Villains in the classics
Fiendish. Malevolent. Merciless. Villains at the ballet can be just as depraved as their counterparts in films or in plays. But the added challenge for them is executing their dastardly acts with a flourish that comes with having to dance the part.
As a Halloween special, we present a rogue’s gallery from Ballet Manila’s productions of the classics over the years – featuring characters who make life miserable for the heroes, propelling the story with their loathsome behavior and their scheming ways.
The High Brahmin in ‘La Bayadere’
The High Brahmin (Marcus Tolentino) is mesmerized by the beauty of the temple dancer Nikiya (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde) in La Bayadere (2004). After he bids her to dance for the gods by the sacred fire, he confesses his feelings for her but is rebuffed. When he discovers Nikiya is in love with the warrior Solor, the Brahmin plots to get him out of the way. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
The Mouse King in ‘The Nutcracker’
In The Nutcracker (2006), Masha (Dawna Reign Mangahas) falls asleep and wakes up to a scene of wonder as the Christmas tree grows, and then of chaos, as the Mouse King (Harold Salgado) leads his minions in a battle against toy soldiers. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Lankadem in ‘Le Corsaire’
The evil slave trader Lankadem (Romeo Peralta) is on the constant lookout for women to prey on in the pirate caper, Le Corsaire (2013). He abducts them and brings them to the slave market where he sells them to the highest bidders, among them his main customer, the Seid Pasha. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Mother Simone in ‘La Fille Mal Gardee’
Mother Simone (Christopher Mohnani) stands in the way of her daughter Lise’s happiness in Sergey Vikulov’s La Fille Mal Gardee (2009). Lise is in love with Colas but her mother wants her to marry Alain, the son of the wealthy landowner Alain whom she has personally been eyeing for herself. In a grand picnic, the overbearing mother regales the crowd with a dance on wooden clogs, not realizing Lise and Colas have sneaked off and managed to outwit her. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Rothbart in ‘Swan Lake’
In Swan Lake, Baron von Rothbart (Nazer Salgado, 2005, and Godwin Merano, 2017) is a wicked sorcerer who has cast a spell on Princess Odette, turning her into a swan by day until a man should love her, marry her and never love another. But true to his evil nature, he tricks Prince Siegfried into thinking that Odile is his beloved Odette. Siegfried swears eternal love to Odile, vowing also to marry her and thus sealing Odette’s fate. Rothbart makes a victorious exit. Photos by Ocs Alvarez (2005) and Giselle P. Kasilag (2017)
Myrtha in ‘Giselle’
Seeking vengeance, the wilis – the restless spirits of jilted women – pursue men who wander into their dominion and drive them to dance to exhaustion and eventual death. Myrtha (Dawna Reign Mangahas), their queen, is ruthless and dictates the same fate for the erring Albrecht (Rudy De Dios) in Giselle (2016). Even as the new wili, Giselle (Katherine Barkman), pleads for Albrecht’s life despite being disloyal to her, Myrtha would have none of it and only has his doom in mind.
Odile in ‘Swan Lake’
Supposedly the evil magician Rothbart’s daughter, Odile (Abigail Oliveiro) in Swan Lake (2017) is instrumental in throwing a kink into Siegfried’s (Mark Sumaylo’s) romance with her lookalike Odette whom the prince has fallen in love with. Odile beguiles Siegfried and fools him into believing she is Odette and when the ruse is revealed, like Rothbart, she is filled with malicious mirth.
