Ballet Manila goes to Vietnam
Joshua Enciso and Nicole Barroso in Don Quixote. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Ballet Manila is headed to Vietnam to participate in the Vietnam International Dance Festival to be held from September 15 to 23 in Ninh Binh Province.
The delegation, headed by BM ballet master Jonathan Janolo, is composed of dancers Elyssabeth Apilado, Nicole Barroso, Shaira Comeros, Marinette Franco, Monique Valera, John Ralph Balagot, Rodney Catubay, John Carl Concepcion, Alvin Dictado, Joshua Enciso, Rafael Perez and Raymond Salcedo, and lighting director Jimmy Villanueva.
Sayaw sa Pamlang by Agnes Locsin Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Ballet Manila will perform both classical and contemporary numbers: Don Quixote, Sayaw sa Pamlang by Agnes Locsin, and Muro Ami by Gerardo Francisco.
The Vietnam International Dance Festival is organized by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in collaboration with the Ninh Binh Provincial People’s Committee.
Ballet Manila’s participation in the event was organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Among the dance festival’s aims are: to expand relations and exchange in the field of culture and the arts between Vietnam and other countries; and to contribute to the development of world dance with high quality dance performances of artistic creativity and genuine traditional culture.
The festival expects to host 15 international dance troupes and 15 Vietnamese dance troupes.
Ballet Manila was in Vietnam in June 2016 when it staged special concert performances at the Opera House in Ho Chi Minh City and in Can Tho City. The company was invited then by the Philippine Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City to help celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as to commemorate 118 years of Philippine Independence.
Muro Ami by Gerardo Francisco. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
