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.
Their white attires gleaming in the darkness, Nikiya (Lisa Macuja-Elizalde) and Solor (Rudy De Dios) are an ethereal couple in La Bayadere (2013). Solor, in a drugged state, conjures the soul of Nikiya and the two dance in an affirmation of their love in the afterlife. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
The carefree barber Basilio (Osias Barroso) in Don Quixote (2004) is ready at last for a serious commitment – marrying long-time love Kitri. For his altar date, the happy groom is suitably garbed in white. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Betrayed by Albrecht (Mark Sumaylo), Giselle (Abigail Oliveiro) dies heartbroken in Giselle (2019), joining other jilted women to become spirits known as the wilis in wispy white dresses. Despite his disloyalty, Giselle seeks to protect Albrecht from the vengeful Myrtha who wants him to dance to his death. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
As the mortal hunter Acteon in the Diane et Acteon pas de deux (2011), the white-clad Romeo Peralta Jr. leaps in abandon, having just come across and instantly fallen for the goddess Diane. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Melanie Motus exudes otherworldly lightness and grace as one of the fairy-like beings in Les Sylphides (2000). The Michael Fokine classic is called a “white ballet” – understandably so, because of what the mostly female cast is swathed in. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Gerardo Francisco Jr. and Tiffany Chiang-Janolo are dressed in complementing white outfits, with the male corps also in white, in Annabelle Lopez-Ochoa’s Bloom. Presented anew in BM 21 in 2016, the contemporary work is a meditation on gratitude and beauty. Photo by Kurt Alvarez
After the warmth and generosity that people accord him as a cripple on earth, the angel (Alvin Santos) is bound for his heavenly home with his white wings and wear – his faith in mankind strengthened. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
