Ballet Manila in Full Color: White hot

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.

While out hunting in the forest, Siegfried (Osias Barroso) chances upon the Swan Princess Odette (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde) – radiant in white – who has been cursed by Rothbart to be a swan by day. By Act 3 in Swan Lake (2003), they have fallen so in love with each other that the pair is willing to defy the sorcerer even if it means death. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Tulle and tutus are the usual trademarks of a ballerina. But the twist in Augustus “Bam” Damian III’s contemporary choreography, Less Sylphides (seen here in Duo, 2010), is that the all-male group goes for the feminine combination for their wear. With white, skirt-like apparel over white shorts, they are a sight to behold as the fragility of the fabric contrasts with the strength of their movements. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Pristine and pure are the two words that seem synonymous with this white tutu worn by Abigail Oliveiro. She danced a variation from Marius Petipa’s Paquita for Ballet Manila’s BM 2.0, the company’s 20th anniversary concert in 2015. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

The trio of (from left) Shayne Cerdan, Anselmo Dictado and Nicole Barroso flash toothy grins to match the glistening whiteness of their costumes with green stripe accents in The Nutcracker, as excerpted in Nutkraker (2014). The Reed Flutes is just one of the many awe-inspiring segments in the holiday classic. Photo by Daniel Trinidad

Les Sylphides (also known as Chopiniana) rightfully earns its moniker as a “white ballet” as the entire cast sticks to one color – with the exception of the sole male dancer who wears a vest over his white outfit. In 2019 as part of its double-bill Deux, Ballet Manila restaged the non-narrative Michael Fokine classic featuring a poet and the sylphs (fairies), famous for its focus on meticulous movement rather than a story. Photo by Ian Santos

After finally securing her father’s approval in her choice for a life partner, the feisty village girl Kitri (Jasmine Pia Dames) weds the playful barber Basilio (Gerardo Francisco Jr.) in Don Quixote (2017) – wearing white, but of course! The jubilant couple engages in a good-humored dance-off, to the delight of hometown revelers. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Symbolizing the triumph of good versus evil, the dancers in Martin Lawrance’s Rebel (2016) are clad in a variety of white ensembles. It is a celebratory scene where, after the people come together and link arms in a gesture known as “kapit-bisig,” they manage to overthrow a dictator peacefully and restore freedom to a beleaguered country. Photo by Ian Santos