Walking down the aisle, ballet-style

Weddings in ballet always have that wow factor. The exchange of vows is not spoken out, but rather conveyed through facial expressions, hand gestures and best of all, in a romantic pas de deux or a whole lot of dancing. We share some of these swoon-worthy moments showing how Ballet Manila’s brides and grooms have sealed their love on stage.

In the all-time favorite Don Quixote (2004), Kitri (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde) has to deal with a disapproving father and an unwanted suitor and thus has to content herself with secret trysts with her favored partner Basilio (Osias Barroso). In the end, love wins, and the well-matched pair of Kitri and Basilio engage in an exhilarating wedding pas de deux amid much revelry – and with her father’s seal of approval at that! Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Friendship and courtship culminate in a date at the altar for the couple in Dulce, portrayed by Gerardo Francisco Jr. and Sofia Sangco-Peralta. Held aloft by their friends, they have a fitting festivity following a winding relationship depicted in this ballroom-to-ballet dance medley choreographed by Alberto Dimarucut and coached by Brian Babon for Halo-Halo Supreme (2008). Photo by Ocs Alvarez

In Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella (2018), Cinderella (Abigail Oliveiro) exchanges her soot-laden dress for a blue gown gifted by her Fairy Godmother to attend a ball. At the palace, she meets the Prince (Mark Sumaylo) but she leaves hastily at the stroke of midnight. When he finds her again, thanks to the glass slipper she leaves behind, they finally exchange vows in a royal wedding heralded across the kingdom. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

Despite the feud between their families, the Montagues and the Capulets, Romeo asks Juliet to marry him and she wholeheartedly agrees. Following Shakespeare’s classic tale, Paul Vasterling’s Romeo & Juliet (2015) shows the young couple being married in secret by Friar Laurence (Jonathan Janolo) as witnessed by Juliet’s doting nurse (Eileen Lopez) in the hope that the nuptials would help unite the two warring houses. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Princess Aurora (Jasmine Pia Dames) is awoken from her enchanted slumber with true love’s kiss from Prince Phillip (Romeo Peralta) in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty (2020). Can there be any doubt as to what would follow next? The whole kingdom rejoices, with the couple getting married – in traditional white, but of course! Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

The King (Marcus Tolentino, standing center, with the governess Infanta played by Jonathan Janolo) discovers his daughters’ secret destination – a garden where they have met princes whom they have fallen in love with in Labindalawang Masasayang Prinsesa. Featured in Severino Reyes’ Tatlo Pang Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (2008), the tale ends on an expectedly happy note as the King gives his blessings for the princesses to marry en masse! Photo by Ocs Alvarez

When the mortal king Kapuy (Nazer Salgado) convinces the nature goddess Luningning (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde) to join him on earth and marry him in Alamat: Si Sibol at si Gunaw (2012), a ceremony full of pomp and pageantry is prepared fit for a divine being like her. A series of performances are presented in their honor, leading to their own grand dance marking a rare union of two worlds. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

After eating a poisoned apple, the fallen Snow White (Joan Emery Sia) is thought to be dead in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Snow White (2019). But true to the fairytale the ballet is based on, a kiss from the love-struck Prince (Elpidio Magat Jr.) revives her. There is jubilation in the forest and Snow White’s friends, the seven dwarves, carry her towards her waiting groom for a romantic wedding right there in the forest. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag