Principal dancer: Jessica Pearl Dames
Hip-hop was Jessica Pearl Dames’ dance of choice as a child. But twin sister and fellow principal dancer Jasmine Pia Dames introduced her to ballet and the rest, as they say, is history.
Pearl’s ballet training began at Rhythm Works Dance School in Calamba, Laguna. After five years, she received a scholarship from the Philippine High School for the Arts where she majored in Dance.
Upon graduation, she was accepted as a Dance major at University of the Philippines, Diliman. She was simultaneously taking dance classes at Steps Dance Studio which was located in Makati. The long hours, tough commute, and emotional toll forced Pearl to make a difficult decision. She chose to dance full-time.
With Steps, the ballerina within Pearl emerged. She competed in the 2013 Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong where she placed sixth. The following year, she ranked higher at fourth place. In 2015, she flew to Florida, USA to participate in the World Ballet Competition. She was a finalist in the Solo and Pas De Deux divisions.
In 2015, Pearl joined Ballet Manila as a company artist. She became a soloist in 2018 and, in 2022, was promoted to principal dancer.
She has performed both as a soloist and a member of the corps de ballet in Ballet Manila’s various classical productions including Le Corsaire, Les Sylphides, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty, and Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella, among many others. She has also taken prominent roles in the company’s contemporary choreographies including Martin Lawrance’s Winding Road, Ernest Mandap’s Lune, PJ Rebullida’s Blind Love, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Bloom.
She has travelled all over the Philippines as part of the company’s Ballet & Ballads production. She has also performed in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Israel.
Discover the many roles of Jessica Pearl Dames, principal dancer of Ballet Manila.
Related stories:
Four dancers get surprise promotions as ‘Cinderella’ run wraps up
For soloist Pearl Dames, the future is still ballet
Jessica Pearl Dames: Always striving to be a better ballerina
