As a ballet “virgin,” nothing could have prepared the writer for the most recent Manila re-staging of this classic ballet—“from the chills down my spine with the opening number to the choreography’s sheer beauty and elegance. It was a fantastic experience – one that I won’t be forgetting any time soon.”
Text and photos by David Belmonte
I was recently given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the world-renowned Moscow Ballet “La Classique” perform their brand of miracles on stage at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City with their production of Marius Petipa’s and Lev Ivanov’s Swan Lake. It was an utterly unforgettable experience – not just because of the show, but also because of the events that led up to it.
When I was in line at the gala night alongside PeopleAsia features editor Alex Vergara, it was announced 30 minutes before showtime that the night’s event had been cancelled due to an unspecified conflict between the Filipino producers and the Russian performers. Imagine the well-heeled guests’ disappointment. Fortunately for us, including a number of paying patrons who came all the way from the provinces, both parties’ disagreement seemed to have been ironed out an hour or so later.
Again, fortunately for us, we were still at the venue when it was announced. But many of the other guests had already left the premises disgruntled and annoyed. The show finally proceeded apace a little over an hour after the original schedule.
Unsure what to expect
Prior to watching the show, I didn’t know what to expect. Truth be told, I’d never even seen a live ballet performance before this one. Not once did I think that I would ever get the opportunity to watch a full-fledged choreographed spectacle as large and as ambitious as this one. I was so excited that I couldn’t help but watch an older run of Swan Lake from 2015 – also by the Moscow Ballet “La Classique” – online to hype myself up for the production.
Earlier hitches and all, this most recent re-staging was worth it. Nothing could have prepared me for the show—from the chills down my spine with the opening number to the choreography’s sheer beauty and elegance. It was a fantastic experience – one that I won’t be forgetting any time soon.
The Moscow Ballet “La Classique” thrilled us with a riveting tale of love, betrayal and redemption featuring the award-winning Mariinsky Theatre star Oksana Bondareva as the White Swan Odette and the Black Swan Odile, and the award-winning Bolshoi Ballet star Alexander Volchkov as the charming Prince Siegfried.
There were other standout performances as well. The Jester, for instance, stole the show in majority of the scenes he was in, and a personal favorite of mine was powerful and antagonistic Von Rothbart. There were several aspects that made the show as effective and bedazzling as it was.
Even someone like me, with little to no knowledge of ballet and choreographed dancing, was able to appreciate the other facets of the show such as the set design, music, lights and, of course, costume design. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the choreographed dance routines were unremarkable. On the contrary, it was one of the most beautiful performances I’ve ever witnessed on stage.
Despite the fact that the legendary Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky created the original ballet, the choreography of this rendition, in particular, was based on the Ivanov-Petipa revival, which came almost a decade after the original. This rendition is thought by many to be the definitive version of the ballet.
Inspired by Ivanov and Petipa
As a result, many modern performances of Swan Lake use the choreography by Ivanov and Petipa. It was understandable, especially after watching this performance in particular. There was something mesmerizing about the way these dancers moved, and the unparalleled skill of each and every dancer on stage was made painstakingly clear. The swans in particular moved with such unison and grace that it was very obvious just how much time and effort they put into perfecting their routines. Suffice it to say, the end-result of their labor had me on the edge of my seat.
What caught my eye the most, however, was how each of the characters had their own signature dance moves and methods to differentiate themselves from the pack. Prince Siegfried, for instance, performed numerous leaps and made grand and powerful gestures whereas the Jester would act a lot more playful in comparison, moving swiftly and flailing his arms about, as he hopped from one end of the stage to the other.
The difference between Odette and Odile can be seen in how the former embodies beauty and grace whereas the latter represents a wild, unbridled sort of passion. It was rather impressive how a production could portray such depth and such passion through pirouettes and arabesques without any dialogue. Perhaps it might be because I had already familiarized myself with the characters and the plot, but I would like to think that any person can sit down and appreciate the show even without prior knowledge of the story.
Swan Lake was entirely wordless, but it didn’t need words to tell a tale comprised of four acts. The Moscow Ballet “La Classique” was able to convey all of this with nothing but dance, music and set design, and that’s certainly a feat worth celebrating.
