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.
In honor of National Literature Month, we revisit Ballet Manila’s Ibong Adarna - a celebration of this Filipino literary classic rendered in contemporary dance and music.
Here are ballet characters who wear their wickedness like a badge of honor and who are sorely in need of redemption for their grave lapses.
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.
She decided to free herself, dance into the wind, create a new language. And birds fluttered around her, writing “yes” in the sky.
“I think what makes Swan Lake so challenging is that this is really a ballet meant to be danced by two different ballerinas…”
In March 1995, barely a month after its formal launching concert, Ballet Manila embarked on a performance tour of Mindanao – specifically in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and South Cotabato.
“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 dance. A lot. I work grief and sadness out of my body when I dance, and I bring in joy and rhythm.
“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.
In celebration of his 204th birth anniversary, this video clip highlights four pieces that have been distinctively shaped by Petipa's genius.
“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.
It is this flair for the dramatic that makes Prince Siegfried a much sought-after role among male ballet dancers.
