The Birth of BP OnStream

Ping Valenci a

Eternal muse, beauty icon, and Ballet Philippines Head of Communications Ping Valencia recalls how the company swiftly pivoted amidst unprecedented times with the launch of its enhanced digital platform in 2020, BP OnStream.

IN THE BEGINNING....
People would think that the reason behind the creation of BP OnStream (this wasn’t the original name, by the way) is the advent of COVID19. But they would be wrong. Ballet Philippines’ website has existed for years, but it was not exactly something to boast about. We knew since January of 2020 that it was in need of major rehabilitation, but the financial issue had to be considered. This was not withstanding the badgering of certain parties that the company had to contend with. The situation rendered BP’s cyber presence not too high in the list of priorities.

For months, upgrading the website remained merely a worm of an idea in our minds while we battled the debacle with external forces that threatened to destroy the very foundation that Ballet Philippines was built on. But that’s another story. So this worm of an idea remained in our minds until one disturbing day in April that would forever change the world.

Two weeks into the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), CCP decided to ‘activate’ its YouTube channel, and make it its temporary ‘stage.’ The plan was to broadcast past concerts of the Philharmonic Orchestra as well as all the productions of its resident companies, including Ballet Philippines.

IN THE SURVIVAL MODE....
We toyed with the idea of collaborating with the CCP for about 10 days. That was until Ballet Philippines President, Maymay Liechtenstein, with her idiosyncratic talent for exclusivity and having seen the first CCP broadcast on YouTube, told me to look into the capability of BP’s own website. The idea was to stream our productions directly from the company’s webpage, directly from our own virtual stage.

It struck me as the logical and timely move, especially in light of CCP’s announcement that government funds, which the center has benefited from, had been temporarily stopped. The possibility that CCP may not be fully operational until 2021 also loomed increasingly large in the horizon.

All of a sudden, instead of fighting for the right of ‘place,’ it felt like BP was left with no choice but to fight for the right to ‘breath!’

THE PHOENIX RISES....

Full-length ballet performances, such as Gabriel Barredo's Opera, stream on BP OnStream in the "On Our Stage" section of the website.

Remember the worm of an idea that I mentioned earlier regarding the BP website? Well, it finally squirmed its way out onto the discussion table sometime in the middle of April. Everyone who sat around that table was faced with one question: who will we survive? It became increasingly apparent that there was no other way to go digital. Ergo, the website. The resolution was followed by Maymay’s decisive and singular decision to assess the website’s capability and do whatever was necessary to get it going.

I was tasked to find someone capable and professional enough to see the concept through. Maymay brought in an IT expert from her husband’s company. His assessment determined that the existing website would require major improvements in order for it to carry out the functions we want it to do. These included website loading speed, optimization of embedded videos and images for perfect viewing, social media feeds integration, subscription services (if desired), live-streaming set-up (a.k.a. video on demand), just to name a few.

We also learned that we needed to link with a website hosting provider and a website maintenance company. All these came with a cost which may have induced nightmares to the powers of BP, given its limited financial capacity. In the meantime, Maymay sent me a sample of work from web-designer Amaya Garcia. Her point of view, speed, and artistic accuracy struck Maymay as the perfect fit for the task ahead.

I was equally impressed and so we welcomed her on board. We were soon to learn, however, that no matter how beautiful and well thought of the web design might be, it needed to marry with the cold, and indifferent technical environment of the digital world. We were faced with another dilemma: How do we create this digital space without sacrificing the grace and flow of the art? It was imperative that we find an IT man who would be able to bridge the great divide between both worlds.

It soon became apparent that the IT expert couldn’t do it. After his invaluable assistance in the migration of the website to another web hosting provider, the hunt for another IT expert to replace him began. We soon found one, thanks to BP’s supportive Chairman who ‘lent’ us his own. All these major changes took place in the first week of May, barely three weeks to the scheduled launching of the website. I, more than anyone else in the group, was still trying to educate myself with technical terms alien to me. Simultaneously, I was occupied with planning with the PR team the pages that would be included in the website. Together, we had to come up with titles, blurbs, and images that appeal to our now digital audience. .

THE ‘RUSH’ IS ON....

Ballet Philippines' Artistic Director, Mikhail 'Misha' Martynyuk with BP President, Kathleen Liechtenstein

It was rough going for a while even with the new IT expert on board. One might even say that the tension seemed more acute because he came from the Chairman’s camp. There were, more often than not, moments when we felt that the man was insufferably condescending, dealing with us like we knew nothing–and he, everything.

Tension sharpened because we were also being pushed to launch at the end of the month, which was barely two and a half weeks away. Friction thickened, we ourselves were at each other’s backs. It got to the point where we had to defend ourselves to the Chairman over a misleading report, given to him by his man. It was about the content of the webpages, which I was personally in charge of. I won’t go into that at this point.

Tension dissipated a little after that. Everyone, including some of the board members got involved in the website. The days were filled with meetings with the staff and the board. We were occupied with presentations of finished pages, editing content, and choosing images to go with each page. The team also spent long hours reviewing all of BP productions to see what could be shown in high resolution. At the same time, we were communicating closely with the dancers who have remained loyal to BP as they too were to be part of this undertaking.

Together, the Artistic Director Misha and Maymay worked together to plan and design the training/ learning component of the website. This is now known as The Masterclasses, which features training sessions conducted by ballet masters both here and abroad. BP OnStream’s Masterclasses is the ‘jewel’ of the BP web.

The launch date was first postponed to June 15, and then to July 15. Roadblocks on the technical side–and there were many–were plenty. And took time to find a satisfactory resolution for each.One bright morning in June, my cell phone rang. It was Maymay ——-

Maymay: We need a name for the website.
Me: Why not ‘On Stream”?
Maymay: Too long. I want one word that’s catchy and easy to remember.
Me: So why not put the 2 words together? Capitalize the letters O and S. A word unique to BP. BP is typed straight while OnStream is italicized. All bold.
Maymay: I like it.

Thus, BP OnStream was born. There was never any doubt as to the importance of keeping BP’s presence alive in the minds of people. If anyone were to object to BP’s relevance and question why so significant resources were spent on something so seemingly inconsequential during trying times, all I can say is this: The sensitive soul needs just as much nurturing as the body. Art, in all its form, is the ingredient to do this. Ballet is art and beauty in motion. For this reason, BP is arguably endemic to one’s survival. Its relevance, therefore, unquestionable.