Each and every one of the characters present within the ballet are all so starkly different from one another in the sense that they all have their own unique personalities and body language. The elegant White Swan Odette, and the raw and passionate Black Swan Odile were both masterfully portrayed by Oksana Bondareva, but her two characters could not have been any more different.
Loudest cheers
It was only appropriate that the audience cheered the loudest for Bondareva due to her marvelous displays of skill that night. By the end of the show, it was apparent that Odette and Prince Siegfried were not equals, for Siegfried was the one who pursued her throughout the course of the story.
The choreography would allow Odette more and more opportunities to perform incredible feats with the aid of the prince. It was he who would support her when she performed her physically demanding pirouettes, and it was he who would hold her when she pivoted and swirled on one foot. Volchkov’s Prince Siegfried served as an excellent companion for Bondareva’s Odette, allowing the White Swan to display her mastery of her craft.
The set design was nothing to scoff at either, for the way the stage was organized and the backdrops were hung reinforced the feeling that the audience was watching nothing short of a spectacle. The third and fourth acts after the intermission possessed some of the most grand and brilliant backdrops I’ve ever seen on a stage, and the lightwork that was done to represent the different moods and atmospheres as well as the time of day only enhanced the set’s effectivity.
This was only supported by the wonderful costume design throughout the course of the production, ranging from the dashing and heroic appearance of Prince Siegfried all the way to the mystical and malevolent purple outfit donned by the dastardly Von Rothbart. It was clever how they managed to differentiate Odette from the rest of the swans by giving her white tutu a subtle shimmer that came to life once the spotlight was on her – it was a beautiful dress, no doubt, and its simplicity succeeded in evoking a strange sense of sophistication.
As they say, less is more. None of the characters outfits felt overdesigned and each costume was as practical as they were iconic. Von Rothbart’s, in particular, comes to mind, sporting an attire reminiscent of wings that transformed into a cape in the third act.
These wings were incorporated into the motions of the character, creating an inhuman and almost demonic aspect to the way Rothbart danced and leapt. This feeling was only enhanced by the grandiose poses he would make with each movement – a unique sort of swagger that displayed just how powerful and mysterious he was without having to make a single sound. Prince Siegfried’s characterization, on the other hand, revolved around skyward leaps and swift spins with graceful yet audible landings to emphasize his status as the hero of the story.
Tchaikovsky’s roots
But let’s not forget the music that accompanied the ballet. The score stood true to Tchaikovsky’s roots and was masterfully played by the Russian Symphony Orchestra, under the lead of conductor Yaroslav Tkalenko. The production opened with a strong piece right off the get-go, and it gave me chills before the show even began. From start to finish, it felt as if I was being elevated to a higher existence. With each thrum of the violin, something unexplainable began to stir within me.
Of course, this might have been due to the fact that it was my first time listening to an actual orchestra up-close, and the sheer reverberations of the instruments were just things I’d never really grown accustomed to.
In my opinion, the ballet’s most iconic piece would have to be the main theme that plays at the beginning of the second act. On the way home, I simply couldn’t get it out of my head. It was such a beautiful and powerful piece that stands as arguably one of the most definitive – if not, the most definitive – pieces in the score. I was never musically inclined, so many of the finer details and technical aspects elude me, but I can say with complete confidence that the Russian Symphony Orchestra did an absolutely fantastic job with the score.
The timing of the orchestra, the dancers, and the lights were all impeccable, and the fact that every aspect of the production worked in unison to create the remarkable display we saw that night really shed light on how much time and practice they put into their work.
This was, without a shadow of a doubt, a world-class performance. I was just fortunate enough to be one of the first to catch it in the Philippines. The Moscow Ballet “La Classique” production of Swan Lake was indeed an unforgettable experience indeed. I certainly wasn’t the only one to emerge from the theater with a bounce to my step, and I certainly don’t think I will be the last. The New Frontier Theater at the Araneta Center, Quezon City will continue to run shows until June 22 as scheduled. For ticket inquiries, go to https://ticketworld.com.ph/ or https://ticketnet.com.ph/.
