Monday, December 12, 2011

Ballet Philippines' The Sleeping Beauty


My love for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s music always drives me to be at every concert that featured his works. For this year, I’ve only been to a couple of concerts that had live performances of his music and they weren’t enough. Fortunately, Ballet Philippines provided more Tchaikovsky music for me to savor by staging the ballet The Sleeping Beauty as part of their 42nd Season lineup. I knew that I couldn’t afford to miss this ballet held at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines especially since the Manila Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Jeffrey Solares, would be providing the live music in some performances. I did manage to watch the gala night which featured Japanese guest artist Nobuo Fujino and the international award winning, BP principal dancer Candice Adea and also the live music by the MSO which I really was looking forward to.

It’s been more than two decades since Ballet Philippines last staged Sleeping Beauty. So for a lot of people who were there during the gala night, it was their first time to see this ballet performed live. But I did have a glimpse of the Grand pas de deux from the ballet during the CCP Gala and seeing it made me want to watch the full length ballet with the live music no matter what. And it was truly a different experience watching a ballet production since it felt like being transported to a different time and place and yet all the action was there happening live right before my eyes.

Candice Adea

And right before my eyes, Candice Adea exhibited a lively, spirited and enthusiastic portrayal of Princess Aurora. She lit up the stage as she entered during the scene when the Princess celebrated her 16th birthday and she was indeed the life of the party. The character and personality she displayed gave more impact to her eventual slumber as part of the curse given to her by Carabosse played by Olga Bankova. Guest artist On the other hand, Nobuo Fujino was a towering presence in his role as Prince Desiré despite his part not being as meaty as that of Candice. Individually, they shone in their variations and solo parts especially Candice during the exquisite Rosa Adagio but it was a different matter when the two did the Adagio during the Grand pas de deux. Their partner work left me thinking how more impressive they could’ve been if they had some years’ worth of experience dancing with each other. But given the limited time that they’ve had, they did pretty well and I do have to admit that while some of the hype went to Fujino being the guest artist, it was really Candice who was the star of the ballet. The Prince's role didn't have much in terms of characterization but Fujino was up to the task in letting Candice shine.

Nobuo Fujino

The rest of the company did well although there were some errors that my untrained eye was able to notice. But it only goes to show how technically difficult Sleeping Beauty was not only for the leads, but also for the other soloists and the rest of the company as well. The plot of the fairy tale is very shallow and thin and at first glance, the material may not be suitable for a full length ballet that lasted for more than two hours. But some of the minor characters like the fairies had short individual and group numbers throughout the ballet. And during Act III, there were guest characters from other fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Puss-in-Boots for example and they also did some dancing as well. They were there for the wedding of Princess Aurora and Prince Desiré and I still wonder how on earth these characters served the story. I guess this is one ballet quirk that I have yet to understand.

Olga Bankova

I remember telling Candice right after the CCP Gala that seeing an excerpt from the ballet wasn't enough for me and that I promise to watch the whole thing. And I am extremely pleased that I was able to keep this promise. I did tell her about this during the meet and greet at the lobby where she, Fujino and the rest of the company were met with cheers and warm congratulations from the audience. I still have a lot to learn about ballet since I can’t recognize some of the moves yet and it’s still the music that draws me into watching them. But seeing two ballet productions during the past few weeks, I do admit that I’m already hooked and I look forward to seeing more ballet and dance productions from now on.

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