The legendary Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) is known to have created some of the most popular and enduring music in the classical repertoire, leaving behind a legacy of operas, symphonies, concerts and other orchestral work which continue to be enjoyed by audiences today.

Among these musical jewels are three majestic ballet scores – Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty – which are counted among the works that set the gold standard for classical ballet.

Having already performed these ballets individually on numerous occasions, Ballet Manila was inspired to conceptualize and stage an all-Tchaikovsky program in 2009 featuring excerpts from all three. Titled The Swan, The Fairy and The Princess, it combined Act 2 of Swan Lake, excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty and Act 2 of The Nutcracker.

The story unfolds from the point of view of the composer who unites the three ballets by sharing his intimate memories and anecdotes behind each one. In 2009, Tony Mabesa – who would later be named National Artist for Theater – played the Russian composer. For the 2016 staging, theater actor Miguel Faustman assumed the key role.

“Tchaikovsky is a ballerina’s composer,” described Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde. “His musical phrases, haunting romantic melodies and powerful rhythms, crescendos and and decrescendos inspire your limbs to soar or float gracefully as needed. It’s 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.”

Macuja Elizalde – who herself had danced as Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty excerpt of the Tchaikovsky special back in 2009 – presented three new ballerinas in the title roles in 2016: Abigail Oliveiro as Odette, Katherine Barkman as Masha and Dawna Reign Mangahas as Aurora.

“A ballerina who has not danced to the music of Russian musical icon Peter Tchaikovsky cannot call herself a classical ballerina,” said Macuja Elizalde. “His scores have filled concert halls and theaters for over a century, bringing life to some of the most unforgettable choreographic pieces of our time. Tchaikovsky’s music truly personifies classical ballet.”