This Month in BM History: August 2005
Christine Rocas made her debut in the challenging dual role of Odette and Odile in the full-length Swan Lake in 2005. Photo shows her as the evil Odile, with Nazer Salgado as the sorcerer Rothbart and Francis Cascaño as Prince Siegfried. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
On its tenth year in 2005, Ballet Manila staged anew the warhorse Swan Lake that August. After all, it aptly represented what the company stood for since its founding in 1995 – the best in classical ballet.
Artistic director and then principal dancer Lisa Macuja-Elizalde pointed out in her director’s notes that there was also a deeper reason to keep mounting a ballet like Swan Lake – the growth of the artists in performing it repeatedly.
A second poster for Ballet Manila’s Swan Lake was made after Christine Rocas emerged as the silver medalist in the 2005 New York International Ballet Competition held in June. Poster from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
She wrote, “When 24 swans have to dance as one unit; when a ballerina has to transform from the epitome of good to evil in a span of three immense acts; when 12 corps couples have to adapt to the strictest form of this enduring (and endearing) Russian choreography – the results of this production in the form of skill, knowledge and experience are felt within the company for years to come. Dancers grow onstage in the classics. Why stop a creative process that has worked for more than 200 years?”
Shows were spread out over two weekends, with two casts of dancers filling out the roles.
This Swan Lake staging was also significant as it was the debut of Christine Rocas in the challenging dual roles of Odette, the princess doomed to be a swan, and Odette, the wily lookalike who tricks Odette’s beloved Siegfried into falling for her instead. The young dancer had just won the silver medal at the New York International Ballet Competition in June and Swan Lake was the ideal vehicle to showcase her skills which had won the judges over.
The cover of the souvenir program for Swan Lake (above) was mirrored in the poster for the show. Souvenir program from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
Of the two Odette/Odiles, critic Joseph Cortes said in his review in the Philippine Star: “The BM artistic director took to the roles like second skin. She can dance this ballet with her eyes closed, such is her mastery of the dramatic and technical demands of the ballet. On the other hand, Rocas’ assumption was freshly minted. For a first-timer, she survived the rigors of dancing these difficult roles effortlessly.”
However, the 2005 Swan Lake proved to be a farewell performance for Rocas as well as she would soon leave Ballet Manila to avail of a prize that came with her silver win – a contract with the Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet which she has been with since.
And while Macuja-Elizalde said back then that it would also be her own farewell to Odette and Odile, her last full-length Swan Lake would actually only take place six years later – as part of her Swan Song Series in 2011.
