Philippine Ballet Theatre's Le Corsaire

Jared Tan

I never expected that hanging out at the Cultural Center of the Philippines will find me going to exotic places, seeing swashbuckling pirates and getting awed by amazing dancing courtesy of the repeat Philippine Ballet Theatre’s Le Corsaire held at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). The performance that I saw was actually a repeat of a previous run last April. The ballet, despite its obscurity, proved to be popular enough to warrant a repeat run. And I am extremely pleased to be able to catch it although I didn’t really plan on doing so.

Regine Magbitang

Lemuel Capa

Because of this unplanned trip to the ballet, I was able to discover a great talent by the name of Jared Tan. He used to be a principal soloist of the Philippine Ballet Theatre but has been part of the Atlanta Ballet for the past few seasons. And for this production, he returns to his previous company as a guest portraying the role of the slave Ali. Jared’s Ali was submissive and reserved befitting a slave but this demeanor belied his dancing capabilities. I never felt nervous whenever I saw him do his difficult moves because he looked so secure in his technique. I was impressed by the height of his jumps that seemed to last forever. And his strength was incredible as well especially when he raised one leg in the middle of executing a lift making that move a lot more difficult than it was. Jared’s manner as Ali was so totally different to the other male leads namely Lemuel Capa as dashing pirate Conrad, Mark Pineda as the traitorous Birbanto and Rolby Lacaba as the slave trader Lanquedem who were all brash and cocky. Other featured dancers in this ballet were Lobreza Pimentel as Gulnare and Regine Magbitang as Medora, women who were kidnapped and eventually sold as slaves at a public market. This ballet was restaged by Ronilo Jaynario from the original choreography by Frances Le Comb.

Lobreza Pimentel

Mark Pineda

The dancing, the sets, the costumes were great although I wish that there could’ve been a live orchestra that accompanied the production like their Romeo and Juliet about a couple of years ago which I’ve unfortunately missed. It would've made the music by Adolphe Adam (among others who are credited for composing the music for this ballet) really shine especially during the bedroom pas de deux. I still find it amusing how absurd the plot of this ballet with all the kidnapping, slave trading and finding romance in the midst of it all. I think that the dazzling choreography and dazzling visuals was the main selling point of this ballet instead of the silly plot.

Philippine Ballet Theatre Company Members

While the ballet’s plot may seem ridiculous, there’s nothing of that sort with the beneficiary of the performance during that night which was the Visayan Forum Fondation. The organization aims to rescue and help women who are victims of human trafficking. A brief presentation was held at the Little Theater Lobby to make the guests aware of the foundation’s projects. And a preview of The Fighters, a CNN documentary was shown as well. It was easy for me to shake my head in disbelief to the convoluted (and unbelievable) plot of Le Corsaire. But the real life plight of the victims of human trafficking is no laughing matter and one should take action in order to rescue them and persecute those who are responsible for the atrocity.