Ballet’s Leading Ladies: The feisty Kitri

In a dancing career that spanned three decades, Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde had the good fortune to portray the most fascinating lead characters to have ever graced the stage. This Women’s Month, we feature a series recalling Lisa’s notes on these iconic female figures – from Don Quixote’s feisty heroine Kitri to Swan Lake’s challenging dual roles of Odette and Odile – paired with choice photos from the Ballet Manila Archives collection. 

Act 2 with Dulcinea and the corps de ballet in the Kirov Ballet’s Don Quixote, 1986. “When I first danced the role of Kitri in Russia, not only did I wake up with swollen legs from all the mandatory jumping and turning, I also had sore cheeks from all the smiling and laughing that came with such a euphoric ballet.”

First full-length ballet after returning from Russia as first artist-in-residence of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, with Ballet Philippines, 1986. ”The central character of the ballet, and my favorite role of all, is Kitri, an audacious young girl with spirit and energy. She’s a whirlwind, and the whole ballet is about how she and her lover outwit her father and marry each other against his wishes.”

With Wes Chapman of the American Ballet Theater, guesting in Philippine Ballet Theater’s Don Quixote, 1993. “While Don Quixote is probably the happiest ballet you can find in the classical repertoire, it is also one of the most difficult technical showcases that you can perform in as a ballerina.”

Doing the famous fish dive with Osias Barroso on one of several performance tours in Russia, 1990s. “My best portrayal of Kitri was in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in 1990, with Osias Barroso as Basilio. I was dancing with a partner I was so used to dancing with so it was like second nature. I was very comfortable with him and with my technique. I was so strong that I actually remember dancing an encore of the coda, doing my fouettés again at the end of that whole act three, and yet after that we still had the energy — because the audience was not letting us go — we actually did our fouettés again.”

Dancing with Osias Barroso in one of Ballet Manila’s productions of Don Quixote, 2004. “Kitri is a girl who epitomizes the French phrase ‘joie de vivre.’ She is in love with life and with Basilio, a poor barber. Don Quixote is a fast bravura ballet filled with exuberant variations in the classical and demi-character style following each other in quick succession.”

Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Partnered by Rudy De Dios in another Ballet Manila staging of Don Quixote, 2009. “The highlight of the whole ballet is the pas de deux in the finale, where the ballerina and her partner get to show off with real bravura dancing. The most treacherous part for the ballerina is the famous pas, where she does 32 fouettés in a row. That’s like seeing a spinning top. But once you get past the 25th fouetté and are on to the next, the audience starts applauding wildly. It’s dizzying.”

Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Bidding farewell to Kitri as part of Swan Song Series, 2012. “There is no other way to dance this role. You need to be on fire with superhuman stamina, solid techniques, and unfaltering energy from beginning to end.”

Photo by Jojo Mamangun

Coaching a new generation of Kitris — Jasmine Pia Dames, Dawna Reign Mangahas and Katherine Barkman — for Ballet Manila’s Don Quixote, 2017. “It’s very exciting when you see different ballerinas tackle the role that you’ve learned so much from. The ballet's signature Spanish flair means that other than precise technique, the dancing requires just as much artistry and expression, maybe even more.”

Photo by Jimmy Villanueva