Ballet Manila brings the gift of dance to everyone, and not just the elite artsy crowd or the dance world. They curate shows that everyone sure would enjoy whether you're a ballet geek (I'm looking at one of my friends right now so to speak), a person who once had or maybe still has #dancerdreams, or the one the two previous drags along to watch a show. When I looked at the lineup of this season, I pretty much blocked like four Saturday nights of my life from this month to February.
The 22nd season opens with a story reminiscent of a classic Filipino folk tale. We all had to read it at one point in our class and there have been probably several movie and stage adaptations. I'm talking about Ibong Adarna.
For those who don't know the story, it is a tale of three princes in search of a magical bird whose song can cure their father. The two older brothers, who had some sort of attitude problems fail, but the youngest brother, who has a good heart, succeeds in capturing the very hard-to-get bird with a few tricks learned from a wise old man that he helped. Depending on the adaptation, the story ends with the father being well and the bird becoming an enchanted princess and marrying the youngest or the story continues with a love story somehow intertwined with that.
From a dance point of view, I'm pretty much excited with the choreography since this involves leaps and jumps and power moves which probably made every rehearsal day for the dancers a major leg day. I'm also wanting to know how this version of our high school Filipino literature assignment would unfold. Also featured in the production is Gia Macuja Atchinson as the singing voice of Ibong Adarna.
Swan Lake is the classic for this season, and also the first time for me to see it as a full-length ballet production. Swan Lake is familiar to most of us, even if we haven't watched it as a ballet. As kids, we probably watched animated versions of it, dialed down for younger audience, such as Swan Princess or Barbie Swan Lake. As adults, we have probably seen Black Swan with Natalie Portman and probably had a Halloween or Christmas Party photo wearing the Black Swan costume. There's also a Jim Carrey SNL spoof of that as well. The story features the original Lev Ivanov choreography with new costumes created by fashion designer Michael Miguel and live accompaniment from the ABS-CBN Philharmonic orchestra.
Last year during Christmas season, I enjoyed a fairy tale come to life in Cinderella featuring familiar songs from the Rodgers and Hammerstein version as well as the Disney version. A classic Disney princess comes to life in Snow White. This is the second full-length choreography of Lisa Macuja Elizalde and this is pretty much the show to bring every member of the family to. It's fun, heartwarming, and definitely one we need in life right now. Just like Cinderella, this story is very relateable and brings concepts from Disney and the classic fairy tale read to us from children's books.
The world needs love and so love and dance come together with the season ender Ballet & Ballads, with classic and popular love songs interpreted through ballet. This would be happening in February 2018, just in time for Valentine's day. Date night for the ballet nerd and the signficant other perhaps?
I would be watching Ibong Adarna this weekend and pretty much I'm excited with the choreography, costumes, makeup, and how this story would be unfolding to us and which version the story would take. I'm looking forward to leaps and jumps and #splitgoals in life to work on my hanuman more.
Excited for this season, yet? Come watch a show and bring friends. All shows would be shown at the Aliw Theater in Pasay City. You can call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph for tickets.