Ballet Manila’s Swan Lake (October 7, 2017)

If you still don’t have plans for the weekend, come on down to Aliw Theater to witness this weekend’s shows for Ballet Manila’s Swan Lake!

It. Was. Just. Too. Good.

And hell naw! I’m not saying this coz i’m a blogger and I got free seats. The whooole theater was in standing ovation, with deafening screams of “BRAVO!” from everywhere. This is really a show you shouldn’t miss. There is still a 6PM show on Oct. 14 and a 3PM show on Oct 15, and you can get tickets from Ticket World.

To those who don’t know yet, Ballet Manila is the top ballet company in the country, founded by Prima Bellerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso in 1995. From 1995 to today, the two have not only starred in so many ballet productions, but they have also nurtured the next generation of Prima ballerinas through Lisa Macuja’s School of Ballet, Project Ballet Futures, and other ventures.

Swan Lake is of course a classic, and it’s an honor to be selected for the dual role of Odette and Odile. For this showing, Katherine Barkman was the super mega awesome swan. I was just speechless with her performance. The technical aspects of turning from white swan to black swan, as well as the change in aura and attitude, really can only come to life through such an experienced and prolific dancer.

So yeah, let me show you some wonderful stills from the show!

The opening ball, which is Prince Siegfried’s birthday party. Here he is partying.

The Queen, played by Lisa Macuja, comes along. Gosh, she’s such a beautiful queen! The Queen wants her son to find a bride soon.

Prince Siegfried decides to go hunting to calm down.

Evil Sorcerer Rothbart in action:

The swans from the lake come to life into beautiful human form at night, as a result of a curse placed on them by Rothgard.

At a costume ball, 6 eligible princesses (sorry I wasn’t able to capture the entrance of the 6th) are presented to Prince Siegfried:

Rothbart disguises himself and comes to the party as well:

Prince Siegfried dances with the daughter of Rothbart, Odile. He has his eyes only on her.

Grief stricken Odette is upset over Siegfried’s betrayal.

And finally, Siegfried’s love breaks the spell, and they ascend to heaven.

And this is the standing ovation I was talking about!

The cheers were deafeaning from this showing, and given that the music was played live by the ABS-CBN Philharmonic orchestra, it was such an enchanting and grand experience in real life. Be sure to see Swan Lake this weekend!