Soloist: John Ralp Balagot

To call him a late starter in ballet is an understatement. He was an athlete in his younger years but in pursuit of a scholarship to help him complete his college education, John Ralp Balagot joined the Liceo de Cagayan University Folkloric Dance Troupe.

Classical dance was a world away but fellow Cagayan De Oro native and now Ballet Manila principal dancer Mark Sumaylo decided to take up ballet at the Grace and Pointes Dance Center and encouraged John to join him. Both men traveled to Manila in 2008 to take classes with BM.

In 2015, the company held auditions in Cagayan De Oro and John was accepted into the Summer Intensive program. After his evaluation, he was offered a position in the company as a trainee. By 2016, he became part of BM2 – Ballet Manila’s second company. In 2017, he became a company artist and in 2020, he was promoted to soloist.

John’s most notable roles include Atheos, the villain in Carmina Burana which was choreographed specifically for him by former Ballet Manila principal dancer Rudy De Dios. He was also Tybalt in Sergey Vikulov’s Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, Ahab in Tony Fabella’s Ang Mahiwagang Biyulin and the Stepmother in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella.

He has also performed with the corps de ballet in the company’s various classical productions including Swan Lake, Giselle, Carmen, and Le Corsaire. He has also been featured in BM’s contemporary repertoire including Muro-ami, Bloom, Aramica and Reconfigured.

He has toured the country through BM’s Ballet & Ballads productions and has performed with the company in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Israel, and Malaysia.

Discover the many roles of John Ralp Balagot, soloist of Ballet Manila.