Baddies of ballet

With Halloween comes the spectacle of spooky costumes, creepy decorations, horror films and the like. At the Ballet Manila Archives, this is the time when we put the spotlight on on-stage villains – those shady characters who always get a bad rap, but without whose presence and devious schemes our heroes won’t struggle, shine through and triumph in the end.

For a change, here’s a toast to the baddies of ballet!

The sorcerer Von Rothbart (Mark Sumaylo) wields great power in Swan Lake (2025), transforming a group of women into swans by day. Among them is Odette whom Prince Siegfried chances upon one evening and instantly falls in love with. Rothbart tries to put a stop to their romance by deceiving the prince and making him think that the lookalike Odile is Odette. Photo by Larry Salgado

Conde Adolfo (Romeo Peralta) succeeds in convincing some loyal subjects of the kingdom to turn against their leader, Haring Linceo in Florante at Laura (2024). He also attempts to have the king’s daughter, Laura, for himself but she is fortunately rescued by Flerida. The first dance adaptation of the Balagtas epic was choreographed by Gerardo Francisco Jr. and Martin Lawrance. Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto

Upon learning that the Hunter has not killed Snow White as she ordered, the Evil Queen (Abigail Oliveiro) plots to get rid of the princess herself. In this publicity photo for Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s Snow White (2017), the devious royal is set to transform herself into an old woman and offer a poisoned apple to the princess who is staying in the dwarves’ house in the forest. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

The trio of the Stepmom (John Balagot) and Stepsisters (Jasmine Pia Dames and Stephanie Santiago) dance with abandon, with not a care in the world that they’re disrupting the ball at the palace in Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s Cinderella (2025). True to their mean nature, they’re not about to let anyone get in the way of them going after the prince. Photo by Larry Salgado

The slave trader Lankadem (Noah Esplana) earns a hefty sum selling off maidens to wealthy patrons in Le Corsaire (2023). In the pirate adventure, he is initially reluctant to sell Medora to the Seid Pasha but later agrees to do so when promised a bigger sum. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Maleficent (Emma Harris) gets her revenge for not being invited to the christening of Aurora (Jasmine Pia Dames) in Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty (2020). She curses the princess to die on her sixteenth birthday but the other fairies counter it by turning the curse into an indefinite slumber instead – to be broken by first love’s kiss. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz

The Black Swan Odile (Joan Emery Sia) has managed to fool Prince Siegfried (Rudy De Dios) into believing she is his beloved White Swan Odette, a ruse perpetrated by Von Rothbart in Swan Lake (2017). When Siegfried realizes his mistake, he searches for Odette, begs for forgiveness and joins her in the afterlife to finally escape the dark wizard. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag