The Ballet Manila Archives is the repository of documents, print, photographic, audio and video materials and memorabilia relating to the history of Ballet Manila and the life and career of its founder, prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde. This site is powered by Ms. Elizalde and Project Art, Inc.
All in Features
We take a look at how uniformed characters – including a platoon of female toy soldiers – have made their mark in Ballet Manila productions.
Acclaimed as the “storytellers on toes,” Ballet Manila has enjoyed a love affair with Philippine literature – transforming tales familiar to Filipino readers into dance and making beloved characters leap off, as it were, from the page to the stage.
“I think what makes Swan Lake so challenging is that this is really a ballet meant to be danced by two different ballerinas…”
“Juliet is a dream role for any ballerina. She is playful and carefree in the beginning but soon evolves into a passionate, obstinate – even desperate – child-woman the minute she falls in love.”
“Giselle is one of the most sought-after ballerina roles not just because of the ballet’s technical demands but more so because of the dramatic intensity and interpretation that the role requires.”
“I waited a very long time before choreographer Eric V. Cruz announced that I was ready to dance his Carmen.”
Lyrical and dramatic, Nikiya demands a deep understanding of love and sacrifice.
In 2008, when Ballet Manila premiered Tatlong Kuwento ni Lola Basyang based on the stories of Severino Reyes, there was no other choice to play the popular storyteller than her.
“When I first danced the role of Kitri in Russia, not only did I wake up with swollen legs from all the mandatory jumping and turning, I also had sore cheeks from all the smiling and laughing that came with such a euphoric ballet.”
There was jubilation in Ballet Manila’s Studio 1 after the show, as the dancers who have missed performing onstage during the pandemic got to practice their craft once more.
As part of Valentine month, we present some of the company’s dancers who have portrayed Romeo and Juliet, their photographs paired with lines from Shakespeare’s enduring masterpiece.
While it may have been a strange experience not having an audience right in front of them, the dancers were one in saying that it felt just like being in the theater again.
The day after Christmas, the young danseur – a scholar of Ballet Manila’s Project Ballet Futures program – learned that he had won a silver medal from the Asian Grand Prix which was holding its pandemic-era video competition for the second year.
This season brimming with hope and the prospect of change as 2022 approaches seems to be the best time for these performing artists to share the desires of their hearts.
