Ballet Manila in full color: Purple power

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. 

 Lisa Macuja-Elizalde dons a tutu in soft tones of lavender and lilac for her turn as Medora in Le Corsaire, with Osias Barroso as her Conrad in 2004. The pirate adventure follows a damsel-in-distress plot as Conrad comes to Medora’s rescue as she is kidnapped twice until the couple literally sails off to a happy ending. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Electric violet tulle meets black leather and studs in Elline Damian’s outfit as she dances the suggestive Masque of the Red Death pas de deux opposite Eduardo Espejo. The piece, excerpted from the Edgar Allan Poe-inspired full-length ballet of the same title by David Campos Cantero, was featured in Ballet Manila’s OPM at OPB in 2003. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Pedro (Alvin Santos) is as bold and bright as the ethnic-inspired purple top he wears as he embarks on a search for his three missing sisters, Marya Trining, Marya Loleng and Marya Upeng, in Ang Kapatid ng Tatlong Marya, one of the stories in the trilogy Tatlong Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (2011). Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Touches of lavender lend a delicate feel to Marinette Franco’s interpretation of the Dream Variation from Raymonda in Flight (2017). The show was a preview of Ballet Manila’s competition pieces in that year’s Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

A plum dress to match a plum role. Melanie Motus is part of a rare ballet number set in the Roaring Twenties. This is Sugar-Step Elizalde, choreographed by Tony Fabella and using the music of the irrepressible maestro, Federico “Fred” Elizalde, who caught the London nightclub scene by storm with his Anglo-American band during this swinging Ballroom Era. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

The Washington Ballet’s Katherine Barkman guests in the fundraiser Tuloy ang Sayawan (2019) wearing her purple lucky charm of a tutu. The former Ballet Manila principal artist danced her way to two silvers at the USA International Ballet Competition and at the Varna International Ballet Competition, wowing judges with her balances in Grand Pas Classique which she performs here with Elpidio Magat. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz

 A periwinkle bodice and a skirt of sheer fabrics in lilac hues give that dash of whimsy to its wearer, Tita Nia (Hana Oh). Tita Nia is the version of the fairy godmother in Hazel Sabas-Gower’s Sinderela (2012). Sofia Sangco-Peralta (left) is Sinderela while Jessa Balote is one of the Garden Spirits in this fairy-tale ballet with a contemporary Pinoy twist. Photo by Ocs Alvalrez

Rudy De Dios as Silvio the prince prepares to meet his beloved in a coat of purple print with shiny accents paired with gray tights. The character is featured in Labindalawang Masasayang Prinsesa, one of the tales comprising Severino Reyes’ Tatlo Pang Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (2013). Photo by Ocs Alvarez

A purple sheath covers Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s gauzy white dress in Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by People’s Artist of Russia Sergey Vikulov. The choreographic miniature using Shakespeare’s five principal characters, which Ballet Manila has been performing since its early years, was featured anew in Gold, the prima ballerina’s 50th birthday show in 2014. Photo by Ocs Alvarez