Thirty Steps Forward: Celebrating Steps Dance Studio’s three-decades-long legacy

It has also helped some dancers find related careers, such as being directors of companies or ballet or contemporary dance teachers, and even yoga or any form of exercise or movement. “And in other fields, other careers that don’t involve dance, our students still take with them the discipline they learnt in Steps,” Elizalde says with pride.

She considers it “a big achievement” that Steps has maintained the teaching of the ballet technique unique to the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) organisation. The RAD syllabus, which began in England, considers the child’s development at each level to ensure it is a safe training method. She values her meeting incredible personalities in dance. “Because of this work, I’ve met many directors of companies abroad who have become friends. I learnt a lot from them as well,” she says.

She values her meeting incredible personalities in dance. “Because of this work, I’ve met many directors of companies abroad who have become friends. I learnt a lot from them as well,” she says.

A sure sign of spring for Steps is that former students are returning to the school with their children in tow. “So now, I have the next generation coming into the school,” the foundress states.

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A then 25-year-old Elizalde founded Steps to answer her personal needs as well as a vacuum in the local ballet training. Trained at the Elmhurst Valley School in England and dancing with Ballet Philippines under the artistic direction of National Artists Alice Reyes and Edna Vida, Elizalde decided to end her dance career early.

“I wanted to teach, get married, and have children,” she shares. All three wishes were granted. Curiously, she jumped into her teaching dream with just her burning passion and no idea of where she was going with it. “I had no long-term plan. I knew I had this passion for dance and wanted to teach it and do this while I was married,” she relates.

With the first Steps school on Estrella Street, now Rockwell, the impassioned teacher noticed that dance schools focused only on one style in the Philippines. Either you are a ballet school, a school for contemporary dance, or a jazz dance studio. “I couldn’t find a school that taught everything at a high level. But I remembered that I became a strong dancer at Elmhurst and open-minded because the school made us do everything,” Elizalde recalls.

“We specialised in something like classical ballet but were encouraged to do all kinds of dance.” Elizalde found her vision. “I wanted a school that can offer everything and allow a child to learn everything and choose what direction he or she wants to take.”

It was not the norm at that time. And Elizalde was not spared of her fair share of critics. “I used to get criticised a lot. People would say I shouldn’t teach contemporary dance with ballet because it would affect the dancers’ muscles,” she remembers. “However, I never listened to any of that. I knew in my heart that it was the training ground that I came from. I knew that it was very strengthening.”

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Nowadays, prestigious companies all over the world expect nothing less than versatility. “The only way to be a strong dancer is to be multifaceted,” says Elizalde. “I take pride in the fact that our dancers were pushed to train in various styles from contemporary to jazz, and in some cases, tap and street dance.”

In 2007, Elizalde took Steps to another level by establishing the Steps Scholarship Foundation in partnership with Ayala Foundation’s Center of Excellence in Public Elementary Education (CENTEX). The foundation, which she considers to be the heart and soul of Steps, opened doors for students from all walks of life to experience a top notch dance education. “We have children who have been very blessed in life, and we have kids who come from a harder part [of life],” she says.

Two significant stories of Steps scholars are those of Vince Pelegrin and Elwince Magbitang. Pelegrin was handpicked by visiting teacher Sascha Radetsky, the artistic director of the American Ballet Theater Studio Company and husband of Stella Abrera, former principal dancer of ABT. Pelegrin attended the Jackie Kennedy Onassis School on a full scholarship.

Magbitang, the son of a tricycle driver from Tondo, was pointed out by Elizalde to Radetsky who saw the dancer’s talent. Magbitang is now a full-fledged company member of the American Ballet Theater. As she celebrates her school’s 30th, Elizalde has taken a glimpse of the next 30 and sees herself back to how she started: without a plan. “I’m just going to see where it takes me and where my heart goes. I’m just going to take it one year at a time,” she says. But for now, it is the season to celebrate the accomplishments of 30 years. “It’s been quite overwhelming in a good way,” Elizalde describes.

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