempted, and it's offering a full scholarship. So I was like, okay.
So I was in my basketball shorts. I went in and that's history now. So it started my dancing career from then, from, you know, when I started the folk dance.
So I decided that I want to be in this, in this world.
PP:
Wild! From such a random encounter - and also, to walk straight out of a failure and into the next open door, just like that, in such a random way, in his basketball shorts! And to have it turn out- that’s a remarkable story.
TP:
Jojo loved the physical challenges of training as a dancer, as well as learning about the stories and history behind the folk dancing.
Jojo eventually landed at Ballet Philippines, where he and Ida met.
Ida
That was an unexpected one, (laughter) especially in the ballet world. People wouldn't think you would meet your future spouse in a dance company.
TP:
Jojo performed with Ballet Philippines until an ankle injury sidelined him when he was only 25.
Jojo:
So what I did is I went into deeper and became a choreographer and dance director.
TP:
Both Ida’s and Jojo’s careers continued in dance for more than two decades. They had three children, two boys and a girl.
And they even found time, on the side, to start a dance company together, the Chameleon Dance Company.
Jojo:
Like the name chameleon, it blends with the different forms of discipline in dance. We do ballet. We do, we do ethnic dances. We, we do jazz folk dance and everything.
TP:
They also held down their full time roles in addition to the projects they took on with their dance company.
Ida remained with Ballet Philippines, as Executive Director. And Jojo’s work as a choreographer led him to a role with the military of all places.
Jojo
I was, during that time, I was the theatre director of the Armed Forces of the Philippines because they built a theatre inside the military camp.
I was their first theatre director. So all those generals and everything like, you know, I, I was talking to them, planning what they should do with the theatre.
PP:
Ah, life’s funny, isn’t it - so Jojo’s dance career kicked off partially as a way of gaining that exemption from mandatory military training and then that’s where he winds up, working with the military.
TP:
Yes and you know it’s that connection to government and the military that Jojo eventually started to feel really quite conflicted about in around 2000, 2001.
That’s when a corruption scandal really engulfed the government at the time.
Ida
There was a time of political turmoil in the Philippines and they were - the current president at that time was being accused of widespread corruption and he was being impeached. And so at that point we were imagining my, my children could read the news items and see on TV.
Jojo
And we were watching the trial and my son was asking, uh, I think it was one of the senators who was questioning the president.
And my son, my first son was asking yeah, he's corrupt.
So all these connections, I was thinking that I cannot pass this to my children and everything, because this government, you know, it's like scratch my back. I'll scratch yours. And I don't want our children to do that.
Ida
We wanted to raise our children in a society of meritocracy so that they grew up knowing that the work that they invest in, in their profession would yield something rather than, um, going into a career based on who you know, or an environment of patronage.
Right? So that's when we decided to look beyond the Philippines and see where we can bring our family.
And I was like, why don't we just try somewhere else? And then when we sort of, you know, when it took seed in our minds that this is what we're going to do, everything just sort of directed towards Canada.
PP:
Why Canada? What exactly was directing them toward Canada?
TP:
Well they didn’t have family in Canada but certainly they knew Canada had a large Filipino population, and they had heard good things about Canada through friends and different connections in the dance world.
And then coincidentally, soon after applying to move here, their dance company, Chameleon Dance, was invited to perform in Edmonton.
Ida
So we did go after one year, we brought our dance company to perform here in Edmonton.
Jojo
One of my projects was having this opening for international events in the sports. I do the opening numbers and everything. Just like any Olympics, you know, you have these big productions and you deal with thousands of dancers.
Now there was this event in Alberta, in Canada, here in Edmonton, what they call the Klondike Days during that time. They were featuring countries and in 2002, They featured the Philippines.
PP:
That sounds like a pretty great way to experience a country you’re considering moving to…I guess it went well?
TP:
Their visit was for about a month or so and they really loved what they found in Edmonton in terms of the Filipino community there as well as the city more broadly.
So they decided to amend their application and switched their choice of city from Toronto to Edmonton.
