The golden boy of ballet Joseph Phillips of Primorsky Ballet in Russia returns to Manila as Siegfred in the re-staging of Swan Lake, Feb. 24 to March 3, with the Odette-Odile of Candice Adea dancing the part for the first time.
Adea is the first Filipina to win gold medal in the Helsinki International Ballet Competition in 2012 and silver medal at the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition.
Last seen at the CCP as the sensational Nutcracker Prince and Basilio in Don Quixote two years ago, Phillips’ Siegfred will be seen for the first time in Manila with Nonoy Froilan restaging the coming production.
Danseur Nonoy Froilan—who danced the lead part in a 1980 production with Maniya Barredo—recalled that the Filipina who first set her eyes on the role of Odette-Odile in the 70s was Tina Santos but she had to cancel because of knee injury. After close to four decades, Santos is in town to coach the lead dancers.
Recalled Nonoy, “That 70s Swan Lake production pushed through with a foreign Swan in the person of Christine Walsh of Australia. When Maniya Barredo did the part for the first time in Manila, I was her Siegfred. Swan Lake was one of my memorable roles as premier danseur.”
One saw snatches of Swan Lake with the icons of Philippine ballet keeping a watchful eye namely Santos, Eddie Elejar and Froilan.
To be sure, this is the new generation of dancers one was watching and got magical excerpts from Act 1 Pas de Trois, White Swan and Black Swan with alternating Odette-Odile of Denise Parungao and Jemima Reyes with the Siegfred of Victor Maguad.
Huffing and puffing after the excerpts, ballerinas Parungao and Reyes agree on one prerequisite of the ballet warhorse.
“This ballet needs a lot of stamina. We have to secure our technique first but we should not lose sight of the characterization. We are white swans and black swans in this ballet. For sure, nothing is easy doing these dual roles.”
When Barredo danced Odette-Odile with Froilan in the 80s, he knew he was in the presence of a strong technician.
He recalled, “Apart from being a very lyrical dancer, Maniya is strong technically. I don’t have to work hard to support her because she can do balance with very little help from her partner.”
Wrote the late National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquingco of Barredo’s first Swan Lake, “Supremely poetic as Odette the Swan Queen and imperious and subtly evil as Odile the deceiver, the petite, long-necked and nobly formed Maniya had blossomed into a superb artist, indeed, one who could favorably compare with the greatest the world had to offer.”
After Barredo, Ballet Philippines’ Swan Lake had a new Odette-Odile in the person of Japan’s prima ballerina Yoko Morishita who did it in the 80s and said farewell to the part in the early 90s.
Morishita is a gold medalist in the Varna Competition and one of the few performing arts celebrities who became a Rolex endorser. She was also the favorite Giselle of the late Russian premier danseur Rudolf Nureyev who danced in Manila in the 70s.
In the 80s, Morishita danced Swan Lake not just with Froilan, but with Fernando Bujones, America’s superman of dance for her Siegfred.
Her luminous moments as Odette no doubt made her an instant ballet sensation in Manila. In the ballet’s introduction as far as one could recall, she was radiant until Baron Rothbart (Armin Wild) appeared to threaten her. In the Act II White Swan episode, Morishita’s dancing was sheer poetry in motion in the adagio part. Indeed, she essayed bird-like qualities that shimmered near the end of Act II where her feet, her arms and even her entire body muscles trembled and portrayed a swan in distress.
In the Black Swan episode, one saw Manila’s balletomanes counting in unison literally curious if she could complete the required 32 killer fouettes.
The alternate cast included Denise Parungao and Jemima Reyes with the Siegfred of Victor Maguad.
Maguad said the hard part of the ballet is not just portraying the prince but being a good and reliable partner. “Good partnering is another equally difficult requirement for a Siegfred aside from projecting his princely character. It is not enough that you can lift the ballerina without effort. Foremost of all, she should look good up in the air and down.”
The young ballerinas can only sigh with the gargantuan challenge awaiting them.
Added Parungao, “I think you should also be obsessed with going into the heart and soul of Odette if you are going to succeed in this role. We are expected to be pure and chaste in Act II and devilish as Odile in Act III.”
One remembered Barredo confiding after two weekends of Swan Lake in the early 80s, “I couldn’t believe that it was actually over. Because deep down within me, I don’t want it to end. At the same time, I am glad it’s over because it went so well.”
As the icon of choreography George Balanchine once noted, “All leading dancers want to dance Swan Lake at least once in their careers and all audiences want to see them dance it. To succeed in Swan Lake, is to become overnight a ballerina. Petipa and Ivanov (the composer and choreographer) are to the dancer what Shakespeare is to the actor. If you can succeed in their choreography parts, there is a suggestion that you can succeed at anything.”
Swan Lake runs at the CCP on Feb. 24, 25, 26 and March 3, 4, 5. Call the CCP box office at 832-1125 or 832-3704 for tickets.
