Russian ballet company Mariinsky Ballet’s world-class dancers Renata Shakirova and Alexei Timofeyev will be performing in Ballet Manila’s restaging of the two-act romantic ballet Giselle as the titular character and Albrecht, respectively.
Ballet Manila artistic director and chief executive officer Lisa Macuja-Elizalde made the collaboration possible through her ties with the Russian ballet company, which was where she had also trained and became its first foreign soloist in the mid-80s
Notably, Shakirova and Timofeyev are a couple in real life and they will be performing in a staging of Giselle together as the main leads for the first time, which is something that Macuja-Elizalde believed would add more to their performances.
“I think that Renata’s true romantic style of dancing and the fact that she is dancing with her real-life prince Alexei is going to transform Ballet Manila’s Giselle to a Giselle of another level,” she said.
The couple’s upcoming performance for Giselle will also be their first time performing on the Philippine stage. Shakirova expressed her excitement as she hopes to connect with the Filipino audience through her performance as Giselle as Timofeyev looked forward to performing for a new audience.
“What’s important to be able to connect with the audience, wherever they are, but especially with a Filipino audience, is to highlight the small nuances that are included in the performance, like the turn of the head or the eye-to-eye contact with your partner, so that the emotions in the story can be conveyed and that the audience can enjoy the show,” she said.
“We are feeling the good kind of vibes with the Filipino audience, and we want them to live the story of Giselle with us on stage. It’s going to be our first time, and we hope to share that special experience with all of them,” said Timofeyev.
For the restaging of Giselle, Shakirova and Timofeyev will be accompanied by an ensemble made up of Ballet Manila’s young and veteran dancers. Macuja-Elizalde shared that this was a notable challenge for them as training a young batch of dancers for ballet such as Giselle together with those who have a lot of experience in performing the ballet required a lot of effort as it demanded precise and synchronized movements from all of them.
Being one of the most widely known ballets in the world, Giselle follows the story of the titular girl who falls for a man named Albrecht, whom she does not know is already engaged to someone else. Upon learning this, Giselle dies of a broken heart and becomes part of the Wilis, a group of ghosts of unmarried women who died after being betrayed by their lovers. She ends up protecting a mourning Albrecht from the queen of the Wilis, Myrtha, after he visits her grave
The restaging of Giselle serves as the third offering of Ballet Manila’s 26th performance season which is called Ballet Masterpieces. Shakirova and Timofeyev will be taking on the roles for the performances on Aug. 31 at 8:00 p.m. and Sept. 1 at 5:00 p.m. while Ballet Manila principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro and Mark Sumaylo will be the ones performing on Aug. 31 at 1:00 p.m.
The performances will be staged at the Aliw Theater in Pasay City. Tickets are available at www.ticketworld.com.ph.
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