Ballet Manila Archives

May 31

May 31 Don Quixote: The feisty and playful Kitri

Fiery, feisty, fierce and playful – these are the oft-repeated adjectives used when describing Kitri, the innkeeper’s daughter who is at the center of the plot of Don Quixote, the ballet.

May 29

May 29 Filipino-inspired: Gabriela ng Vigan

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

Gabriela ng Vigan is a free interpretation in a dance-drama of Gabriela Silang’s struggles.

May 28

May 28 Filipino-inspired: Arnis

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

The choreography explores a different side of arnis by taking its movements and combining these with dance.

May 27

May 27 Filipino-inspired: Mosquerade

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

Mosquerade is a stylized interpretation of the colorful and exotic traditional wedding dance from the Muslim land of Mindanao.

May 26

May 26 Filipino-inspired: Kung Hindi Man

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

Kung Hindi Man – which plays on the word kundiman – premiered in 1995, Ballet Manila’s first year when they began as a touring company.

May 25

May 25 Filipino-inspired: Sari’t Bahag

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

In the mountain province of Luzon, the Old Priestess helps the Head Warrior find a bride and eventually chooses the Maiden.

May 21

May 21 Ballet Manila in full color: Shades of blue

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

Ballet Manila enchants in blue.

May 20

May 20 Talk about dance: Maya Angelou

Ballet Manila Archives

Talk About Dance

Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances.

May 18

May 18 Don Quixote: A ballet for all time

Ballet Manila Archives

Spotlight On The Classics

Literature has proven to be an important source of material for choreographers in creating ballets that can stand the test of time. Of these, Don Quixote is arguably the best example.

May 15

May 15 For soloist Pearl Dames, the future is still ballet

Ballet Manila Archives

Interviews

Unwaveringly optimistic, ballerina Jessica Pearl Dames wasn’t weighed down by anxieties when the enhanced community quarantine was first imposed in March 2020.

May 13

May 13 Ballet in bloom

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

While beautiful to behold, flowers are rarely mere decorations in ballet productions.

May 11

May 11 Talk about dance: Oriah

Ballet Manila Archives

Talk About Dance

Dancing alone is often easier and certainly less complicated than dancing with someone else, but there is nothing quite so satisfying as creating even one moment of real beauty moving gracefully with another.

May 9

May 9 A toast to mothers in ballet

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

Ballet Manila toasts motherhood in all its forms in this virtual exhibition to mark Mother’s Day.

May 7

May 7 This Month in BM History: May 1996

Ballet Manila Archives

This Month In BM History

Carmen, the tale of tragedy and passion interpreted in dance by Ballet Manila artistic director Eric V. Cruz, went centerstage at the appropriately intimate Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) in May 1, 1996.

May 5

May 5 Talk about dance: Holly Hatcher-Frazier

Ballet Manila Archives

Talk About Dance

The life lessons that we hold most dear have come from dance. Dance is storytelling and language; it is a means of expressing emotions both powerful and beautiful.

May 3

May 3 Ballet Manila in full color: Simply red

Ballet Manila Archives

Features

Gathering photographs from the Ballet Manila Archives, we present the vibrant and the somber, the heavenly to the earthy, in a series of virtual exhibitions – one shade at a time.