Braving the pain, bringing the passion: ‘The Swan, The Fairy & The Princess’ stars talk ballet

As beautiful as it is to watch, there’s nothing easy about ballet. Preparing to do a classical ballet is tough.

But preparing to do three at once? That is the challenge Ballet Manila star soloists Katherine Barkman, Abigail Oliveiro, and Dawna Mangahas are taking on as they stand days away from the opening of “The Swan, The Fairy and The Princess.”

Ballet Manila’s second show of their mega-classical season “Revenge of the Classics” combines three of the greatest ballets: “Swan Lake,” “The Sleeping Beauty,” and “The Nutcracker.” All three feature the music of renowned composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky—music that just about every ballerina grows up daydreaming to, as she trains hard to be able to dance one of the famed classical ballet variations on the proscenium stage.

Put in the work

For Barkman, who dances the role of Aurora in “The Sleeping Beauty” and the Sugarplum Fairy in “The Nutcracker,” it’s especially personal. “I feel the pressure, especially the physical pressure. It’s a lot of work for the muscles,” she says in an interview with GMA News Online.

Katherine Barkman in “The Sleeping Beauty.” All photos: Ballet Manila

“On the other hand, I’m really excited to go on stage. These are ballets that I’ve dreamed of dancing.”

Barkman says that her teacher would give her portions of Aurora to dance to. “I would dance the variation in competitions, but it was always a tease.”

One of the challenges of dancing Aurora is the fact that the develops and grows throughout the ballet.

“In Act 1, she’s a young girl, she’s 16. By Act 3, after overcoming the evil fairy, she awakens and she’s a now woman who’s in love and she’s overcame the bad things that happened to her,” says Barkman.

“The Sleeping Beauty” is known for very “old style” classical dancing, as Barkman puts it.  “It’s very detailed. The lines of the body are very important. Kind of feels like you can work on it for a whole lifetime.”

It’s a role that becomes tiring to rehearse every day, she says. “But at the same time, I feel like it’s really positive. It gives you time to rehearse the details, work on the nuances. In rehearsal, I can work and I enjoy that process.”

Overcome your fears

Barkman’s excitement is contrasted by fellow soloist Dawna Mangahas, who will also be performing Aurora and the Sugarplum Fairy in “The Nutcracker.”

Mangahas admits that she’s “traumatized” by the Sugarplum Fairy variation. “Ang hirap. Lagi kong iniiyakan!” she says.

Dawna Mangahas as the Sugarplum Fairy in “The Nutcracker”

“Feeling ko yun yung pinakamahirap na nasayaw ko… [kase] hindi ko siya nadadaanan sa arte-arte,” she adds, referring to the extensive choreography of the role.

“Yung princess... dapat prim and proper. Eh, di naman ako prim and proper!” she jokes, covering her face and nervously swinging her feet, still in toe shoes.

“Pag umupo ako, nakataas yung isang leg. Pag nakatayo ako, nakakuba.”

One time, during the middle of a grand pas de deux, Mangahas’ calf muscles started cramping and she couldn’t finish the dance. “Kahit anong isip ko na kaya ko siyang tapusin, yung katawan ko, bumigay na,” she recalls. “Kung pwede yung katawan ko, lagariin tapos lagyan ng bago!”

Although a veteran in competitions such as the NAMCYA Ballet Competition and the Asian Grand Prix, Mangahas admits that she often brings herself down, especially during rehearsals. “Every day, 'yun yung kailangan ko i-overcome.”

Face the challenge

Although she is excited to be dancing the role of Odette in “Swan Lake” and the Lilac Fairy in “The Sleeping Beauty,” Australian Abigail Oliveiro is still struggling to find the perfect Odette feeling.

Abigail Oliveiro as Odette and Mark Sumaylo as Siegfried in “Swan Lake”

“It’s tiring physically, but it’s really tiring mentally,” she says. “In ‘Swan Lake’, it’s so difficult to do the same version of Odette every single day. It’s challenging, but it’s not negative. It’s more like, what about it are we gonna do today? What do I wanna give? What am I trying to say? So sometimes, I would try something, how I would do a step, what emotion I’m deciding to give at that time. It’s trying to narrow down which one is ultimately that you can best portray.”

Oliveiro has also been pushing herself to keep in tip-top physical shape. “I’m just trying to see how far I can push myself, physically. If you can push a little bit further, it means there’s something else you can push,” she says.

Sometimes this could mean a ballet class marathon. “I did a double class this week. That was painful. I was so sore, but… I think I’m a little bit more capable than what I thought I was.”

Oliveiro will be dancing the “Swan Lake” pas de deux with her real-life partner, Ballet Manila male soloist Mark Sumaylo. While the couple jokes that they’ll pick on each other while in the middle of the pas de deux, they both agree that their relationship extends to their dancing. “It’s almost quite conversational,” Oliveiro says. “And we know each other quite well, so one look or one feeling, you know what that person is trying to feel or trying to say.”

Endure the pain

The other princes in the production, Rudy de Dios and Gerardo Francisco, are Ballet Manila’s veteran danseurs and know exactly why male ballet roles can be just as demanding as female roles. Other than lifting and catching ballerinas to make sure they land lightly on their feet, males are expected to jump higher, travel faster, and turn more, among other abilities.

The eldest of the three, de Dios, says that at his age, he concentrates more on enjoying the performance. “Unang una, lahat naman ng classical ballet sobrang challenging,” he says. “Masakit talaga siya, so bakit mo pa siya iisipin na masakit?”

Oliveiro, Mangahas and Barkman in the title roles of “The Swan, The Fairy and The Princess”

Ballet is painful work often requires an hour of warming up before rehearsals. Sumaylo has a chronic injury that he nurses every night with an ice pack, and Barkman sees a chiropractor on a regular basis. The warm-up process prevents injury and strengthens classical technique. “Hindi ka pwedeng sasabak sa gera na hindi ka armed,” says de Dios.

Reap the rewards

There are also benefits to powering through the six- to eight-hour rehearsal days: the dancers feel like they’re in the best physical and technical shape. Although exhausted by the three-in-one classical production, they’re also empowered by it. “It’s a good [kind of] tired. You don’t feel sad about it,” says Oliveiro. “You don’t get tired in the same spots anymore… It’s not burning out.”

Barkman adds, “When you push through that fatigue, it makes you stronger and it makes you smarter, a better dancer. [It’s] a blessing to dance these ballets, whether you’re in the last line of the corps or in front.”

She says that it would be good for the audience to see the dancers’ hard work pay off, and understand that ballet is not about tricks. “It’s about style, technique,  quality, and storytelling.” — BM, GMA News

Ballet Manila's The Swan, The Fairy, and The Princess opens at the Aliw Theater on October 14 at 8:00 p.m. and will be staged again on October 15 at 8:00 p.m. and October 16 at 3:00 p.m. For more information, visit Ballet Manila's Facebook page. Tickets are available at Ticketworld.