Firebird and Other Ballets. Ballet Philippines. Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater), Cultural Center of the Philippines. Choreography by Carlo Pacis, Dwight Rodrigazo, David Campos, and George Birkadze. August 2016.

Authors

Ma. Gabriela P. Martin, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow

Abstract

Excerpt: Ballet Philippines, the oldest professional dance company in the country, has always been at the forefront of staging original dance productions that inject much-needed variety to the classical ballet scene. The company has kept modern dance alive and well by the regular addition of neo ethnic works in its repertoire like Itim Asu, based on Virginia Moreno’s play The Onyx Wolf; Amada based on Nick Joaquin’s short story “The Summer Solstice”; Encantada, inspired by the myth of Mariang Makiling; and Moriones, after the Lenten festival held in Marinduque. Its ballet performances have not been shabby either. Among the most memorable is the 1999 iteration of Giselle with Cecile Sicangco in the lead; the cygnets in 1991’s Swan Lake, danced by Perry Sevidal, Camille Ordinario, and Judell de Guzman, remain unsurpassed with Cecile Sicangco in the lead; the cygnets in 1991’s Swan Lake, danced by Perry Sevidal, Camille Ordinario, and Judell de Guzman, remain unsurpassed to this day. Thus, Firebird and Other Ballets, which opened the company’s 47th season, Wings, last August 2016 was a bit of a letdown. A divertissement of four choreographies, the pieces were thematically held together by the metaphor of flight.

Recommended Citation

Martin, Ma. Gabriela P. (2017) "Firebird and Other Ballets. Ballet Philippines. Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater), Cultural Center of the Philippines. Choreography by Carlo Pacis, Dwight Rodrigazo, David Campos, and George Birkadze. August 2016.," Perspectives in the Arts and Humanities Asia: Vol. 7: No. 1, Article 12.
Available at: https://archium.ateneo.edu/paha/vol7/iss1/12