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
To celebrate Mother’s Day today, we asked seven Ballet Manila artists to talk about the most important female figure in their lives growing up.
The use of fans definitely adds to that Spanish verve in Don Quixote.
In keeping with the festive tradition known as Flores de Mayo, we remember the moments when flowers appeared on the Ballet Manila stage – propelling the story along, underscoring key themes or simply livening up the scene, making each show bloom with limitless possibilities.
In the original Marius Petipa choreography, the scene known as The Dream showed Don Quixote in his shining armor fighting monsters, including a giant spider.
Don Quixote has many exhilarating highlights. One ballet move that is most associated with it is the fish dive.
Marius Petipa’s Don Quixote (1869) represents the choreographer’s knowledge of Spanish dance and culture which he gleaned from three years spent in Spain.
The feisty and spirited Kitri – a prized role for ballerinas the world over – is known in the novel as Quiteria.
In the ballet’s story, he travels with his trusty squire, Sancho Panza, and along the way meets the innkeeper Lorenzo’s daughter, Kitri, whom he mistakes for his ideal woman, Dulcinea.
Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso first performed as Kitri and Basilio in Krasnoyarsk, Russia in 1992.
As the company celebrates its 28th anniversary and begins its 25th performance season, we look back to its beginnings through these keepsakes painstakingly put together in a scrapbook that first year by Ballet Manila pioneer and now co-artistic associate Eileen Lopez.
From the Ballet Manila Archives, we present a virtual scrapbook featuring the thoughts of prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde on the iconic role of Juliet and photographs of the times she danced as Shakespeare’s famous heroine.
We recall Ballet Manila’s memorable moments in 2022 as it spread its wings to fly once more.
Now that Abi’s wearing glass slippers once more as the heroine of Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella, we decided to have another talk with her focusing on… what else but shoes!
With this year’s Cinderella being the third time they’ll take on the leading roles, we cannot help but wonder if Abi and Mark are still excited as the first time they danced in it.
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde has been a bookworm since she was a child.
