The Ballet Manila Archives is the repository of documents, print, photographic, audio and video materials and memorabilia relating to the history of Ballet Manila and the life and career of its founder, prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde. This site is powered by Ms. Elizalde and Project Art, Inc.
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.
Exuberance is written on the faces of Gerardo Francisco Jr., Jamil Montibon and Anselmo Dictado and lead female dancer Abigail Oliveiro – in her cute two-piece pink outfit – as they move to the smile-inducing Da Coconut Nut. The number was part of OPM Suite, choreographed by Gerardo Francisco Jr., as featured in Flight!, Ballet Manila’s anchor show at the Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong in August 2015. Photo by Kurt Alvarez
The subtle pink hue of Jasmine Pia Dames’ tutu as Gulnara (from Le Corsaire, 2018) reflects the quiet strength that her character possesses as she comes to her friend Medora’s assistance through the many adventures they undergo in the pirate epic. Photo by Lorelei Casing
Judith Po is the picture of pink perfection as she joins the all-female Dalagang Pilipina, a choreography by the late Tony Fabella that celebrates ballet and fashion. The piece was presented in an OPM Suite for Ballet Manila’s The Silver Gala in Baguio City last October. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
As the lead ballerina in Tony Fabella’s Dancing to Verdi, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde is a vision in pink, as partnered by Osias Barroso. The neoclassical piece was part of OPM at OPB in 2003, showcasing Original Pilipino Music and Original Pilipino Ballet. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Frilly fringes in fuchsia and pink add up to the charm of this tutu worn by Jennifer Olayvar as Lise who goes on a merry escapade with Colas (Jerome Espejo) in The Naughty Daughter. The countryside-set romantic comedy was staged in 2008. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Prince Siegfried (Elpido Magat Jr.) receives a bevy of princesses who have been invited to his twenty-first birthday celebration in the palace, including Czarina Villegas who is clad in a confection of baby pink highlighted by gold accents on the bodice and sleeves. The scene is from Swan Lake (2014). Photo by Daniel Trinidad
One of the light moments in the otherwise tragic La Traviata shows Rissa May Camaclang as Honoree in a delicate pink dress, as she presents her fiancé (Romeo Peralta) to her father Giorgio Germont. The Lisa Macuja adaptation of the famous Verdi opera was most recently staged at The Silver Gala in Baguio City last October. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
