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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.
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Regine Magbitang |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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