This Month in BM History: February 2009
An announcement about Ballet Manila’s Valentine production for 2009 that appeared in Philippine Star. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
“A ballerina who has not danced to the music of Russian musical icon Peter Tchaikovsky cannot call herself a classical ballerina.”
Thus wrote Lisa Macuja-Elizalde in her director’s notes for The Swan, the Fairy and the Princess, pointing to the inspiration for their Valentine production for 2009. Realizing how the composer’s musical score has powered three of classical ballet’s most popular and enduring works, Ballet Manila put this show together and dubbed it as the “All-Tchaikovsky Challenge.”
In Ballet Manila’s The Swan, the Fairy and the Princess, the late veteran actor Tony Mabesa played composer Peter Tchaikovsky whose music powered the three works excerpted in the show. Performing the leads were (from left) Mylene Aggabao, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Zaira Cosico. Photo by Ocs Alvarez from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
The title is a nod to the three lead characters of the excerpted ballets – The Swan (Odette of Swan Lake), The Fairy (Masha or the Sugar Plum Fairy of The Nutcracker) and The Princess (Princess Aurora of Sleeping Beauty).
What set this production apart was having the late theater great Tony Mabesa thread the story together. As Tchaikovsky, he shared anecdotes about the three featured ballets, serving as a fitting introduction to the dancing that was to come in each segment.
For Macuja-Elizalde, The Swan, the Fairy and the Princess was a fitting finale to Ballet Manila’s 13th season and a grand tribute to the man whose ballet music will live forever. She notes, “Tchaikovsky is a ballerina’s composer. His musical phrases, haunting romantic melodies and powerful rhythms, crescendos and decrescendos inspire your limbs to soar or float gracefully as needed. It’s the music that dictates the attack of the movement – and Tchaikovsky has composed some of the most musical of ballets, where the movement and the music match perfectly.
Souvenir program cover of the show dubbed as the “All-Tchaikovsky Challenge”. From the Ballet Manila Archives collection
