A love story in graceful movements

How can be a romantic story can be captured in dance?

Without words, can movement attain the ease by which word communicate feelings?

As I watched Swan Lake by the Philippine Ballet Theater, I asked these questions, and saw the answer with my own eyes. But then again, I still had no words to describe it. When Odette moved to center with Siegfried and gracefully performed their repertoire, their fluid motion engaged the audience into the fairy tale of lovetheat cannot be. Of course at that time, my only recollection of the story of the Swan Lake was that Odette was a maiden cursed to become a swan. But even without words, the story already unfolded from the moment the two lovers met up to the time they were able to free Odette from the curse.

The essence of the ballet, as in any dance, is to use graceful body movement to express feelings: anger, fear, love, hate, passion, weakness, among the others. But its not always easy to understand the story without words. You listen to the music and feel the chances in the tempo and mood. Then you watch the dancers perform their splits, pirouettes and rhythm in their movements.




For the untrained (and I am not far from it), These movements and sounds may seem like simple musical cimpositions ( though Peter LLytch Tchaikovsky's music can hardly be called simple) and good choreography put together by a group of artists who love their art. But in my limited exposure to ballet, I do feel an energy that moves from the stage to the audince as the mood of the music and the dance change, every time I get to watch a ballet perfomance.





• Although I am not an avid fan of ballet, one thing is for sure: I realize that romance can be expressed more profoundly in graceful movements and beyond words.

Depression ups complications for adolescent diabetics

• Adolescents with Type I diabetes who who demonstrate depressive symptoms are at higher risks for hospitalizations for disease complicatins, reports a study published in Pediatrics.


• Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center asked 231 diabetic patients, aged 11 through 18 years, to complete the self-report Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). They monitored the participants over the next two years for their glycosylated hemoglobin levels and frequency of hospitalizations for medical complications.


• Eleven percent of the patients were hospitalized at least once. After taking into account other factors, CES-D scres above 12 for boys and above 22 for girls predicted hospitalization.

Smoking: The leading risk factor among Filipinos

• Thirty-five out 100 Filipinos (34.8%) are cigarette smokers, according to the 2003-2004 National Nutrition and Health Survey (NNHeS) conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Tecnology (FNRI-DOST).


• Smoking is reportedly the most prevalent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack and stroke among Filipinos, and accounts for abou 28,694 deaths in 2006. Four other leading rik factors of cardiovascular disease by rank are: hypertension; obesity; hypercholesterolemia; and diabetes. The estimated number of deaths caused by these diseases ae: 14,015; 8,046; 5,730; and 4,148 respectively.


• Despite anti-smoking campaigns by the Department of Health (DOH) and other medical organizations, more than half (56.3%) of male adults are smokers. Furthermore the pevalence in adult male smokers even increased from 53.8 percent in 1998 to 56.3 percent. For adult female smokers, the prevalence was slightly reduced from 12.6 percent to 12.1 percent.


• According to Dr. Dante D. Morales, past president of the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) and NNHeS overall chairman, more Filipinos smoke compared to Singaporeans (24.2%) and Americans (24.1%). He added that the nicotine in cigarettes causes heart enlargement which makes a person more at risk of CVD and other atherosclerotic diseases.

Why Yogurt is good for you

• One eight-ounce cup of plain low-fat yogurt provides around 400 milligrams of calcium, more than the 300 milligrams in an 8-ounce glass of milk.


• Yogurt has as much potassium as a banana and as much protien as an egg or an ounce of meat.


• The live bacteria in Yogurt help in digestion and protect you against other harmful bacteria.

Go nuts with Nuts

Nuts are good for the heart, say researchers from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.

According to the study, healthy men and those who have already suffered a heart attack can reduce cardiovascular risk by eating nuts regularly. Researchers hypothesize that;

• Nuts help lower cholesterol.


• Nuts contain mono-and poly-unsaturated fats known to benefit the heart.


• The Omega 3 fats found in walnuts may protect against irregular heart rythms.


• Nuts are rich in arginine, a substance that may improve blood vessel function.


• Other nutrients in nuts including fiber may also help lower cardiovascular risk.

Nuts are high in calories. Researchers advice that if you add nuts to your diet, cut back on something else. Substitute nuts for chips or cookies, but avoid nuts that are fried in oil or loaded with salt.

By themselves, nuts seem to produce modest declines in cholesterol, but when they are combine with other healthful foods, the results can be dramatic...