Jojo
We were much seeing ourselves contributing to the performing arts here and everything. So yeah. So, okay. Let's go.
Ida
So my family at first were, they were worried as well that it would be difficult.
They also had friends who tried, who moved here and came back. Right.
And so they knew that we would, we would encounter a difficult time adjusting and building a new life.
But at the same time, they had that belief because they knew that we would, we would not get into this lightly that we, we would have given it serious thought.
And because, in this whole journey, we were very spiritual about it.
TP:
They were delayed because of 9-11. That sort of halted the application period, the processing of applications. But finally got the green light in 2005.
Ida
And so everything was such a rush. I did not have the time to even register that we were leaving the country.
Until on the actual drive to the airport. And then that's when I started wondering when I would be back to see, you know, even just the billboards and the roads, the shops.
And I just realised that what I was seeing at that point might be the last time. Right.
And I didn't know when I would be back to see those things.
And then on that long flight to Canada, that's when we just started to cry and, you know, think about the family and the things that you left behind.
PP:
Oh I can just imagine how it hits you like a ton of bricks. A door you’ve walked through - a scary door - and the moment you realise that you can’t turn back.
TP:
And you know, their experience in the beginning was pretty harsh.
Jojo recalled how when they came to Edmonton the first time as performers, they envisioned starting to work in dance when they arrived here.
Jojo
Here in Edmonton during the time during the performances, a lot of, “you'll have a good business here,” but when we come over, you know, it's not that really.
I was expecting that I could go easily to the performing arts, so I try to apply to the different dance studios and everything to that.
But the dances here, is quite different back there at home. But you have to put food on the table.
Ida
So in the early years I worked in the call centre for Pizza Hut and my husband was working at Sobeys. Right. So he was, you know, arranging produce. And so that was such a culture shock.
I think at that time I sort of lost my identity. Right.
Because my identity was so tied with my artistic achievements and not being able to do that here. I know now I can say that I sort of lost myself.
And so there was a time that, you know, you were just trying to do what you needed to do, right. So it was more about surviving than thriving.
And so when we were given the opportunity to slowly work on different projects in dance that sort of personally, that sort of sparked back the passion in me.
PP:
It’s really a classic story of high-achieving professionals in their home countries who have a life and having to leave for reasons as we’ve outlined, and then having to reinvent themselves. And running into a brick wall, not having those connections. It’s a story we know in Canada. But wow, to hear it first-hand, it’s so jarring.
TP:
It really is. And you know, the entrepreneurial spirit that we hear a lot about as well with new Canadians plays a big part in Ida and Jojo’s story as well.
Being an entrepreneur is hard - it’s not for everyone.
But so many immigrants, because of the sheer necessity to make opportunities for themselves, take the route of building a business where they see an opportunity. That's where so many find success.
PP: And is that what Ida and Jojo did?
TP:
Yes, they both continued to work in the service industry for a time, Ida took a government job as well eventually, and they revived their Chameleon Dance Company.
Ida
And so we named, since we were sort of bringing the same repertoire that we did in Manila to Edmonton, our dance company was called Chameleon Dance Edmonton.
I worked for the Ukrainian Shunka Ballet for five years as their guest ballet teacher, my husband choreographed for them too.
So all along these, while we were doing this freelance work, and so we were helping other organisations and being more involved in community projects.
And that's when I saw that, there were so many Filipinos who had thriving artistic careers in the Philippines and are now here, but doing other jobs, not really maximising their talent.
And so that's when I decided to organise the Philippine Arts Council, mainly to bring all these Filipino artists together, encourage collaborations. So it includes mentoring, some workshops with students, young artists and professional ones.
Jojo
Ida and I decided that if there's anybody or any group who wants help in Filipino culture and heritage we would be very much glad to give our hand and everything in, you know, share what we know.
Yeah. Maybe that's one role sort of the purpose or why we were here.
PP:
Networking is so crucial in building a career, and what a wonderful support that must be for anyone arriving in Edmonton from the Philippines.
