This Month in BM History: November 2013
Nikiya (Lisa Macuja Elizalde) rejects the advances of the High Brahmin (Harold Salgado) in La Bayadere. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
In the final installment of her Swan Song Series in November 2013, prima ballerina and Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde danced two contrasting roles in two vastly different ballets.
The final installment of Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s Swan Song Series in 2013 included her final performances in the lead of The Nutcracker and La Bayadere. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
There was the ill-fated heroine Nikiya, the temple dancer, who embraces death rather than face a life without her beloved warrior Solor in the heartbreaking epic La Bayadere. Then towards the end of the month and into December, she transformed into the Sugar Plum Fairy whose joy in dancing with the Prince was quite evident in the holiday staple The Nutcracker.
Lisa mused in an interview then how ironic it was that a ballerina has to enter retirement just when she has gained the capability to tackle a variety of challenging roles. “Just when you finally understand the many layers of portraying the tragic heroines of Giselle, Juliet or Nikiya; just when you develop the wisdom to pace yourself in a stamina-demanding role such as Kitri in Don Quixote; just when you feel capable enough with experience, artistic maturity and technique to be able to give those spot-on performances of Odette/ Odile, Medora, Cinderella or Swanilda, your body becomes, in a word, uncooperative.”
But bowing from the stage with grace, Lisa still considered herself blessed to have had such a fruitful career spanning decades and to be able to say goodbye to some of her favorite roles over a three-year period. In 2011, she said goodbye to Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet, and in 2012, to Giselle, Don Quixote and Carmen. In 2013, Swan Song Series was capped by her final farewell to Nikiya and Sugar Plum Fairy.
The Sugar Plum Fairy (Lisa Macuja Elizalde) dances with the Nutcracker Prince (Rudy De Dios) in The Nutcracker. Photo by Jojo Mamangun
