Soloist: Rissa May Camaclang

Rissa May Camaclang’s career began in 2008 when Ballet Manila’s Project Ballet Futures held an audition at her school in search of scholars to be trained in classical dance. She became one of 20 students from various schools to make the cut and she has not stopped dancing since then.

From a scholar, she made her way through the ranks and became a company artist in 2014 at the age of 15 – the youngest to be accepted in a professional company in the Philippines. She was promoted to soloist in 2019.

Rissa May also made headlines for her award-winning performances in various local and international competitions. She won the silver medal in the Junior B Division of the 2013 Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong. At 14, the win made her the youngest Filipino to earn a medal in an international ballet tilt. She won the bronze medal in the Junior Division of the 1st CCP National Dance Competition in 2014. The following year, she placed fifth in the Junior C Division of the Asian Grand Prix.

With Ballet Manila, she has performed a range of roles for the company’s productions including Carmen in Eric V. Cruz’s Carmen, Myrtha in Giselle, Mercedes in Don Quixote, Cygnettes in Swan Lake, and Fairy Godmother in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella. She has also been featured in BM’s various contemporary pieces such as National Artist for Dance Agnes Locsin’s Sayao Sa Pamlang, Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa’s Bloom, Martin Lawrance’s The Winding Road, and Bam Damian’s Sotto Voce. 

She has joined Ballet Manila’s national and international tours, and has performed in Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Israel, Vietnam, Malaysia and Russia. 

Discover the many roles of Rissa May Camaclang, soloist of Ballet Manila.