Ballet Manila, the acclaimed “storytellers on toes,” kicks off 2022 with its very first live performance which is also among the few live shows it has had since the pandemic shut down theaters two years ago. 

Dubbed as Ballet Manila Dance Day Live!, the 30-minute show – which is being eyed as a monthly event – will be streamed from the company’s studio on January 30, Sunday, at 5 p.m. through its social media channels:

Facebook : https://fb.me/e/cYSvbxUQ6

Instagram : www.instagram.com/balletmanila

TikTok : www.tiktok.com/@lisamacujaschool

For Ballet Manila artistic director and Lisa Macuja School of Ballet director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, it is a much-needed performance that is as much dedicated to its dancers as it is to its audiences.

“Mainly, these live shows from the studio are ‘selfishly’ for the dancers to gain back the stamina, confidence and skills to be able to dance live again one day but it is also a way for us to connect to our wider audiences on a more intimate level,” Macuja-Elizalde notes.

The prima ballerina says Ballet Manila’s dancers have been pining for live shows, as they have made every effort to stay in shape through company classes held via Zoom or in the studio as pandemic limitations permit. 

“We want to keep up the spirits of our professional dancers in the company. We don’t have a theater. But we have our outdoor studio to broadcast from and we’re taking advantage of this fact since our artists are starving for live performances,” says Macuja-Elizalde. 

In the past two years, Ballet Manila has had opportunities to dance mainly through dance films or pre-recorded video appearances. Last year, it secured a grant from the Cultural Center of the Philippines to produce Ballet Minis: Passages On Pointe, a series of short dance films inspired by some of its most loved performance pieces and reimagined for digital media. 

The company has also done some live virtual guestings for local and international arts events. Last year, it also conducted its first Instagram Live session that included a ballet demonstration and performances of excerpts of Arnis, Le Corsaire and Coppelia. 

Macuja-Elizalde emphasized that for performing artists, live shows are the ultimate test of their skills.  

“It’s different from dance films or video when you can easily start over. You can cut and paste and dance little bits at a time and so there is no need for stamina,” she points out.

Ballet Manila Dance Day Live! will showcase a mixed program of classics and contemporary pieces. Principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro and Mark Sumaylo are partnered in the Don Quixote Grand Pas de Deux, a number they will also perform in a Russian festival later this year. Company artist Brian Sevilla will dance the Black Swan Prince Variation. Twins Jasmine Pia Dames, principal dancer, and Jessica Pearl Dames, soloist, are featured in Ernest Mandap’s Lune. 

OPM Trio is composed of three new pieces by resident choreographer Gerardo Francisco that will be premiered in Ballet Manila Dance Day Live! and will eventually be seen in Star City when the amusement park reopens. The numbers and their respective performers in OPM Trio are: Isang Mundo, Isang Awit – soloists Joshua Enciso and John Balagot, and company artists Jamil Montibon, Raymond Salcedo, John Carl Concepcion, Rodney Catubay and Marinette Franco; Patuloy ang Pangarap – principal dancer Joan Emery Sia and company artist Jessa Balote; and Ikaw at Ako – Joan Emery Sia and principal dancer Elpidio Magat.

The live performance will be capped by a Le Corsaire finale featuring company artists and guest artists.

“I love the fact that we can take more risks as we can train the younger dancers for soloist and principal roles with this program,” says Macuja-Elizalde.

With Ballet Manila Dance Day Live! projected to be a monthly activity, she adds that they may be doing live interviews and a casual meet-and-greet after a show as well. 

“I’m very excited and this will definitely be a part of our online platform for the months and maybe even years to come.”

She shares that Ballet Manila’s pre-pandemic performing venue – the Aliw Theater – which was damaged in a fire that hit the Star City compound in 2019, is being renovated. When it relaunches, and keeping in mind pandemic protocols, there are plans to hold a Ballet Manila Gala as a homecoming of sorts.

Meanwhile, the Lisa Macuja School of Ballet which successfully transitioned to virtual classes during the pandemic, will hold the seventh edition of its online ballet recital called iDance on April 3.

While there is still so much uncertainty as to when live performances in the theater can happen again, Macuja-Elizalde says the Ballet Manila Dance Day Live! series may constitute the baby steps that can lead to something bigger in the future. 

“We have been dancing for the last two years in our homes, in the studios… It is certainly time to take to the stage LIVE – in a new and accessible way – to reach out and spread the message of Hope. We need this!”