Jennifer Tipton on the unfading value of lighting

By Michelle Anne P. Soliman, Reporter

THE HOUSE LIGHTS of the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines were off, but the stage, filled with a set of a palace’s ballroom, was illuminated. The lights transitioned from warm and bright, to cool, then slowly faded to black. Tony award-winning lighting designer Jennifer Tipton sat in front of a computer with the rest of the production team as they switched scenes and checked the lighting changes for Ballet Philippines’ staging of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

In line with its 50^th season, Ballet Philippines opened with the ballet masterpiece that has been a staple in its repertoire since 1978.

First performed in 1877 by Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Swan Lake is a four-act ballet following the love story of the cursed swan princess Odette and Prince Siegfried. Under the spell of the sorcerer Baron Von Rothbart, Odette spends her days as a swan and takes her human form at night. As the couple’s relationship develops, Baron Rothbart begins to play his tricks and brings in his daughter Odile to whom the prince confesses his love. This act of betrayal towards Odette leads to events of confusion, forgiveness, and a happy ending.

For this staging, Ballet Philippines collaborated with Ms. Tipton for the show’s lighting design.

In any production, lighting is critical. For Ms. Tipton, it is “the most important thing.”

“If you do not have light, you do not see what’s on the stage. No matter how much the dancers, the costume designer, [and] the choreographer work, if you have no light or if you have bad light, you don’t see what other people have done,” Ms. Tipton told BusinessWorld in an interview on Aug. 29 at the CCP Main Theater’s Green Room. Ms. Tipton was back in Manila for the third time, the last being in 2005,

Working as a ballet mistress many years ago made Ms. Tipton realize the importance of lighting.

“I had to look at the dancers to critique their performance. And I looked at the bigger picture and it was light. I fell in love with it and I’ve been in love with it ever since,” she recalled.

In Swan Lake, the different settings include daytime outdoors, the lake at night time, and indoors at the palace — and it all has to be lit appropriately.

“I don’t use many lights,” Ms. Tipton said. “But even the few lights that I used, it was difficult to find them to bring them together for many places. That was the biggest challenge,” she said of the production.

Having done the lighting design for several stagings of Swan Lake throughout her career, Ms. Tipton noted that each production’s lighting was always unique since the people of the creative team are different.

“I like to see the dance before I talk to the choreographer, because then I can be an audience [member] and say, ‘Oh, I saw that’ or, ‘I didn’t quite see that.’ I put my ideas first and then work with the director and choreographer to make necessary changes.”

According to Ms. Tipton, there is less time to make changes with lighting for dance than in theater.

“I don’t know about the Philippines, but in New York, for instance, more time is given to develop theater. There’s something called previews which means that before the play opens, there are performances where everybody can make changes and sees where they have weaknesses and so on,” she said. “In dance, you never have that much time. You do your tech[nical rehearsals], and then it’s the world premiere,” she explained.

At 81, Ms. Tipton has never regretted her decision to become a lighting designer. “I love light,” she said. “Each production is challenging in a different way.”

Seeing the composition of elements onstage makes the job rewarding. “I love what I do. I love looking at beautiful dancers. I love looking at wonderful actors. I love looking at a stage,” she said.

Directed by Adam Sage, with a set design by award-winning stage designer Eduardo “Toto” Sicangco, Swan Lake’s closing weekend on Sept. 7 and 8 at the CCP Main Theater will feature Ballet Philippines’ principal dancers Denise Parungao alongside Jemima Reyes as Odette and Odile; Eugene Obille and Victor Maguad as Prince Siegfried; and Ronelson Yadao as Baron Von Rothbart.

For tickets, contact the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 or TicketWorld at (891-9999, www.ticketworld.com.ph).