Cover Katherine Barkman and Esteban Hernández will play the two main leads in Ballet Manila’s ‘Swan Lake’ (Photo: courtesy of Ballet Manila)
Katherine Barkman and Esteban Hernández will play the two main leads in Ballet Manila’s ‘Swan Lake’ (Photo: courtesy of Ballet Manila)
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A milestone season is marked by the return of homegrown star Katherine Barkman and the arrival of San Francisco Ballet’s Esteban Hernández
The silence in between rehearsals reminds Katherine Barkman of where it all began. Now as San Francisco Ballet’s first soloist, her journey traces back to Ballet Manila—the dance company where she first learned movement and discipline. In a full-circle moment, she returns to the Philippines not for training, but to inhabit two of ballet’s most iconic roles: Odette and Odile in Swan Lake.
Barkman serves as one of two leads in Ballet Manila’s Pearl Year production, a milestone season honouring the company’s 30th anniversary. She is joined by Esteban Hernández, principal dancer of San Francisco Ballet, whose Manila debut as Basilio in Don Quixote last year left a lasting impression. This time, he performs as Prince Siegfried, a role that trades bravado for vulnerability and playfulness for the weight of fate.
“Esteban is the complete package,” says Lisa Macuja Elizalde, Ballet Manila’s CEO and artistic director. “Last year, his performance as Basilio was simply perfect. But Siegfried is a very different character—elegant, noble, restrained. Esteban and Katherine have already danced Swan Lake together, so I think that they will, as a principal couple, be very effective in their roles.”
Above Katherine Barkman and Esteban Hernández (Photo: courtesy of Ballet Manila)
Katherine Barkman and Esteban Hernández (Photo: courtesy of Ballet Manila)
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Barkman’s partnership with the company stretches back over a decade. She once trained under Macuja Elizalde herself before setting off for the Washington Ballet and, eventually, San Francisco. If her return feels full-circle, it also reflects the quiet accumulation of experience that reshapes a dancer’s inner world as much as their technique.
“I feel like my approach to the characters has shifted the most,” Barkman says. “With experience comes more of a fearlessness. I take more risks—I don’t worry so much if it’s perfect or not. I would rather have my dancing be exciting to watch than safe and predictable.”
Above Lisa Macuja Elizalde with the cast of Ballet Manila’s ‘Swan Lake’ (Photo: courtesy of Angela Nicole Guiral)
Lisa Macuja Elizalde with the cast of Ballet Manila’s ‘Swan Lake’ (Photo: courtesy of Angela Nicole Guiral)
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She also speaks about the rare quality of dancing alongside Hernández again. “Esteban is an amazing partner and someone I just love working with. It’s rare to dance with someone who challenges and encourages you in such an honest way.”
Macuja Elizalde, herself a former Odette/Odile, understands what the production asks of its dancers. “It is a very Russian ballet,” she explains. “The dancing needs to be technically strong and artistically sound. But our company follows the Vaganova method, which builds the kind of strength and control needed for a work like this. It allows the corps de ballet to move as one onstage.”
Related: Meet Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, the ballerina who brought ballet to the people
An alternate cast will bring its own interpretation to the work. Ballet Manila principal Abigail Oliveiro takes on the dual role of Odette and Odile, partnered by Nathaniel Remez, a company artist from San Francisco Ballet. “Abi will learn and grow so much in her interpretation of Swan Lake when she explores the choreography with a new partner like Nathaniel,” Macuja Elizalde adds. “He’s a perfect match for her in height, and their partnership is one I’m really looking forward to.”
Performances featuring Barkman and Hernández run May 30, 2025 at 8pm, May 31 at 5pm and June 1 at 5pm. Matinee performances with Oliveiro and Remez take place on May 31 and June 1 at 1pm. Tickets are available via TicketWorld.
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Angela Nicole Regis Guiral is the assistant digital editor of Tatler Philippines. She studied journalism and has since written features that look closely at how culture, lifestyle and social impact converge, while occasionally wandering into the worlds of style and travel.
