Ballet Manila caps 30th anniversary season with Mariinsky Ballet superstars in ‘Don Quixote’
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde (center) shares a light moment with Mariinsky Ballet’s Renata Shakirova (left) as Kitri and Ballet Manila’s own principal dancer Abigail Oliveiro as Mercedes. Photo by MarBi Photography
By Leah C. Salterio
Ballet Manila will end its 30th anniversary season this weekend with what artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde describes as a “happy ballet” – none other than Don Quixote, with no less than Mariinsky Ballet principal dancers Renata Shakirova and Kimin Kim in the lead roles of Kitri and Basilio.
Mariinsky Ballet principal dancers Renata Shakirova and Kimin Kim rehearse their roles as Kitri and Basilio in Don Quixote in Ballet Manila’s Studio 1. Photo by MarBi Photography
Don Quixote has the distinction of being the most performed full-length classic by Ballet Manila, aside from Kitri – the feisty village girl who falls in love with the barber Basilio – being a signature character for Lisa in her dancing years.
What is also special about this Don Quixote is that it brings together Lisa, Renata and Kimin who share ballet bonds that run deep. Once upon a time, Lisa was a soloist with the Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky Ballet) – and was actually the first foreigner to be invited to join the centuries-old institution back in 1984 upon her graduation from the Leningrad Choreographic Institute (now the Vaganova Academy). Kimin, who is Korean, is the first non-Russian born artist to be named principal dancer of the Mariinsky. Lisa and Renata meanwhile share a mentor in Merited Artist of Russia Tatiana Alexandrovna – though decades apart.
Don Quixote holds special significance for Lisa. She danced the wedding pas de deux for the first time during her graduation performance in 1984. She would debut in the full-length Don Quixote on January 6, 1986 – her first with the Kirov – with her parents Cesar and Susan Macuja and her brother Julio Macuja flying in to St. Petersburg from Manila to watch her.
As a Kirov Ballet soloist in 1986, Lisa Macuja debuts in Don Quixote, her first full-length production with the company where she is partnered by Farouk Ruzimatov. Photo from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
“That was one of the most fun performances to do,” says Lisa. “But also one of the hardest because you have to be full of energy and love of life to dance the ballet. The role requires you to jump, turn and be at the highest peak of your performance. There’s no down time. It’s a favorite role of mine because it’s a signature role.”
“Don Quixote is a very romantic, comic ballet,” she adds. “I can watch it over and over again. It’s a happy ballet to watch and a great one to watch especially if you’re a first-timer, it can change your whole concept of coming to the ballet – and it’s a brilliant way to close our 30th year.”
Renata and Kimin, who have been dancing the Don Quixote lead roles for ten years, concur that it is a fun ballet. “There are really different ballets. There are sad ballets and happy ballets. I believe that ballet is an art form used to give the audience positive vibes,” stresses Kimin.
For Renata, who regards Don Quixote as her most performed role in the classical repertoire, stepping into Kitri’s shoes raises the bar in the performance one has to deliver. “When Kimin and I dance, everything comes together, emotion and technique,” she shares. “I love dancing with Kimin in Don Quixote because it’s like in a competition with each other, but a good and healthy kind of competition. Like we challenge each other to dance at our maximum effort.”
Lisa Macuja Elizalde says of Kitri, played by Renata Shakirova (above): “The role requires you to jump, turn and be at the highest peak of your performance.” Photo by MarBi Photography
Kimin, who debuted in the role of Basilio when he was 17 in 2010, agrees: “Sometimes, it feels like a friendly competition performing together. It has been a continuous performance. Not too rehearsed.”
Don Quixote was first choreographed by Marius Petipa in 1869. Alexander Gorsky choreographed his own version for the Bolshoi Theater in the 1900s that he eventually brought to the Mariinsky, which is now the current version of the ballet, almost the same version that Ballet Manila uses.
