The improbable story of a Russian-trained Filipino ballerina who joins the Kirov as its first foreign soloist is just one part of British dance critic Graham Watts’ extensive feature about Ballet Manila in Dance Europe magazine published in January 2014. Aside from Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s real-life story, also fascinating is his account of how her scholar Jessa Balote emerged from the slums to become a professional ballerina with BM.

Watts relates how he watched the entire run of six performances of BM’s La Bayadere at Aliw Theater the previous November and comments: “I have rarely seen the Kingdom of the Shades delivered with such unity of movement and positioning. Having all the dancers trained together in the Vaganova way means that the corps de ballet’s arms are identical in arabesque and their extended legs move automatically to the same height at the same time.”

Given access backstage, Watts is able to observe the company’s pre-performance rituals, from a company meeting in the Green Room that leads to a prayer and a rousing call of “Ballet Manila…dance!” It is a discipline, he says, that pays dividends – notably with dancers that he describes as having “a fine technique and an arresting dramatic presence.”

From what he saw, Watts can only conclude, “The future of the company seems very well assured.”