Principal dancer: Jasmine Pia Dames
Jasmine Pia Dames fell in love with ballet after watching Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde dance on television. Inspired by the prima ballerina, she took lessons at Rhythm Works Dance School in Calamba, Laguna for five years.
She continued to pursue ballet as a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts where she majored in Dance. After graduation, she enrolled at the University of the Philippines in Diliman where she again majored in Dance. Simultaneously, she was also a scholar of Steps Dance Studio.
She eventually decided to pursue ballet as a career, devoting her full time to dancing. With Steps, she competed in the Asian Grand Prix International Ballet Competition (AGP) in 2013 and 2014 in Hong Kong and in the World Ballet Competition (WBC) in 2015 in Florida, USA.
Pia won First Place in the Pas De Deux Division of the 2013 AGP, Second Place in the Senior Division of the 2014 AGP, and Third Place in the 2015 WBC.
She received a Gawad Buhay award in 2015 as Best Featured Female in Classical Ballet for her role in Romeo and Juliet.
Pia joined Ballet Manila as a soloist in 2015 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2019.
She has performed in Ballet Manila's various classical productions and contemporary pieces, taking the lead roles of Kitri in Don Quixote and Princes Aurora in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty, as well as dancing Gulnara in Le Corsaire, Lead Wili in Giselle, a Cygnet in Swan Lake, Diane in Diane et Acteon, Ernest Mandap’s Lune, and Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa’s Bloom.
Discover the many roles of Jasmine Pia Dames, principal dancer of Ballet Manila.
Related stories:
For principal ballerina Pia Dames, the dancing never stops
Ballerinas on ballet’s iconic female leads: Jasmine Pia Dames on Princess Aurora
In Their Own Words: Jasmine Pia Dames on staying focused and motivated