One of our leading dance companies, Ballet Philippines (BP), is in a celebratory mood. And well they should be.
It is their 45th anniversary, the Sapphire Season. The Blue Moon Series will be launched and there will be a homecoming gala on Sept. 28 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Ballet companies, dance schools and artists with ties to Ballet Philippines will perform; and works from different genres by distinguished alumni of the company will be presented.
But first there will be a restaging of the beloved classic “Giselle” on Sept. 19-21 at the CCP (tel. 551-1003). On the first night Manila-born Stella Abrera, a soloist of the American Ballet Theater (ABT), and James Whiteside, ABT principal dancer, will share stellar honors as Giselle and Prince Albrecht, respectively.
There will be four other shows in the one-weekend run. The lead roles here will be played by BP principal dancers Katherine Trofeo and Jean-Marc Cordero, and soloist Denise Parungao and junior principal dancer Earl John Arisola.
This was announced at a recent press conference at the CCP’s Silangan Hall, during which Abrera, Trofeo and Parungao were present, along with BP artistic director Paul Alexander Morales and dancer-choreographer Nonoy Froilan.
Betrayal
An acclaimed dancer, Abrera, who has established a foundation to help the victims of Typhoon Yolanda, said the Philippines was “the country of my heritage, and my first language was Tagalog.”
She joined ABT as a member in 1996 and became a soloist in 2001, and has received the Gold Medal at the Royal Academy of Dancing Awards in London in 1995.
Talking about her role, Abrera said “there’s a little bit of Giselle in all of us.”
The peasant maiden feels betrayed when her lover Albrecht turns out to be a prince betrothed to someone else. She goes mad and dies.
In Act II, the spirit of Giselle forgives the guilt-stricken Albrecht, and she tries to save him from the spirits of other similarly betrayed girls who want the prince to dance until he dies.
Forgiveness
Parungao said the work “is all about how to love, how to get hurt, and how to forgive. It’s close to my personality, it’s like being in a toy kingdom. I am Giselle.”
As for Trofeo, Giselle is her “dream role” and dancing it requires “a balance between the physical, the technique, and being in character.”
Asked if Romantic, traditional ballets like “Giselle” and “Swan Lake” were considered passé in the US, Abrera observed that ABT “has a whole spectrum of different kinds of dances but traditional ballet is very much valid and alive.”
Discussing dancing and acting, Froilan said, “I always emphasize to them [his students] what the character is, to go deeper into the meaning of the character. You not only dance, you also act. It’s a battle between technique and acting.”
Regarding technique, much has changed since his own time, the veteran dancer said, and “there has been a complete evolution.”
To which Morales added: “What hasn’t changed is the passion.”