FOR today at 6 p.m., Bibendum Fine Wines Merchants has a wine tasting of best value wines from France, Portugal and the United States, on site at the ground floor of the MLD building in Banilad.
For Saturday, Sept. 5 at 7 p.m., the Cebu chapter of La Chaine des Rotisseurs holds a fellowship dinner at Anzani’s restaurant in Nivel.
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On Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. is the grand inaugural of the expanded ballroom of the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel. It has been used for the current APEC events.
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Balletcenter’s company dancers performing “Happy” by Nicolas Pacaña, for Summer Spectacular.
Balletcenter will present a full length version of the romantic ballet “Giselle” at gala performances set for Sept. 25 and 26 (Friday and Saturday) at 7:30 p.m. at the Onstage theater–Cinema 1– of Ayala Center Cebu.
Also on Sept. 25, at the same venue, at 2 pm, Balletcenter will present “Little Red Riding Hood,” a special children’s ballet.
“Giselle” is choreographed by Balletcenter artistic director Nicolas Pacaña, after the choreography of Marius Petipa, devised over a hundred years ago.
“Little Red Riding Hood” is directed by Mhynard Etis, Balletcenter’s principal male dancer.
Tickets to “Giselle” are priced at P150, P300 and P500.
For reservations call Baby Declaro at 232-2958, or pass by the Balletcenter Studio at the third level of Ayala Center Cebu.
“Giselle” will have repeat gala performances on Dec. 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m., at the same venue. “Little Red Riding Hood” will also be repeated, on Dec. 11 at 2 p.m.
Proceeds from the presentation of “Giselle” will benefit Balletcenter’s scholars and the Arts Council of Cebu.
Last May 29 and 30 Balletcenter presented the annual Summer Spectacular after the ninth summer intensive course. Featured dancers were Dr. Stephanie Sitoy, Mhynard Eits, and Genette Terez.
Add to them: Cecille Nolasco, Ian Rocamora, Mimi Rocamora, Eliza Sumbi, Michelle Kesner, Alexis Peña, Jillian Vestil, Aiyan Laico, Jamayma Aragon, Darwin Evardo, Eddie Casoyla, Carlo Padoga, Helga Beuken, Aika Moro, Khynloyd Genson and Clinton Dignos.
Now, for something about “Giselle.”
In summer Spectacular Nicolas Pacaña did the choreography of “Dance with my Father,” which he performed with Alyssa Laico.
Giselle was first presented in Paris on June 28, 1841. Its London premiere was on March 12, 1842, and on Dec. 18 of that same year, it was first shown in Saint Petersburg. In America its debut was in Boston on January 1, 1846.
The music is by Adolphe Adam, with choreography originally by Jean Coralli who collaborated with Theophile Gautier and Vernney de Saint-George to write the libretto.
Giselle tells the story of a peasant girl who falls in love with Albrecht, a prince disguised as a country boy. They pledge their love, but he does not tell her he is engaged to a princess.
Giselle is being courted by another peasant boy, Hilarion, who discovers the perfidy of Albrecht and points it out to Giselle who had earlier dismissed Hilarion.
Faced with the truth and dismayed by it Giselle in desperation kills herself with the prince’s sword. She dies in Albrecht’s arms.
Legend has it that girls who die from a broken heart join the Willis, souls who haunt the neighboring forest led by Myrtha, their queen. If they meet a man they force him to dance to exhaustion and consequent death. By sunrise, the Willis return to their respective graves.
As it happens, Albrecht’s chooses one late night to visit Giselle’s gave.
He meets the Willis who make him dance, and dance, until he almost succumbs.
But for Giselle, who loves him beyond life, and death, helps him, and by sunrise, though Albrecht lies in a heap, he is still alive.
“Giselle” ushered in the romantic age of ballet, and today remains a supreme achievement of that era. It has been called the Hamlet of the dance. That is not just for its enduring qualities but because it provides ballerinas with a double challenge, as dancer and actress.
How much of its original choreography remains may be hard to say, for no notational system was used to record the exact movements.
During its travel from country to country, and company to company, with changing tastes and an array of highly individual ballerinas, bringing to it their idiosyncrasies, many changes were made, and probably for the better.
After more than 150 years, “Giselle” continues to exert its magic, weaving together in expert forms love and fantasy, mortal and mystical melodrama.
Adam’s delightful music, though often described as quaint, does more than provide rhythmic support to the dances. It posseses dramatic unity and anticipating ballet music of a later day, it boasts both musical continuity and the use of leitmotifs for identifying specific characters, and conditions such as anger, madness, adoration, fear, and mystery.