And then Manila becomes La Mancha

A horse, a horse...” A kingdom for a horse….

Someone from Ballet Philippines (events manager Rejina Malay) is talking to someone on the cell phone, and she is procuring a horse — yes, a live one preferably white perhaps — to be used in the company’s latest production. She gives me a look that says she kids me not.

Ballet Philippines (BP) is leaving no stone unturned in its classical ballet adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote to cap off its 41st season billed as “The Heroes’ Journey.” It will run from Feb. 17 to 20 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Theater. The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) under the baton of Maestro Olivier Ochanine will perform Leon Minkus’ music live on the evening shows. The last time BP did Don Quixote was in 1995 in a restaging by William Morgan and headlined by Anna Villadolid, Wes Chapman and Joan Broada, with Noordin Jumalon as the don. This time Jumalon, director of the CCP Dance School, is restaging the ballet.   

And things are off to a galloping start.

“I used to hear of talk about bringing a live horse (to play the Don’s Rosinante) into production, but now I think that it’s going to happen (laughs),” Australian Ballet’s Ai-Gul Gaisina. Ai-Gul says she saw a horse used onstage twice in her life: one was at the Mariinksy Theater in Russia, another was in a Rudolf Nureyev movie created for the Australian Ballet that premiered in 1974.

Connor Walsh, Houston Ballet principal dancer

The use of a live horse is wonderful, says Ai-Gul. “As long as the horse behaves itself (laughs).”

Ai-Gul is in Manila as guest ballet teacher and repertoire coach for this particular BP production, tasked with getting the dancers ready in executing the challenging and stylized choreography. She was born in Kazan in the USSR, studied at the prestigious Kirov Ballet School. She left Russia in 1973 and joined the Australian Ballet where she essayed key roles, including that of Kitri in Nureyev’s Don Quixote production.

The ballet is challenging to stage, says Ai-Gul. But obstacles are overcome, according to the ballet teacher, with the daily rehearsals of the BP dancers to achieve perfection and effortlessness. “That’s what ballet is all about,” she stresses. “We always work very hard, but we make it look easy.”

Don Quixote is very intriguing because of the characters and the (exotic, quixotic) setting. “It is even made more interesting because of the rich flavor of Spanish culture, and especially Spanish dancing. That’s such a challenge and joy at the same time for dancers — to express that kind of movement.”

In the second act (the dream sequence), adds Ai-Gul, the audience will see “pure classical-disciplined dancing.”

 Pure classical-disciplined dancing from the likes of BP’s Candice Adea, silver medalist at the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition (USA IBC), who will play Kitri alongside Jean Marc Cordero, semifinalist at the USA IBC, who will play Basilio. (Factoid: The duo performed the Don Quixote pas de deux that earned them a standing-O at the USA IBC.)

Adea is also set to dance with a special guest: Connor Walsh, principal dancer of the Houston Ballet. Also performing as Kitri on alternate night-shows and matinees are seasoned ballerinas Katherine Trofeo and the lovely Carissa Adea.

Candice started her ballet lessons at the age of four. Years later, she was accepted at the Philippine High School for the Arts and realized ballet is her calling. Her silver medal won in Jackson, Mississippi bears this out.

Ballet Philippines president Margie Moran-Floirendo says, “Don Quixote is a light comedy, and it will appeal to a very diverse audience.”

Candice’s sister Carissa began at the age of three. Her mom Cielo started taking up aerobics and little Carissa tagged along; right next door was a ballet studio. “At first I thought it had something to do with swimming, so I was very excited.” Her mom bought a leotard, which Carissa thought was a swimsuit. But she learned to like it eventually, and now her world revolves around ballet.

At age eight, Katherine joined a ballet club in school. After a year she wanted to give up, but her mom told her to continue her lessons since it might do wonders for the asthmatic girl. “By grade five, I was hooked. I realized it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.” 

Talking with the three girls is such a treat. One realizes that how intense they are during performances and rehearsals is inversely proportional to how they are during light moments, when they are asked to expound on a variety of topics:

Such as day jobs…

“We practice more than eight hours a day so a day job is out of the equation,” the girls would tell you.

Supposedly diabolical, psychotic Black Swan-like rivalries…

“Walang rivalry, healthy competition lang,” says Carissa with a laugh. And besides it’s hard enough for a Filipino ballet company to sustain itself these days; thus cooperation and camaraderie are direly needed.

“We have to stick together,” shares Candice. “Konti na nga lang nagsu-support sa art, so we have to help each one other. Family kami dito sa Ballet Philippines.”  

Night-outs… How ballerinas let their hair down…

Ballet Philippines tres Marias: Katherine Trofeo, Carissa Adea and Candice Adea

“Videoke!” exclaims Candice with a laugh. “They jokingly call me ‘Carol Banawa,’ and then they tell me, ‘Huwag ka na kumanta, sumayaw ka na lang (laughs)!’”

