And that is what you’ll get with Ballet Manila’s recent production of Swan Lake. This production, the third in its 2003 season, is touted to be an all-Filipino affair. Except for guest choreographer Sergey Vikulov, ballet and rehearsal mistress Tatiana Udalenkova and guest danseur Dennis Firsov, the whole production is Filipino. All the Odettes/Odiles are performed by Filipinas, namely BM artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Elline Damian and alternating in some shows Mylene Aggabao and Marian Faustino. The Prince Siegfrieds are also Filipino, except for Firsov, with BM principal danseur Osias Barroso and Eduardo Espejo taking on the roles.
Nationality doesn’t seem to be a barrier to a good performance of Swan Lake, as Ballet Manila has shown. What matters is good secure training, in this case BM’s acclaimed Vaganova method; sumptuous costumes and beautiful sets are secondary concerns, although BM has not skipped on these details. The costumes by Gino Gonzales are rich and pleasant, while Fred Elizalde’s minimalist décor gives the dancers maximum space to execute their moves.
Pity that on the weekend I chose to watch this version of Swan Lake, the Aliw Theater of the Star City Complex at the CCP Complex was less than half full. As a regular BM goer, I have gotten used to the awestruck reactions of elementary and high school students to ballet. When they cheer the dancers, expressing fascination and marvel over what they see, the students add a surge of electric energy to the theater. It adds to the whole experience in the theater. I was later told that the students decided not to show up at the last minute over a minor matter.
They missed a lot from not going to the ballet that Saturday. For one, this version of Swan Lake has an amended ending to give the whole story a forward-looking yet bittersweet slant. Rather than Prince Siegfried defeating the evil magician Von Rotbart and freeing Odette from his spell, the lovers jump off a cliff and are united for eternity in the afterlife. As the swans resume their weary lives on the lake, you see the souls of Odette and Prince Siegfried rising up in the sky, triumphant over evil.
The twist in the ending is minor and it did not hamper one bit in my appreciation of this production. In fact, before the curtain rose on the production, Susan Macuja tells the story of Swan Lake to all the kiddies in the theater to further heighten their appreciation of the show. Such small detail enlightened everyone in the theater as to the ballet’s plot.
Of course, the main reason for going to see this Swan Lake is to see Lisa Macuja-Elizalde dance Odette/Odile. I’ve seen her dance this role two times in the past 10 years, and time has not dimmed her performance. In fact, her Odette is now a more shaded approach. You sense Odette’s fear and hesitance in her first meeting with Prince Siegfried. Her movements might be torpid at the start, but as the evening progresses and Odette warms to Prince Siegfried, eventually leading to a declaration of love, Macuja-Elizalde’s dancing gains color and power. When daybreak transforms Odette back into a swan, you know the precise moment when this happens because the dancing suddenly stiffens and becomes mechanical.
And then there’s Macuja-Elizalde’s Odile, a truly tigerish persona. I can never keep up with ballerinas in counting their fouettes. It was the great Italian ballerina Pierina Legnani who made it traditional for all Odiles to execute 32 fouettes in the so-called Black Swan pas de deux in Swan Lake. Did she twirl 32 times? I’m still too dizzy trying to remember.
Of course, the success of any Odette/Odile lies in her Prince Siegfried. Osias Barroso makes much of this role considering that it requires the danseur to act more than dance. Barroso knows his Siegfried well, pacing his prince with aplomb. And when it was his turn to wow the audience, he pulled out all stops, delivering dancing that was at par with Macuja-Elizalde’s.
I’ve always thought that you just need a corps of ballerinas to do a good Swan Lake. I was surprised to discover that you also need a good Jester to keep the energy up in the pantomimic moments in Acts I and III. And BM member Gerardo Francisco did just that. To describe Francisco as a lithe and athletic dancer is too simple. No jump or turn could faze him, it seemed. He was tireless, his energy boundless as he leapt in the air, setting the tone for the evening’s performance.
The Von Rotbart was similarly menacing, although Eduardo Espejo was kept mostly in the shadows in this show. I could not make him out easily from the backdrop as he is supposed to machinate the meetings of Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried. These are dramatic moments that need to be established, and it proved to be a disservice to Espejo’s acting.
Except for the twist in the ending, this production by Ballet Manila of Swan Lake was a lark, making the trip to the theater a truly enjoyable one. If only more people saw it, especially the kids.