Reaffirming its status as the only ballet company able to present classical ballets in full-length form in the country, Ballet Manila mounted Le Corsaire (The Pirate) once more in 2002.

In fact, Ballet Manila was the only company in the Philippines to have been able to bring Le Corsaire in its full-length form to the Filipino audience. It premiered the pirate adventure in 1998 with the Krasnoyarsk Ballet and performed it again in 2000.

The 2002 full-length staging – with 16 performances – was special as it showcased all homegrown ballerinas and danseurs. There were three different casts and several individual premiers in various principal roles.

“One advantage of Ballet Manila… is that we are able to bring out our up and coming members and apprentices and present them in more challenging and visible roles,” wrote artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde who herself danced as Medora in several shows.

Le Corsaire’s appeal is its entertainment value, meant for viewers of all ages. As Macuja-Elizalde puts it, “It’s not everyday you get a pasha’s harem, a shipwreck, swashbuckling pirates and kidnapped damsels in distress, a living garden and a slave market all in one evening.”

Based on the 1814 poem by Lord Byron, Le Corsaire was choreographed by the legendary Marius Petipa and restaged for Ballet Manila by Osias Barroso – then principal dancer who also danced as Conrad – and guest ballet master Viktor Saveliev.

The story begins with the pirates Conrad, Ali, Birbanto and their companions battling a storm and eventually crashing on shore. They meet the Greek women Medora and Gulnara who are unfortunately abducted by Lankadem to be sold as slaves, with the Seid Pasha as the main customer. Conrad and his men come to their rescue. The women are later recaptured by Lankadem, and Conrad hatches a plan to save them anew. And once they are free, they sail off together in search for more adventures.