Leading La Bayadere: A first for principal dancer Abigail Oliveiro and soloists Noah Esplana and Shamira Drapete
As the temple dancer Nikiya, Abi Oliveiro (middle) figures in a love triangle when the warrior Solor (Noah Esplana, right) who pledged eternal love to her is suddenly married off to the princess Gamzatti (Shamira Drapete). Photo by MarBi Photography
By Jv Ramos
The work of a ballet dancer never stops. Such was the atmosphere on the last show of Ballet Manila’s Paquita, as many of the dancers found out that they’d be taking on lead roles in La Bayadere. There’s Abigail “Abi” Oliveiro, who will play the temple dancer Nikiya, as she simultaneously prepares for being princess Gamzatti to Mariinsky stars Kimin Kim and Renata Shakirova’s Nikiya and Solor. There’s soloist Noah Esplana who will be the warrior Solor, a character that’s present in all three acts and displays varying personalities. And completing the love triangle is soloist Shamira Drapete, who will portray Gamzatti, the daughter of royalty willing to claim Solor for herself.
The preparation for La Bayadere may seem like a crash course for principal dancer Abigail Oliveiro, and soloists Noah Esplana and Shamira Drapete, but the three are rising to the challenge of making their debuts as, respectively, Nikiya and Gamzatti, Solor, and Gamzatti. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Though these three artists have starred in classical ballets, La Bayadere – being a full-length that hasn’t been staged by Ballet Manila since 2013 – is a first for them. In fact, it’s only Abi that has experienced dancing an excerpt, which is Kingdom of Shades back in 2016. In addition, aside from debuting as the main characters, it’s the first time that Noah will be partnering with both ballerinas for a full-length.
Asked how rehearsals have been going, Abi expresses that compared to Paquita wherein they had four months to prepare, La Bayadere’s six-week preparation feels like a “crash course.” So from the very beginning, everyone had the mindset that they couldn’t afford to waste time.
With the commitment to making the most out of every practice, rehearsals have not been “too bumpy” as Abi would describe it. She paints a picture of her first time partnering with Noah: “In our first rehearsal, we did Act 1, wherein the characters are so expressive and so open, and I was anticipating that. But at that time, Noah was very proper – he’s not a big talker too when we would rehearse – because I guess he was not used to it yet. We had to spend time calibrating, putting pieces together for a couple of rehearsals before we were both able to open up and start to create shapes and feelings… I think it’s great to work with new partners as you’re able to find new approaches to your creative process.”
The stakes are high for Abi as she does double duty for the two casts of La Bayadere. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
“At that time, I was aligning myself or figuring out how each of us move,” expresses Noah. “While I have experienced dancing with two ballerinas before – the Dames twins in Swan Lake – there’s always a period of adjustment involved when you’re partnered with someone new. In pirouettes, ballerinas exert different forces, so you’d have to calibrate for that. Each ballerina’s center of gravity shifts differently, so you must figure that out too! For this production, I think the biggest challenge for me was their height!”
The danseur shares that upon noticing that he was dealing with longer limbs, he couldn’t help but develop that fear of being hit by Abi’s knee or Shamira’s leg. “It (working with taller dancers) took some time getting used to, and things did become easier after I got used to them.”
As for Shamira, she remembers stopping every five seconds during her early rehearsals of partnering with Noah. “As it’s new to me, I knew that my center would probably be all over the place, so even before we started, I apologized already to Noah. Since we’ve done more rehearsals now, I think I’ve been able to cope with the challenges of the production.”
Separating fellow dancer Abi from her character Nikiya is the main task for Shamira so she can fully bring out her inner Gamzatti. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Ballet Manila’s youngest soloist shares that the biggest challenge for her is being a convincing Gamzatti. As someone who has always played the love interest before, being the character who interrupts the relationship of two lovers is new territory. “Gamzatti is the daughter of the Rajah, who knows that she can get whatever she wants, including Solor,” says Shamira. “Being a spoiled brat and that mean-spirited is difficult for me. I’m wide-eyed and I have no mean and mature face. It’s also difficult for me to channel Gamzatti as opposite me is Ate Abi!”
Shamira explains that Abi has always been kind and nurturing to younger dancers such as herself that she can’t find it in her to be mean to someone she’s always looked up to. “There was a time during La Bayadere rehearsals when Ate Angelika [Tagupa] and Ate Marinette [Franco], the company artists who are Shamira’s confidants in the ballet, caught me looking at Abi with admiration as she was performing the death scene. That face really shouldn’t happen when I’m Gamzatti! I just have to really focus on separating Abi from the character of Nikiya.”
