Ballet Manila in full color: Green with envy

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. 

The mystical being Tiera (Dawna Reign Mangahas) channels the environment in a tutu spanning the shades from lime to emerald, as Garden Spirits wear complementing colors. The scene is from Sinderela, a modern version of the classic fairy tale choreographed by Hazel Sabas-Gower in 2012.  Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Light and fast on their feet, Joshua Enciso and Nicole Barroso are well-matched in olive green and cream for the Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2019. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz

Rissa May Camaclang stands out in a sheer mint green dress, the perfect foil for her partner Mark Sumaylo in black suit as they dance one of the numbers in Iconic 1 .0 (2018). Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

What could be better for a pirate caper than outfits reflecting the colors of the waters? In Le Corsaire (2018), ballerinas Jessica Pearl Dames, Akari Ida and Joan Emery Sia dance as the Odalisques in tutus pairing cropped tops and skirts in seafoam green, made more attractive by assorted beads and glitters. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Marya Upeng (Mylene Aggabao), one of the three sisters in Ang Kapatid ng Tatlong Marya, wears indigenous weaves in a range of green hues. The story was one of three featured in the literature-inspired Tatlong Kuwento ni Lola Basyang which premiered in 2008. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

The sisters in Ang Kapatid ng Tatlong Marya go missing and it is their brother Juan who later looks for them. He finds Marya Upeng (Mylene Aggabao) in the Kaharian ng mga Leon (Kingdom of the Lions) where she has married Haring Araw (Sun King, played by Niño Guevarra). The royal couple is clad in shimmery robes of green and gold with crowns mirroring the rays of the sun. Photo by Ocs Alvarez. 

As a guest in Prince Siegfried’s birthday ball in Swan Lake (2017), the character of Eduardson Evangelio opts for subdued hues of mint green and gray. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

The pair dancing Ernest Mandap’s quirky Lune sparkles in the spotlight with their Charleston-inspired get-ups – Naomi Jaena in green and Sofia Sangco-Peralta in brown. Though trying to assert their individuality, the two end up with synchronized movements and come across as twins. The number was performed in Heart 2 Heart: Ballet & Ballads, 2014. Photo by Jojo Mamangun

It’s not the usual frilly garments or pastel hues one would expect in ballet. But then Agnes Locsin’s Sayaw sa Pamlang is no ordinary piece, fusing traditional Southern Philippine elements and classical ballet movements. Jessica Pearl Dames, Joan Emery Sia and Rissa May Camaclang don catsuits in turquoise overlaid with sheaths of mint green to perform the number in Flight (2017). Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag