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.
Ballet Manila has become her second home and the dancers like her own family.
The Princess Trilogy of Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde officially came to a close with the staging of the final installment: Sleeping Beauty.
The joyful royal court engaged in merrymaking is one of the highlights of Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty.
Though Ballet Manila principal dancer Jasmine Pia Dames has seen many versions of Sleeping Beauty, it is still the first adaptation she encountered – the 1959 Disney animated film – that holds a special place in her heart.
The grandeur of the royal court is the enchanting backdrop to Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty.
To describe “line” in ballet would be to describe an aesthetic of the entire body of the dancer creating a pleasing “image”, not necessarily a straight line.
Many ballerinas dream of adding a princess role to their repertoire. Ballet Manila’s Emma Harris is no exception to this.
The beloved fairytale, Sleeping Beauty, is given a new interpretation by Ballet Manila’s artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde.
When it comes to the creation of Ballet Manila, this is probably as close as anyone could get to an eyewitness account.
Ballet Manila will remember 2019 as the year it was thrown its biggest curve ball yet.
Dancing faces you towards heaven, whichever direction you turn.
For Ballet Manila’s dancers who come from other countries, memories of holidays past with family and friends sustain them through this season while based in the Philippines.
In this clip is company artist Emma Harris as Maleficent along with her minions trying to stir some trouble for the kingdom.
The phrase “pas de trois” in classical ballet translates to “Dance for three.”
After having had holiday crowd drawers in The Nutcracker, Pinocchio, Tatlong Kuwento ni Lola Basyang and Alamat: Si Sibol at Si Gunaw, Ballet Manila staged Maligayang Christmas with four shows in December 2011 at Aliw Theater.
Principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro, Joan Emery Sia and Elpidio Magat received Ballet Manila’s trophy on behalf of artistic directors Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso, with Sia underscoring in her thank-you speech the company’s twin mission of bringing ballet to the people and people to the ballet.
Gerardo Franciso, Jr. is a storyteller, relating the collective narratives of the Filipino people through his choreographies. He is not like us. And he is changing the landscape of Philippine dance one movement at a time.
In an early holiday treat, Ballet Manila performed excerpts from the Christmas favorite, The Nutcracker, and from Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty in a free show at S Maison.
He is being honored for his achievements in Arts and Humanities in the field of Dance.
