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.
Rissa May Camaclang gets to sprinkle some fairy dust as Fairy Godmother in an excerpt of Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella, performed at the relaunch of Aliw Theater in August 2022. Wearing a long tutu – in lilac with hints of purple – that flares around when she spins, Godmother is about to gift Cinderella with a pair of glass slippers to wear to the ball. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
Holding up the skirt of her lilac and white tutu, Marian Faustino is playful and full of energy as she dances the solo part in August Bournonville’s Kermesse in Bruges pas de deux. The piece was performed in OPM at OPB (2003) where she was partnered by Ricardo Mallari. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
In Sinderela (2012), Hazel Sabas-Gower gives the fairy tale a Filipino twist. Hana Oh is Tita Nia, the fairy godmother in this modern version. Swathes of delicate fabric make up Tita Nia’s skirt, complementing the sheen of her lilac bodice and the fancy floral accents on her waist. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
As Medora, the high-spirited heroine of Le Corsaire (2013), Lisa Macuja-Elizalde wears a delightful lilac tutu with sparkling floral embellishments on the skirt that no doubt charms the pirate Conrad into saving this perennial damsel in distress. Photo by Jojo Mamangun
What else is the Lilac Fairy to wear but something in a color that’s dainty and demure befitting her name? The aptly named Violet Hong brings enchantment as she steps into this beloved role from The Sleeping Beauty, which is excerpted in Ballet Manila’s all-Tchaikovsky presentation of The Swan, The Fairy and the Princess. Photo by Kurt Alvarez
Lilac skirt and plum top make a perfect combination in this gown worn by Jenny Olayvar for Dalagang Pilipina. In the Tony Fabella choreography, which premiered in OPM at OPB (2003), ballet and fashion make a heady mix as sixteen ballerinas pirouette and prance in a bevy of gowns created by the late haute couture genius Auggie Cordero. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
In Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Sleeping Beauty, Joan Emery Sia plays one of the benevolent fairies who offer gifts to Princess Aurora on her christening. Each fairy is represented by a color; Joan exudes exquisite grace in lilac. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
