In 2016, the country's three professional ballet companies – Ballet Manila, Ballet Philippines and Philippine Ballet Theater – joined forces to stage the first of what was envisioned as a biennial event: Dance.MNL.  

Hosted by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the two-week festival running from June 14 to 26 primarily showcased a full slate of performances celebrating artistry and diversity in the dance community.

The event opened with The Winners’ Circle, a gala featuring Filipino dance artists who have made their marks on the local and global stage. The lineup included Christine Rocas, former Ballet Manila principal dancer who was by then part of the Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet, as well as Jared Tan of Atlanta Ballet and Candice Adea of Ballet MET.

Ballet Manila also staged a full-length production of Giselle and worked with the two other companies to present the same ballet as a tribute to dance mentor Felicitas “Tita” Radaic. In both shows, the BM corps earned as much praise as the leads for their graceful precision.

In Ballet Filipino, BM had the chance to perform some of the staples from its repertoire such as: Reconfigured, Augustus “Bam” Damian III’s all-male choreography; Arachnida, Agnes Locsin’s modern pas de deux about spiders mating; and Dancing to Verdi, Tony Fabella’s creative gift to Ballet Manila in appreciation of the technical and artistic proficiencies of its dancers.

Aside from the performances, Dance.MNL offered a dance intensive where participants could take classes in classical ballet, modern dance and contemporary dance from topnotch teachers, and a conference that tackled relevant issues in the dance industry.