This Month in BM History: October 2017
The Swan Lake poster for the October 2017 shows features Joan Emery Sia as the Black Swan and Katherin Barkman as the White Swan. Poster from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
Swan Lake is inextricably interwoven with Ballet Manila’s history. Since the company’s beginnings in 1995, the ballet classic has been part of its repertoire, with the White Swan Pas de Deux and the Black Swan Pas de Deux effortlessly brought from place to place by the pioneering touring group of twelve ballerinas and danseurs.
An announcement in Philippine Star features the Ballet Manila ballerinas debuting in the challenging dual role of Odette and Odile. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
Later on, it enlisted the help of Krasnoyarsk Ballet to mount a full-length production that featured Filipino and Russian dancers on Philippine stage. As the company grew, it eventually managed to stage Swan Lake on its own starting in 2003. By 2017, it had presented the full-length classical warhorse no less than 50 times locally and internationally.
Swan Lake highlights the grace and strength of the corps de ballet. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag.
In October 2017, Swan Lake was again on center stage. Making their debuts were Katherine Barkman, Joan Emery Sia and Abigail Oliveiro. “All ballerinas know that the dual roles of Odette and Odile are the most difficult among the classical heroines. Dancing Odette/ Odile not only calls for a chameleon-like change of character and personality, but also a change in technical requirements,” pointed out Lisa Macuja Elizalde who herself portrayed the White Swan and the Black Swan multiple times throughout her career.
Abigail Oliveiro as Odile makes her grand entrance at the palace along with Godwin Merano as the evil sorcerer Von Rothbart. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
“For Odette, one needs to be soft, pliant and lyrical, with an almost painful vulnerability. Odile, however, demands legs and arms of steel, a fiery technique, speed, and the ability to transform into evil personified,” Macuja Elizalde continued in her director’s notes.
In the same essay, she shared her mentor Tatiana Udalenkova’s advice to always have a classical ballet in every season – to foster the growth and strength of Ballet Manila’s artists. Adhering to that advice in the years since Ballet Manila’s founding, she reaffirmed: “Committed to embracing our classical roots, we can assure you that Swan Lake will always be part of our repertoire – and that our dancers will always be prepared to perform it in all its traditional glory.
Mark Sumaylo as Prince Siegfried kisses the hand of this mother, the queen, portrayed by Lisa Macuja Elizalde as she gifts him with a hunter’s bow for his birthday. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
