DON’T miss Balletcenter’s full length production of SWAN LAKE which opened last week at the On Stage theater of Ayala Center. There are two more performances at the same venue tomorrow September 20 and on Saturday September 21. Curtain time is 6:30 pm.
Praise and encouragement is due Balletcenter’s artistic directors, Nicolas Pacaña and Gregory Aaron. What’s more, Nicolas appears in the ballet as the sorcerer Von Rothbart.
The presentation is most felicitous, specially the lake and swans scenes in Acts II and IV. Balletcenter’s own Genette Terez takes the lead role of Odette, the Swan Queen, in all performances. Her hands and arms, and most of all her footwork, evoke Margot Fonteyn at her best.
On opening night September 13 and next evening guest artists from Steps Dance Studio in Manila performed courtesy of its artistic director Sofia Zobel Elizalde. Rudolph Capongcol was Prince Siegfried; and Jasmine Pia Dames, Odile, the Black Swan.
This week end those roles will be danced by Balletcenter’s very own principal dancers – Mhynard Etis as Siegfried, and Rollaine Nuez as Odile.
Balletcenter has quite an array of fine dancers. Take Gisella Gandionco who brightens the scenes in which she appears. She was in the Act I “Pas de Trois” with Eliza Sumbi and a swarthy John Rocamora. Next evening it was Alyssa Laico, Pep Declaro and Darius Dignos.
Rollaine, Gisella, Eliza, and Pep were the big swans, while little swans doing that special dance, arms enlaced, were Cecille Nolasco, Marie Libo-on, Jennievele Bagsican and Alyssa.
The rest of the swans were Jamyma Aragon, Annika Reyes, Michelle Kesner, Helga Beuken, Gieril Respecia, Michelle Tan, Tamila Estrada and Aika Moro. All in all 16 swans.
But in the Act IV lake scene we counted 17. Montserrat Forner, Balletcenter’s Ballet Mistress, had joined them. She had also been one of the princesses in the Act III ball scene.
Dr. Stephanie Sitoy was a most regal Queen Regent. Her ladies in waiting were Em Em Hann, Catherine Zukina, Joy Oroc, Vivian Hirose, Mary Josephine Ouano, and May May Evangelista.
Numerous children took part as villagers, townspeople, and guests in the ball scene. They wore beautiful costumes, very well crafted, and in tasteful colors. Backdrops were appropriate, specially the lake scene with its distant turreted castle.
Then, there is, of course, that marvelous music by Tschaikovsky, three full hours of it. And most of all, the choreography, laid out more than 100 years ago by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov for the Russian Imperial Ballet.
Nicolas and Gregory have done a magnificent presentation. Many who saw it last weekend would like to repeat the experience. For, when again?
During curtain call, up on stage to present flowers were the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel’s resident manager Julie Najar and Lara Constantino, sales and marketing director.
Principal dancers Rudolph Capongcol and Jasmine Dames were billeted at the Marco Polo during their stay in Cebu. Also Sofia Elizalde who came to Cebu for the September 14 performance.
There was much excitement on opening night. Josh Romayla, Balletcenter’s company manager, was at the gate, as was Baby Declaro, in charge of the printed souvenir program.
They indicated guests to take a photo op with Gregory Aaron whose birthday it was on September 13. It was also Nicolas Pacaña’s birthday a few days before, On September 10. During curtain calls there were not just flower leis but birthday cakes as well.
“How did you like it?” Nicolas asked those among the throng of well wishers who rushed to the stage. “It had a happy ending!”
Yes indeed, it was nice to give Swan Lake a happy ending, although Tschaikovsky gave the original score a sense of impending doom.
What’s up next from Balletcenter? During that press luncheon held at the Marco Polo weeks before Swan Lake, Nicolas and Gregory intimated they were thinking of a full length “Coppelia.”
Or maybe some other ballet where they can include more than a hundred dancing children as they did in Swan Lake’s Acts II and III.
Meanwhile, as we said at the start – don’t miss Swan Lake this weekend.