Having two new partners requires adjusting to the different ways each one moves, notes Noah. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Speaking of Nikiya, while she’s on the list of tragic characters in classic ballets, Abi sees her to be very different. “Nikiya is not a victim! For me, I feel like she's very spiritual, very loving, very deep and introspective. Being a temple dancer, she's so expressive and just so flowy. I feel like she's ethereal and has this very quiet conviction that I feel stays from the beginning to the end. And it is the reason why she dies. She has that conviction to Solor – a conviction that made her react in a particular way towards Gamzatti and even made her forgive Solor for marrying.”
On the other hand, Gamzatti for Abi is powerful and operates with so much authority. “I’d picture myself dancing her like, I like him. I like the idea of us getting married. I am entitled to this marriage. She’s dignified too, so she’s not one to lose her cool over a temple dancer,” describes Abi. “Aside from being completely different characters, choreographically, they’re also different. One jumps and turns and throws, while the other is restrained and controlled. It’s definitely very different from Swan Lake. Though the characters have different personalities, choreographically, the White Swan and Black Swan involve pirouettes – one is just more languid than the other. Here, in La Bayadere, both really move differently.”
Abi says of her two roles: “Nikiya is very spiritual, very loving, very deep and introspective. Gamzatti is powerful and dignified.” Photo by MarBi Photography
Noah cites how difficult things are for La Bayadere’s male lead. “After learning the ballet and doing the three acts, I've come to find that my character feels like three completely different people,” he notes. “Because in Act 1, he's very loving and very open; in Act 2, he's kind of like, I don't know if I want this, but I'll do it. And in Act 3, he is basically high! It's a bit difficult to kind of portray the three different kinds of feelings, I would say, like to the full extent.”
Shamira describes Gamzatti as being a spoiled brat and mean-spirited. Photo by Marbi Photography
This danseur adds how Solor’s choreography also differs in each act. “In Act 1, I have to be open and the movement is softer. In Act 2, I’m kind of a little closed off, but not too much, because, as Solor, I also think that Gamzatti is hot, and the movement is more bravura in a way. And in Act 3, it's a lot of hallucinating and trying to find this one girl that's dead, basically dead. Throughout it, Solor is confused and going, ‘Where is she? Where is she?’ Since Solor is in every act, with him going through a lot of menages – the role is pretty heavy, so I would find my legs feeling very tired at times.”
While demanding for dancers physically, choreographically, and creatively, the three artists agree that the process has been enjoyable as they all have collaborative personalities. “We’re also learning from the best. Ma’am Lise has done the ballet so many times with [her mentor] Tatiana [Udalenkova] having coached her. We have [ballet mistress] Natasha Radulgina and [ballet master] Sasha [Kurkov] here and [Mariinsky Ballet’s] Kimin Kim and Renata Shakirova are coming as well. It's like learning from the best of the best and from the very source material,” raves Abi.
At the time of the interview, while acknowledging that there’s still a lot of work to be done, the three artists are also very thrilled about everything coming together. Noah says, “There’s never a boring moment in La Bayadere. There's always something happening that’s exciting, whether it’s just between two people like in Act 1 or among everyone in company like in the Kingdom of Shades! The music is also amazing – as Abi had pointed out – carrying a lot of what happens in the ballet.”
Noah on being Solor: “I've come to find that my character feels like three completely different people.” Photo by MarBi Photography
“What’s special about La Bayadere is it’s not just classical ballet,” stresses Abi. “Yes, there are tutus, but there’s also ethereal dressing and in the temple, there's expression through movement and very big movement as well. There are also scenes with drama – pure drama and no dancing. You’re really going to get absorbed in the story. Yet behind all these, there’s a very human quality to the story of La Bayadere.”
Shamira adds, “I think the fact that La Bayadere is coming back after thirteen years is already reason enough to come to the ballet. I’ve also been watching what the others are doing, and everything is just so interesting and beautiful. This really is such a beautiful ballet!”
Shamira, Noah and Abi hold the souvenir programs for Ballet Manila’s past three performance runs of La Bayadere. Shamira wasn’t born yet when it was first staged in 2004 while Noah was a toddler during the second staging in 2006. Abi had just joined the company when the classic was presented a third time in 2013. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
