Goodbye, Noords!

   

   Last Saturday, at around seven in the evening I got a most shocking text message from Bam Damian... our dear friend, Noordin Jumalon had succumbed to renal failure... I was left with a sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach that such a good man had passed away...

    Noordin or Noords as he is fondly called, was the moving spirit behind the CCP Dance School. For years he has been the man that's been spearheading the great strides in dance instruction in the Philippines. When most dance schools were teaching dance using the Royal Academy of Dance and the Vaganova syllabus, Noordin initiated the establishment of our very own Philippine syllabus that provides dance instruction attuned to using the Filipino body as its instrument. Together with the other pioneers of Philippine dance, the likes of Tita Radaic and Basilio Esteban Villaruz, they painstakingly constructed a series of dance exercises specifically designed for the strengths and weaknesses of the Pinoy physique.

     Noordin's other passion was photography. Together with another friend and danseur, Conrad Dy-liacco, we would sometimes go out of town on our own with our SLRs in hand with rolls and rolls of 35mm films for back-up. We would take photos of landscapes, sunsets, and on occasion, take photos of ourselves when we had run out of subjects. Both Noords and Rad were members of the then fledgling Camera Club of CCP. Their photos were part of the club's first (and only?) exhibit at the fourth floor gallery. Noords had a great eye! Then everybody went digital (bummer!) so I ditched photography as I found buying the new digital cameras a wee bit expensive. But Noords pursued his passion... I wasn't at all surprised... he continued to take photos of all the students and the productions for both the dance school and the company...

     The first photo of me that he took was when I was a scholar for the Society for Ballet Philippines. Jenny Feliciano and myself were his subjects for the brochure that they used to solicit support for the scholars who were gifted and needed that extra push to become great dancers... Then he took other photos of me which were used for the souvenir programs of the CCP Dance School.

     We first became friends after I had received my scholarship from the CCP Dance School. Then Company Manager Nes Jardin asked me to write for the quarterly news magazine of CCP Dance Company (BP's old name). Noords was also a contributing writer. So from time to time I would ask him what he thought of my article. Both our articles were printed alongside the piece written by Edna Vida. While Edna and I were becoming published writers, Noords would use his writing skills in  creating his original librettos which he used   as themes for the yearly and much anticipated CCP Summer Dance Workshop.

     Whenever I was at a loss with my design I would seek Noordin's opinion. Noordin's great well of dance experiences in Russia and in the Philippines have seen me through countless times. He would give me valuable insights on how a pas de deux or how corps de ballet work were traditionally done and garbed and instantly, my problem was solved. He in turn, would ask me for some tips on where to go for great family holidays. He had always loved spending time with his three women: Nini, Yashni and Hani. On his short summer holidays he would take his family for a trip to the beach. Just last summer, I suggested Malapascua. I'm glad they had a great time.

     While I was Production Manager, we would manufacture leotards and tights during the slack months and we would churn out these items for sale at the CCPDS Danceshop. It was funds from the sales of these items and from the tuition of the dance school that managed to save the company from folding up during the lean times when we didn't know where the salaries of the staff and artists would be coming from.

     The last time he performed was as Don Quixote for which we were both excited. He was Don Quixote. I was the costume designer. Both of us knocked heads over the costume problems. Allie, the Production Manager had been taken ill at the time. To make things worse, Manang Terry had suffered another mild stroke and would be unavailable for the rest of the production. Noords helped by mobilizing some of the scholars and the ballet moms would help out from time to time to see to it the costumes would be finished on time. Don Quixote was a rousing success despite the difficulties. 

     On one of my surprise visits to CCP, I was with guests and I dropped in to say hi to Noords. I introduced my Vitenamese/Danish guests to everyone in the room and peeked into his office (which he inherited from me... it was my office as Company Manager). I commented on how frail he was. He was still the ever-accommodating, witty friend but his skin had turned sallow and he was reed-thin. I had commented on how much weight he had lost and he said he had been sick. He had even advised me to watch my salt intake... I never stopped praying for his recovery since then. I guess the Lord has better plans for him...