Ballet Manila ready to sprinkle fairy dust in Taiwan with ‘Cinderella’
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde (front row, third from left) leads the company’s delegation of 11 dancers to Taiwan (front, from left): Stephanie Santiago, Abigail Oliveiro, Jasmine Pia Dames; (back row, from left) Anselmo Dictado, Mark Sumaylo, Alvin Dictado, Noah Esplana, Joshua Enciso, Jos David Andes, John Balagot and Rodney Catubay.
After wrapping up its premiere run of Florante at Laura at Aliw Theater last Saturday, Ballet Manila is all set to sprinkle fairy dust in Taiwan with its Cinderella just a week later.
Ballet Manila principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro and Mark Sumaylo, as Cinderella and her Prince, are featured in a promotional material for the Cinderella show in Taoyuan, Taiwan.
The ballet – to be performed today, October 26, 7:30 p.m., at the Taoyuan Arts Center – is part of the ongoing 2024 Taoyuan Iron Rose Art Festival.
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde, who choreographed and premiered her adaptation of the popular fairy tale in 2016, said in a Facebook post: “Who would have thought that my Cinderella would make it to a Taiwan premiere with Zhongli Youth Ballet and 11 dancers from Ballet Manila!”
Principal dancers Abigail Oliveiro and Mark Sumaylo will reprise their roles as Cinderella and her Prince. The Ballet Manila delegation also includes principal dancers Jasmine Pia Dames and Joshua Enciso, soloists Anselmo Dictado, John Balagot, Stephanie Santiago and Noah Esplana, and company artists Alvin Dictado, Rodney Catubay and Jos David Andes, with co-artistic associate Eileen Lopez assisting Macuja Elizalde in restaging the fairy-tale ballet.
Supporting them is an 80-strong ensemble from the Dunqing Dance Troupe, of which Zhongli Youth Ballet – headed by Maggie Chen – is a subsidiary.
The decision to bring Cinderella to Taiwan was reached shortly after the successful staging of The Nutcracker at the 2023 Taoyuan Iron Rose Festival last November, with Oliveiro and Sumaylo dancing as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Prince, respectively.
Since arriving in Taiwan last Sunday, BM artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde has been conducting rehearsals with young local ballet dancers who are part of the Cinderella cast.
The first major collaboration involving Ballet Manila, Zhongli Youth Ballet and Dunqing Dance, it entailed Macuja Elizalde teaching the choreography via video and Zoom sessions over several months before actual rehearsals at the Taoyuan venue.
Ballet Manila danseurs (from left) Rodney Catubay, Joshua Enciso, Noah Esplana and Jos David Andes rehearse scenes at the palace ball with Taiwanese ballerinas.
“Truly, Art knows no borders. The partnership that started with (the late co-artistic director) Osias Barroso at the helm has borne countless fruits,” Macuja Elizalde said then, as The Nutcracker involved Ballet Manila dancers performing with Taiwanese ballet students, many of whom she had taught in online sessions during the pandemic.
Practically the same process was followed for Cinderella, with the BM delegation led by Macuja Elizalde immersing in rehearsals with the local dancers for the past week.
Ballet Manila will also bring Cinderella to the Luce Auditorium in Dumaguete City on November 8, 9 and 10 for five shows.
The company will then have a special collaboration with Ballet Baguio for another Cinderella production on December 22 in Baguio City.
As the wicked stepmother and stepsisters, the trio of John Balagot (center), Jasmine Pia Dames (left) and Stephanie Santiago rehearse one of their scenes on stage at the Taoyuan Arts Center.
