Ballet Manila in full color: Slices of orange

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. 

Tony Fabella’s Dancing to Verdi gets its spark from ballerinas in orange tutus. The neoclassical piece was last performed in 2019’s Tuloy ang Sayawan ballet fundraiser and featured, among other dancers (from left), Sayaka Ishibashi, Kotomi Narai, Akari Ida, Marinette Franco, Shaira Comeros and Nanami Hasegawa. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz

In this scene from La Bayadere (2013), Harold Salgado as the Brahmin prepares to celebrate the Indian Ritual of Fire where the lead temple dancer would also be chosen. The Brahmin wears a fiery tangerine, matching the color of the flames before him. Photo by Ocs Alvarez 

Gerardo Francisco and Marian Faustino are as lively as the citrusy get-ups they’re wearing for the Chinese dance in The Nutcracker (2006). The characters represent tea in the land of sweets where Masha is magically transported. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Again cast for the Chinese dance in The Nutcracker in 2010, Gerardo Francisco this time partners Mylene Aggabao. Their tunic costumes are the same, still a dazzling orange made even more shimmery with touches of sequins. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Guests attend Princess Aurora’s 16th birthday celebration at the palace wearing matching tops in salmon, paired with mint green skirts for the ladies and light brown tights for the gentlemen. The scene is from The Sleeping Beauty segment of Ballet Manila’s all-Tchaikovsky production, The Swan, The Fairy and the Princess last staged in 2016. Photo by Kurt Alvarez

Jonathan Janolo plays the cruel stepmother in Hazel Sabas-Gower’s Sinderela (2012) to the hilt. With upturned chin, arched eyebrows and mascara-heavy lashes, he completes the haughty look in a flashy ensemble of fuchsia top and orange bottom. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

There’s no pumpkin in the modern retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale, Sinderela, which has a reality-show twist. But shades of pumpkin color can be found in the gaudy garb of stepsisters Media and Avaricia (Michael Divinagracia and Gerardo Francisco, respectively) – in their bonnets, in Media’s collar, skirt and shoes, and in Avaricia’s bow. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

In Labingdalawang Masasayang Prinsesa, one of the stories in the trilogy Tatlo Pang Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (2013), the king (Marcus Tolentino) has twelve daughters who wear pretty and colorful dresses. But the royal patriarch is definitely not left behind, style-wise, as he goes for regalia in a carrot shade dotted with sparkling stones. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

A grand celebration is held at the palace for the betrothal of Solor and Gamzatti in La Bayadere (2004). The festivities begin with a pulsating number from these merrymakers in flamboyant orange. Photo by Ocs Alvarez