Though it is titled Don Quixote, that character plays just a minor role in the ballet. Lisa sums up, “The ballet is the story of Kitri, who is in love with the town barber, Basilio. Lorenzo is Kitri’s father, a very ambitious man. He wants his only daughter to marry the town’s rich guy, Gamache, and Lorenzo almost strikes a deal with Gamache.
“Amid all the happening in Act I, Don Quixote enters the scene and mistakes Kitri for Dulcinea, an ideal woman. That creates another big mess for who will win Kitri’s hand – Don Quixote, Gamache or Basilio, Kitri’s first and only love.”
Principal dancer Romeo Peralta and soloist Rissa May Camaclang are the lead gypsies in the camp where Kitri and Basilio take refuge. Photo by MarBi Photography
In Act II, Kitri and Basilio run off to evade Gamache and Don Quixote. The couple ends up in the town meadow where they find the gypsies. Don Quixote mistakes the windmill for a monster that is coming to kidnap Dulcinea, so he charges at the windmill and in the process, gets hurt, falls to the ground and dreams.
Act III opens in the tavern where everybody is gathered to have fun. Don Quixote, Gamache, Basilio and all the other characters are there, including Lorenzo. Kitri is forced to meet and talk to Gamache again, which makes Basilio very jealous. So Basilio approaches Kitri and asks her why she is talking to Gamache again.
Kitri gets the blessing from Don Quixote to allow her and Basilio to get married as she thinks Basilio is dying, but the latter miraculously wakes up completely healthy. Lorenzo then finally gives his approval for the couple to marry.
Renata and Kimin share insights on ballet during their guesting in Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s art-advocacy program Art 2 Art, the former in 2024 and latter in an episode airing on September 8 on DZRH Radio, DZRH News Television and YouTube. Photos by Giselle P. Kasilag
Act IV features Kitri’s wedding to Basilio which is one of the highlights of the ballet. Don Quixote sees another vision of Dulcinea walking away from the village, so he also leaves, as the whole town celebrates.
The running time of Ballet Manila’s Don Quixote is a little less than Mariinsky’s version, according to Lisa. “We shortened the running time to not include several mime scenes between the inn keeper and Sancho Panza.”
“We concentrated on one highlight after another, one bravura number after another. It’s more spontaneous and sincere. It doesn’t look like it was too studied or rehearsed. It looks meaningful.”
Don Quixote concludes Ballet Manila’s Pearl Year which began with the Pearl Gala last March and was followed by Swan Lake in May and June. Lisa remembers, “The naysayers said we would last two years tops, they will disband, it’s not going to be a very big company, it’s not going to be a very successful endeavor.
Don Quixote rehearsals in full swing at Ballet Manila’s Studio 1. Photo by MarBi Photography
“But here we are 30 years later, Ballet Manila is the largest classical ballet company in the Philippines with 42 professional dancers. We have the most number of performances and we have a slew of classical, neo-classical and Filipino ballets in our repertoire.”
While she is happy that Ballet Manila has reached this significant milestones, she also feels a tinge of sadness that some people closest to her are no longer around to celebrate with her. “It’s just a little bit overwhelming and also a little sad because I really miss our first artistic director, Eric V. Cruz and Osias Barroso, my co-artistic director who passed away one and a half years ago. I miss a lot of our dancers who have come and gone.”
But she is also proud that from just 12 dancers, Ballet Manila has grown significantly. Lisa admits, “I’m like a mother, grandmother, great grandmother, great, great grandmother to many generations of dancers who have gone through first the school and then the company.
“Celebrating 30 years is like a vindication of the first time when they said, ‘As soon as Lisa Macuja retires, Ballet Manila will disintegrate.’ It didn’t happen. I retired 10 years ago from the stage and we’re still going.”
Ballet Manila’s Don Quixote goes on stage at Aliw Theater in Pasay City on the following dates: August 24, Friday, 8 p.m.; August 25, Saturday, 5 p.m.; and August 26, Sunday, 5 p.m.
Having partnered as Basilio and Kitri for ten years, Kimin Kim and Renata Shakirova concur that Don Quixote challenges them to dance to their maximum effort.
