BALLET  MANILA  TRIUMPHS  IN  'DON   QUIXOTE'

MANILA, March 11, 2006 (STAR) By Joseph O. Cortes - She thought she had danced her last Kitri two years ago, but Lisa Macuja-Elizalde surprised herself when she found herself once again dancing this demanding role last month when Ballet Manila ended its 2005-2006 season with the popular "Don Quixote."

The role of Kitri is every ballerina’s dream role, one of those few parts you should do at least once in your lifetime. As Macuja-Elizalde states in her director’s notes, it is the ballerina dream role, because "everything else will pale in comparison to that particular performance." Its demands on the ballerina – speed, accuracy and an athleticism not seen in other ballet roles – require youth and secure technique honed by years of practice.

The role of Basilio, Kitri’s dancing partner, is just as demanding. It challenges danseurs to endless leaps and spins that match Kitri’s skittish display of dancing prowess and energy.

Ballet Manila pulled out from its bag of surprises three casts to execute the demands of this punishing role. The first cast had Macuja-Elizalde and BM senior soloist Jerome Espejo as Kitri and Basilio, respectively, while the other casts had Marian Faustino and Rudy de Dios, and Mylene Aggabao and Niño Guevarra. No other dance company in the country can call on as many dancers in its roster to execute these devilishly difficult dance roles.

We missed the gala night performance with Macuja-Elizalde and Espejo, which insiders described as a must-see, but their matinee show two days later was just as stunning. The wedding scene with its maddening pas de deux and variations was so thrilling it had us counting spins and turns.

The hair-raising pas de deux in act one often serves as an indicator of the goings-on for the rest of the show. Near the end of this set piece, Basilio lifts Kitri up in the air by the waist with just one hand and the music pauses as Kitri remains suspended for a few counts; the couple does this three times.

Espejo raised Macuja-Elizalde confidently three times, although the audience that afternoon, mostly a crowd of high school students, failed to appreciate the difficulty of the effort. By the time she was raised for a third time, as the audience remained unmoved by this display, Macuja-Elizalde started banging on her tambourine for applause even as she hung by her waist in the air. Only then did the theater erupt in an uproar.

It was unbelievable that Macuja-Elizalde, who is celebrating her 20th year in ballet later this year, could still find time to clown as she executed this routine. This only proved her stature as a prima ballerina. She is still dancing the roles that made her name 20 years ago. Age seems not to be an issue for her. Although she had already declared that she was retiring her more physical roles, here she was, still dancing Kitri as energetically and vivaciously as the younger Ballet Manila members.

And it was not just in the dancing that she excelled in this role. She is also a consummate actress, minting a really naughty performance as Kitri. She made the comedy in this ballet real with a simple turn of the head, a flash of her eyes, and some serious stomping of her feet. You will never lose your way in this ballet’s simple story if you just paid attention to her antics.

As Basilio, Espejo cut a dashing figure on stage, larger than life, full of heroic bravado that made him the perfect partner to Macuja-Elizalde’s Kitri. And he had the energy and stamina to prove that he could dance just as quickly and just as securely as his more experienced partner.

The other Kitris and Basilios were just as exciting. It’s a toss between Marian Faustino and Mylene Aggabao, the former with her refined and graceful dancing that was just as spirited, and the latter more humorous and even more energetic in her turns. Both Faustino and Aggabao seem to have taken their cues from Macuja-Elizalde’s Kitri, painting their acting in bold strokes to bring out the ballet’s comedy.

Aggabao was even more successful in her performance aided by Niño Guevarra, her funny man of a Basilio. Her Kitri was earthier; it wouldn’t be hard to believe that this girl is really the innkeeper’s daughter. She might have been naughty in disobeying her father’s plans of marrying her off to the rich Gamache, but she was merely being true to herself. Aggabao’s only fault, if you could call it that, was that by the end of the Act 1 pas de deux, she was slowly losing energy, so that by the time she was being lifted up in the air, she couldn’t hold herself as still as she should be. But she acquitted herself with aplomb in the finale pas de deux with those menacing fouettes.

Faustino has danced Kitri before, and she must have learned a lot from that past assignment. Her naughty girl antic was now pat, and she managed to be funny – but still not quite. But you cannot find fault with her dancing. She was as secure as Macuja-Elizalde in her leaps and spins, although not as fast as her senior. She is surely developing her own Kitri; as she dances this role more often, she would have a more unique picture of the innkeeper’s daughter. The only drawback was her Basilio, Rudy de Dios, who failed to exude that larger-than-life persona a danseur should have.

Of the Basilios, Guevarra was more in character, although he lacked the strength to manage the demands as Kitri’s partner. In the act 1 pas de deux, he dropped Aggabao as he lifted her up in the air a second time. But he acquitted himself in the finale with dancing that was just as fast and as lively as his partner’s.

De Dios needs to work on conquering the stage. While his dancing was secure, his character wasn’t. If he weren’t wearing Basilio’s costume, he would easily blend in the crowd, so to speak. His dancing was accomplished and even thrilling, but he still has to find his danseur persona.

As with any Ballet Manila production, all the other roles were assigned to the company’s roster of dancers. They added to the spectacle of this "Don Quixote." Dancing as Mercedes and Espada were Gabriella Galvez and Francis Cascaño, Ea Marie Torrado and Nazer Salgado, and Eileen Lopez and Jonathan Janolo. Dancing as the Queen of the Dryads and Amour were Sarah Cruz and Yanti Marduli, Zaira Cosico and Patricia Hermosa, and Gabriella Galvez and Marian Faustino. The Gypsy Girl was danced by Sandra Lynn Huang, while the Gypsy Boy was danced by Lemuel Capa and Jerome Espejo. The pantomime roles of Lorenzo the Innkeeper, Sancho Panza, and Gamache were performed by Marcus Tolentino, Petronio Medina, and Jerome Gumayagay, respectively.

With its 2005-2006 season now ended, Ballet Manila is busy preparing its 2006-2007 season. Ballets to be presented are "La Bayadere" in August, "Halo-Halo: Lisa@20 (Lisa Macuja’s 20th Anniversary" in September, "The Nutcracker" in December, and "Coppelia" in February 2007.