the phantom revisits bellas artes

“The Phantom of the Opera” Returns to Puerto Rico

Ballet stars take to the stage for a dramatic retelling of the 19th century tale

Zoe Landi Fontana, The Weekly Journal @Landi_Zoe

Maybe you’ve seen it on Broadway, maybe you’ve seen the movie. Regardless, “The Phantom of the Opera” brings drama, mystery, terror, and romance. Published in 1910, Gastón Leroux’s Gothic novel is set in 19th century Paris and is inspired by true events.

The Phantom lives deep within the catacombs, beneath the Paris Opera House, on the shores of an underground lake. Through accidents and terrifying apparitions, he tries to manipulate the hierarchy of the opera house in his attempts to push Christine Daaé, an amateur ballerina, into the spotlight. He must thwart the arrogant prima ballerina Carlotta, who dominates the stage but inevitably becomes obsessed with the noble and talented Christine, driving the story through to a dark end.

The Production

The Phantom of the Opera originally premiered as a ballet in 1997, specially commissioned by Ballet Concierto. Alberto Méndez, a renowned Cuban choreographer, choreographed the production, with music written by Puerto Rican musician, Raymond Torres.

In this rendition of the famous drama, Ballet Concierto has invited Taras Domitro to dance as the Phantom. Domitro was born in Havana, Cuba to Magaly Suárez, a dancer and teacher, and trained at the Alejo Carpentier School and National Ballet School of Cuba. He performed as a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Cuba, and in 2008 joined the San Francisco Ballet as principal dancer. In 2017, Domitro returned to Florida as a freelancer making international appearances to critical acclaim.

The members of Ballet Concierto will be joined by Betina Ojeda in the role of Christine Daaé and Áureo Andino in the role of Phillipe, both dancers of Mauro Ballet. Luis Víctor Santana, dancer of Coda21, will play the role of Raoul Chagny, and Johnal Fernández, also a guest dancer, will play the Sultan.

Something that makes me stand out from the other dancers is that I have a very strong mentality, I won’t let anything like take me down.

Aitana Padilla Dancer

The Phantom and Christine. > Courtesy Ballet Concierto

Concierto’s The Phantom of the Opera.

In a conversation with THE WEEKLY JOURNAL, Padilla, a young 20-year-old dancer, describes the pressures of the ballet industry, as well as what it’s like to be part of a dynasty of dancers, and her excitement to perform the role of Carlotta.

“I started dancing when I was three years old. I started my dance training in my family’s ballet school, called Academia Franceschi, which is owned by my grandmother. Both my parents met, actually, in Ballet Municipal - they were both principal dancers,” Padilla tells of her foray into the world of ballet.

“So, they fell in love throughout that process. And of course, since they had me as their first daughter, I obviously had a lot of pressure to

Aitana Padilla

continue that tradition of the dance industry. So, I started taking classes that were either jazz, hip hop, ballet, a little Spanish dance, folkloric, stuff like that,” she continues.

Her cousin also dances, and this friendly familial competition motivated her to constantly improve.

“We’ve always been like, compared to look and do this better. Who can do that better? And like, I’m just tired of this but, I feel like sometimes it’s healthy,” Padilla explains, “I was more of the competitive one, you know, so I would always have grudges with my cousin, like, oh my gosh, she did three pirouettes today? I can only do two and a half - or something like that.”

Despite having doubts about ballet when she was 10 years old, Padilla stuck with dance throughout high school, mixing in some musical theater and choreographing some works of her own on the way. Much of her hesitation towards pursuing ballet professionally was due to the art form’s strict traditions around propriety and appearances.

“You need to be careful of the way you do things or else that can scar your entire reputation. Behave yourself in the studio, in the way you address yourself to other people. For example, every time we’re in a class, we need to be like this,” she gestures with her arms, “We cannot be like this. We have to be like that. So, it’s been like always about posture and respect. If you do the slightest, like yawn in the class, they’re gonna be like ‘Good morning Aitana, I can see you yawning over there’.”

Throughout her career, Padilla has experienced constant pressure to maintain or lose weight. Being a performing art - visual, artistic, and athletic - the world of classical ballet is extremely critical of appearances. Upon looking at her, you wouldn’t think that Padilla has been criticized for her size, ever. Yet, it’s something she has had to face, including being denied roles, because of centuries of aesthetic customs. “Something that makes me stand out from the other dancers is that I have a very strong mentality, I won’t let anything like take me down. I wouldn’t like, tell myself - Okay, I’m not gonna do this. I’m too fat or something. I learned that from my cousin who has suffered a lot [due to the dance industry]. I’m like, I’m not letting that happen to me,” Padilla says. On being chosen for the role of Carlotta, Padilla expressed that it was a surprise and that she kept it secret from her mother and grandmother until the last minute. Her explosive and powerful style of dancing is perfect for the role of Carlotta. Padilla has danced similarly powerful roles, such as the Spanish variation in The Nutcracker, and the Black Swan in Swan Lake. “I’m a diva, but I am not mad. I just need to see if everyone can just like do the work for me. So, it’s just like that very commanding aspect,” Padilla says of the role of Carlotta, “I do have the idea, which I think is the very hardest part of this

In fact, role because it’s just a fine line between being mad and jealous. It’s like she keeps the mad, the anger inside. But I’m still a 20 year old. That is the challenge for me; I still haven’t gone through that The Phantom of the many life experiences to know how I should feel if Opera originally this happens to me.” premiered as a ballet For the ballet scene in Puerto Rico, Padilla hopes in 1997, specially that the various companies will one day unite as a commissioned by single national ballet company - bringing together Ballet Concierto. the best talent, artistry, and funding to represent the island under one banner.

Where And When

The Ballet Concierto of Puerto Rico will be performing The Phantom of the Opera, with invited soloist Taras Domitro, on Saturday, April 9 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 10 at 4:00 p.m. Both performances will take place in the Sala de Festivales Antoni Paoli at the Fine Arts Center (Centro de Bellas Artes) in Santurce.