Ballet Manila, Korean Co. in arresting gala concert

The best dancers of Ballet Manila and Korea’s Choi So Bin Company were featured in a lustily applauded gala concert at the Star Theater which was filled to capacity.

In “Sotto Voce”, the initial number, a ballerina in a flowing gown started moving with very slow, measured steps. She was soon joined by five others, intertwining or dancing separately in limpid, smoothly cohesive, graceful fashion. How the exquisitely lyrical sequences called to mind the words from a poem by Keats: “Beautiful, exceedingly!”

The ballerinas who interpreted Augustus Damian’s choreography to Palchelbel’s music were Joan Emery Sia, Tiffany Chiang, Sofia Sangco-Peralta, Naomi Jaena, Marika Capati and Jan Erika Basilio.

In a charming adaptation and extension of the French pantomime’s duo Pierrot and Columbine, Serge and Nicolas Legat created a fairy doll princess, Missy Macuja Elizalde, who is being wooed by a happy clown and a sad clown, Alvin Santos and Glenn Ragel, respectively. Missy was a dainty, winsome fairy doll whose neat, clear, sparkling style was truly captivating, and a fetching complement to the clown’s thrilling pyrotechnics.

Arnulfo Andrade commanded attention in his swift, vibrant turns and lofty jetés as the fearless, daring hunter Acteon in Agrippina Vaganova’s choreography to the music of Pugni.

The brilliant Koreans took their turn in a pas de trois from Le Corsaire re-choreographed by artistic director Choi So Bin. An Chaehyeon, Han Sangyu and Kim Donguk, as well as the latter in the Basilio Variation from Don Quixote, also re-choreographed by Bin, conveyed consummate skill and sensitive artistry.

As did Stephanie Eunice Cabral dancing the composition of Ivanov and Petipa to the music of Tchaikovsky. Her fouettés as Odile in the Black Swan Variation were startling.

The petite Joan Emery Sia as Juliet and Alfren Salgado as Romeo in Damian’s Balcony Scene expressed the passionate underpinnings of youthful love, their exuberance and flamboyance reflecting their feelings.

Technical feats were rendered by Dawn Mangahas and Elpidio Magat in Alexander Gorsky’s Grand Classique to Francois Auber’s music, Dawn dazzling the audience with her amazing extensions and balance, Elpidio with his leaps and soft landings, rapid multiple turns, and breath-taking lifts.

In “The Last Poem”, music and movement were so closely fused, every musical phrase and every movement or gesture it generated conveyed the deepest meaning. This was the impression the incomparable Lisa Macuja Elizalde gave as the dying wife whose last wish was to have her husband read her favorite poem to her.

In agonizing pain, she rises from bed using the last ounce of energy for an astonishingly vivid and eloquent pas de deux with Rudy de Dios as her gallant, compassionate husband. Lisa’s emotive dancing will be indelibly etched in the memory as she again outshone the company’s much younger members. Rarely has a ballerina triumphed as persuasively in so challenging and daunting a role. Damian choreographed it to Massenet’s Thais.

“Reconfigured” was an arrestingly dynamic tribute to manhood. In flowing, open skirts, with torsos bare, the dancers jumped, whirled, tumbled, romped with tremendous zest, power and infectious fire to the thunderous, percussive music of Van Magnet as choreographed by Damian. Ensemble dancing was interspersed with electrifying solos by Michael Divinagracia, Gerardo Francisco, Alvin Santos and Alfren Salgado.

In “Carmen”, the finale choreographed by Choi So Bin and interpreted by her in the title role and Lee Mung Hyeum as Don Jose, the dancing by the soloists and the ensemble was excellent, approaching perfection.  However, the interpretation was egregious, exhibiting none of the spirit, passion, flamboyant abandon inherent in Spanish dancing. Choi So Bin, technically flawless in the pas de deux, elegance and delicacy personified, expressed no lust, sensuality, or passion as would have been expected from the promiscuous flirt Carmen.

The danseurs, presumably Don Jose and Escamillo, the toreador, were relatively “tame” in their posturings. The Habanera, which is lush and robust, was danced by ballerinas in soft, gentle movements; the fiery, forceful, feisty, overwhelming aria of Escamillo, the bullfighter, was again interpreted by the ballerinas in similarly engaging but illogical and incongruous fashion!

It must be stressed,  however, that the classical dancing per se of the Koreans merits high praise.

Ballet Manila should be warmly commended for inviting a leading Asian company to a joint engagement. In this regard, it has invited distinguished soloists from European, US and Asian companies for its forthcoming “Stars of Philippine Ballet” concert on June 1, 7:30 p.m. at Aliw Theater. Prima Ballerina Lisa will perform in this rare, not-to-be-missed treat.