Soloist: Jessa Balote
Jessa Balote’s ballet story is the stuff fairytales are made of. At 11 years old, she was spending her time between her education as a scholar at the Philippine Christian Foundation (PCF) and working as a garbage picker in the slums of Tondo where her family lived. A collaboration between PCF and Ballet Manila, however, changed her life. The company held auditions at her school and the rest, as they say, is history.
She officially became a Project Ballet Futures scholar in 2009. It was her first introduction to classical dance. But the lack of experience was quickly overcome by her persistence.
She participated in the Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong three times and was named Finalist in the Junior B Division (2012), Fifth Place in the Junior B Division (2013), and Fourth Place in the Pre-Senior Division and Pas De Deux (2015). She was also a finalist in the Junior Division of the 2014 CCP National Dance Competition. In 2016, she was named the Aliw Awards’ Best Classical Ballet Dancer.
Her hard work did not go unnoticed. Jessa became a company artist in 2014. Motherhood in 2018, however, kept her off her pointe shoes. But her determination would not be denied. Jessa returned to the company in 2019 and was promoted to soloist in 2022.
She has performed as Little Masha for Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s final The Nutcracker performance. She has also inherited the prima ballerina’s role in Sari’t Bahag, a piece choreographed by Jojo Lucila specifically for Macuja-Elizalde and her co-artistic director Osias Barroso. She has also danced the Jewels in Sleeping Beauty, Cygnets in Swan Lake, and as one of the fairies in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s The Sleeping Beauty. She was part of the corps de ballet in Giselle, Swan Lake, and Les Sylphides.
Jessa’s first assignment as a soloist was in the world premiere of Martin Lawrance’s Romeo & Juliet (2023), as the nanny and best friend of Juliet.
Jessa has performed all over the Philippines with Ballet Manila’s Ballet & Ballads series. She has also traveled with the company on its various international tours such as in Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, United Kingdom, Ireland and Israel.
Discover the many roles of Jessa Balote, soloist of Ballet Manila.
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