Factoid number 2: Carissa sings Spice Girls songs.

As for Katherine… “When we had karaoke in my house, my daughter was trying to make me sing Joy to the World (laughs).” 

Clubbing…

Carissa says they don’t dance at bars anymore, they just watch other people dance. “Eight hours kaming sumasayaw every day, so nagu-unwind na lang kami afterwards.”

Isn’t there an urge to do a breathtaking Isadora Duncan-like pirouette to show people on the dance-floor some real mad ballet skills?

“We try to be as normal as possible when we step out of CCP (laughs),” says Katherine.

Candice adds that as artists they get to pick up a dance move or two that they would incorporate in their repertoire.

The challenge of performing in Don Quixote…

“Before Connor arrived kinakabahan ako kasi one week lang kami magpre-prepare tapos performance na,” recalls Candice. But then when Connor and Candice started rehearsing, they realized they could pull it off even if the show opened, say, the following day. “’Yun ang joke namin (laughs). Let’s perform tomorrow!”

Another challenge is performing with a live orchestra. She says, “That’s a test on how mature we are as dancers.”  

Life in general…

Katherine and Carissa say that when Candice won in the IBC, the only thing that changed was her work ethic; she has become more of a perfectionist, having seen what their ballerina counterparts in the States are capable of doing. But Candice has remained the bubbly, fun-loving person with a positive spin on things.

“Kahit nawalan na ng i-Pod ’yan,” recalls Katherine. “Or nabundol ng bike sa CCP ng 9:30 ng umaga (laughs).”

“Na-hit-and-run na siya, nakatawa pa,” jokes Carissa.

Filipinos’ awareness and appreciation of ballet…

Because of YouTube and the Web, Carissa surmises, ballet is becoming more and more accessible to everyone.

“In general, kulang pa,” observes Katherine. “But we had an SM mall tour last year. And maganda — kasi parang nade-decentralize ang ballet. Hindi lang sa CCP.”

“At madami kaming naging audience because of the mall shows,” Carissa adds.

The girls enthuse about the heartwarming response of people as far as Davao on the BP Facebook page.

Not an impossible dream

For Ballet Philippines president Margie Moran-Floirendo, this is a “storybook production.” According to the former Miss Universe, whom trustee Ana de Villa Singson describes as BP’s indefatigable leader, the guest teacher (Ai-Gul Gaisina) and guest dancer (Connor Walsh) put the production on a whole new level.

“And since this ballet is a light comedy, it will appeal to a very diverse audience. We at Ballet Philippines are very versatile. Those who like classical ballet, go to us. Those who like modern contemporary ballet, go to us as well.”

The gala performance is a fund-raiser. BP plans on bringing in more public school students to ballet shows as part of their art appreciation program.

“We want to make the CCP available, to make ballet more accessible. It has been proven that exposure to the arts — dance, music, visual arts, etc. — is a key element in making students perform better in their academics. We are very lucky at Ballet Philippines because we’ve been able to fill up the theater, as well as bring in experts like Ai-Gul and Connor. Our focus this year is to become even better technically in the classical field, and become even bigger as a ballet company.”  

‘Give me a world of madness if madness is to be glad, i’d rather be happy in madness than to be sane and sad’

Ballet Philippines’ Don Quixote centers on an episode in Cervantes’ tale wherein Don Quixote journeys to Barcelona, meets an innkeeper’s daughter named Kitri whom he mistakenly thinks is the imaginary muse Dulcinea. Kitri has a tryst with the town barber called Basilio whom the girl’s father named Lorenzo disdains. The gallant man from La Mancha unknowingly helps the two lovers get their happy-ever-after resolution.

Don Quixote in the book has thousands of adventures, but choreographer Marius Petipa who mounted Don Quixote’s most enduring ballet adaptation for the Ballet of the Imperial Bolshoi Theater in Moscow in 1869 must have picked the most interesting episode that would be ideal for a ballet.

Ai-Gul concludes, “Don Quixote is the story of a free spirit, of imagination and adventure. And it takes us wherever you want to go.”

Don Quixote is a trip of sorts. Upon the graceful white horse of inspiration.

* * *

Don Quixote will run for one week only. Performances are scheduled for Feb. 17, 8 p.m. (featuring Candice Adea); Feb. 18, 3 p.m. (feat. Katherine Trofeo) and 8 p.m. (feat. Candice); Feb. 19, 3 p.m. (feat. Carissa Adea) and 8 p.m. (feat. Katherine), and Feb. 20, 10 a.m. (feat. Carissa) and 3 p.m. (feat. Candice), all at the CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater).

Ticket prices on Feb. 17 and 18 gala performances are from P1,000 to P5,000. Matinee prices are from P200 to P800, and evening shows from P400 to P2,000.

Call CCP Box Office at 832-3704 and Ticketworld at 891-9999. For group sales, call Ballet Philippines at 551-1003 or 832-6011. For information, visit www.balletphilippines.org.