TP:
Absolutely and you know it’s a really large community in Edmonton. Ida mentioned the last census put the number of Filipino Canadians in Edmonton at around 80,000.
And with their seventeenth anniversary of landing in Canada approaching in July, it’s really become home for them not just in the physical sense.
Ida
It's so funny because my mother was one of the most opposed with our move.
And so she was one of the first visitors from my family. A few months after we moved, she came over to visit and we thought she would stay for just a couple of weeks because it was winter.
She stayed for two months and then she wanted to live here.
And so when, even when we, we would, uh, visit the Philippines and a close cousin of mine asked how does it feel to be home? And I said, well, you know what? I miss the streets, the parks in Edmonton.
And that's when I realised that Edmonton was my home, Edmonton became our home and Manila was a place to visit family.
Jojo
When people ask me why'd you go, you know, you have a good life there, you have a good career. You know, when you go. It's always for the children, for the children, right. For the children.
My eldest, she works with the provincial government.
My son is an engineer. He's an engineer by day and, and a dancer, at night and everything is really very good actually. And then our youngest is still finishing the second course and still with us, but also very good in design and everything.
So in that sense, the purpose of us migrating, we're very successful.
Ida
No regrets at all. I mean, I think when we were going through the tough times, we knew that there was something big at the end, right.
That it was. We had to go through fire. It's like the Phoenix, Phoenix rising, you have to go through a fire to be able to rise up to something really great.
So, yeah.
PP:
Ah - I’m just so happy to hear how things turned out for Ida and Jojo. It makes you think about all those other folks who left behind big professions in their home countries - and are still trying to work things out in Canada. It’s heartening to hear about Ida and Jojo and how they’ve been able to make things work. Tina thanks so much for bringing us their story.
TP: My pleasure Paolo.
TAKE Flamenco en Rouge music
PP:
This is the sound of Halifax’s Flamenco en Rouge, a six-member ensemble that celebrates all things Flamenco.
What you’re hearing is a recording of their live performance of a production called Tierras Oscuras, last Fall at the Canadian Museum of Immigration.
Several of the members of Flamenco en Rouge are immigrants to Canada - including Ruth Pacis and Marina Roussakova.
Here are Ruth and Marina with their thoughts about why they’re drawn to Flamenco, and what being involved in a group like this brings to their lives.
Ruth Pacis
I'm Ruth Pacis. I've been here in Canada since 1990.
So coming here, it's hard. Right. You know, I have to have a pass time.
You know, I heard flamenco because in the Philippines we were colonized by, by Spain for 300 years. Right. So flamenco was not new to me,
I fell in love with it, the moment I say, okay, why can I try Flamenco? And I can feel, I can relate to it. My feelings make, at the end of the day, you know, after classes, then I feel. Wow. This is great.
Marina Roussakova
To to dance it's so good for, uh, people for mind, brain and, uh, it's a good exercise.
My name is Marina Roussakova.
I'm originally from Russia.
We came in 92. It was Perestroika. It was really bad, economical political situation.
I guess we were seeking for more, uh, freedom, really democratic country. We love Canada and we’ve been here 30 years.
And I'm dancing with Flamenco en Rouge about 10 years now.
In St. Petersburg, when I was a little girl, I really liked a painting of van Dongen actually.
And it's called Red Dancer. It's a flamenco dancer in that picture, and it could be in one point when you look at it, it looks ugly, but it's so much passion.
Ruth
I was in dance before and connecting again at my age, right, with people who also dance. You know, I belong to, I feel like I've made friends, we work closer. Yeah. Because challenges and success. Right. You know, we share that.
Marina
You can dance until the very old age. all the good flamenco dancers there dancing long, long time. So I hope I will too.
PP
If you’d like to hear more stories like this and help new listeners discover this podcast, make sure to rate Countless Journeys on your favourite podcast app - or leave us a review.
Countless Journeys comes to you from the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, located at the Halifax Seaport.
I’m Paolo Pietropaolo, bye for now.