This Month in BM History: November 2000
A leaflet for the St. Paul’s College stop shows pop singers Lani Misalucha and Brix Ferraris as the featured pop singers. From the Ballet Manila Archives collection
The campus tour included two shows at the Far Eastern University, as indicated in this souvenir program. From the Ballet Manila Archives collection
Classical and pop go hand in hand in Ballet Manila’s popular Ballet & Ballads series. As envisioned by Manila Broadcasting Chairman Fred J. Elizalde in the late 1990s, the shows combining ballet and pop music would be toured all over the Philippines as presented by MBC and its partner-stations nationwide.
The intent was to help make ballet accessible to a greater number of people, with the company’s dancers performing to familiar tunes sung live by pop artists. The mixed repertoire also featured purely classical numbers, serving as an introduction to the uninitiated or those who have rarely watched such entertainment fare. Spot numbers were likewise rendered by the singers.
In November 2000, Ballet & Ballads was brought on a campus tour in Metro Manila. The schedule was quite hectic, with stops at Far Eastern University, Miriam College, Assumption College, St. Paul’s College and Arellano University. The show for Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila was held in a bigger venue, the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.
For this tour, the guest singers were Brix Ferraris and Lani Misalucha, both known for their soaring vocals.
For the classical numbers, Ballet Manila presented excerpts from the pirate adventure Le Corsaire, comprised of Pas d’Esclave, Odalisques and Pas de trois (Cave).
An invitation to the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila show held in Cuneta Astrodome. From the Ballet Manila Archives collection
