Ballet Manila in full color: Simply red

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. 

Stunning in scarlet: Lady Capulet and Lord Capulet (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Nonoy Froilan) look resplendent in their royal robes in Romeo and Juliet, 2015. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Kitri (Jasmine Pia Dames) leaps with abandon in her ruffled red dress in this festive scene from Don Quixote, 2017. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Passion is reflected in the color choices of Violeta (Joan Emery Sia, center) and her friends in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s La Traviata, 2020. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

In his crimson barong, Ferdinand (Gerardo Francisco) is the epitome of a formidable dictator in Martin Lawrance’s Rebel, 2016. Photo by Ian Santos

Clad in fiery red, Carmen (Abigail Oliveiro) looks every inch the sultry seductress in Carmen, 2018. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Cloaked in red and black, the sorcerer Rothbart (Godwin Merano) cuts a menacing figure in Swan Lake, 2017. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Jonathan Janolo is fabulously flirty in a wine-colored gown as the wicked stepmother in Cinderella, 2016. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Pas de deux in red: Hyuma Kiyosawa and Jasmine Pia Dames are a well-matched pair in Diane and Acteon, 2019. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Atheos (John Balagot, left) and his minions are the picture of malevolence in costumes that channel the fires of hell in Rudy De Dios’ Carmina Burana, 2020. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Red petals shower upon the lead dancer (Abigail Oliveiro) in Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa’s Bloom, 2015. Photo by Kurt Alvarez

This princess (Marinette Franco), wearing her tutu of red, yellow and gold, is out to catch Prince Charming’s eye in Cinderella, 2018. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Rissa May Camaclang is regal in a red bodysuit with gold accents as she executes the movements in Agnes Locsin’s Sayaw sa Pamlang, 2015. Photo by Kurt Alvarez