Ballet Manila in full color: Blue-blooded

Ballet Manila has showcased a rich palette of hues in its productions over the years. Now, the company’s true colors are revealed! 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. 

After Conrad (Osias Barroso) rescues Medora (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde) in Le Corsaire, he takes her to the pirates’ secret hideaway where they dance and celebrate –she in a blue tutu and he in gray garb. Ballet Manila’s first staging of the pirate adventure was in 1998. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

As Loyalists in Martin Lawrance’s Rebel (2016), Joan Emery Sia and Sean Pelegrin together with other pairs sport varying shades of blue, the color motif worn by supporters of the characters Ferdinand and Imelda. Rebel combines events of the 1986 People Power Revolution and elements of Spartacus. Photo by Ocs Alvarez 

In Dance Journeys, a send-off show for Ballet Manila’s Asian Grand Prix competitors in 2018, Brian Sevilla performs the Franz Variation from Coppelia in the trademark blue costume associated with the character. When he competed in Hong Kong, Brian wore a different costume and emerged the gold medalist in the Junior B division. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

The hapless Medora (Abigail Oliveiro) finds herself in the clutches of the slave trader Lankadem who auctions them off in Le Corsaire. In this scene, as they’re shown off to bidders, Medora and the other women don complementing tutus in aquamarine. Fortunately, the titular pirate Conrad eventually comes to save the day. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

In the Pas D’Action of the Grand Pas de Deux in La Bayadere (2004), the powder blue tutus of the corps de ballet (as seen here on Zaira Cosico and Eileen Lopez) contrast starkly with the bold colors of the High Brahmin and the Parrots in the background. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

The male dancers in Agnes Locsin’s Sayaw sa Pamlang radiate power and strength, wearing blue-gray tights and cropped ethnic vests. The number, which included (from left) Brian Williamson, Arnulfo Andrade, Mark Sumaylo, Robert Peralta, Michael Divinagracia and Romeo Peralta, was performed in Flight as part of the Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong in 2015. Photo by Kurt Alvarez

The loyal slave Ali (Elpidio Magat) is clad in harem pants in teal blue for his solo variation in Le Corsaire (2010). The Ali Variation is one of the most popular in ballet and often performed in competitions. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Having escaped from the evil queen, Snow White (Joan Emery Sia) adapts to her new home in the jungle and befriends a host of animals, including this pair of blue birds. Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Snow White premiered in 2019. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

As one of the aristocrats attending the birthday celebration of Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake (2017), Alvin Dictado puts on a coat of blue with gold details paired with gray tights. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

As Marya Trining, one of the three sisters in Ang Kapatid ng Tatlong Marya, Anne Kateri Gelvoria wears a dress in two hues of blue. In keeping with the folk theme of Tatlong Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (2008), it uses traditional motifs identified with indigenous communities. Photo by Ocs Alvarez