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.
Witches are among the most intriguing characters to grace the ballet – mixing toxic potions, casting evil spells and just being their wicked selves. But let’s face it. Their devious deeds propel the story forward, making us root for the heroes and heroines even more. In this Halloween feature, we showcase these witches we love to hate who have unleashed their malevolence the Ballet Manila way.
What devilish brew Maleficent (Abigail Oliveiro) must be concocting in her giant vat as her underlings look on in glee! True to form, she’s up to no good in Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s The Sleeping Beauty (2020). Feeling spurned by the palace, she plots vengeance against Princess Aurora whom she puts in a deep slumber. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
In Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s Snow White (2019), the Evil Queen knows no bounds in her desire to get rid of her stepdaughter princess. Learning that the young girl is still alive in the forest, the royal meanie transforms herself into an old woman (Emma Harris) so she can give a poisoned apple to Snow White and at last have the mirror proclaim her to be “the fairest of them all.” Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
Something wicked this way comes! In Gerardo Francisco Jr.’s Mangkukulam, Marinette Franco conveys how nasty a witch can get in the way she looks and moves. The two-minute choreography was the ballerina’s contemporary piece in the 2018 CCP Ballet Competition. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
The Evil Queen (Rissa May Camaclang) sends the Huntsman (Rudolph Capongcol) on a despicable mission in Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s Snow White (2019) – to kill the stepdaughter whom she disdains. The Huntsman does not have the heart to do the scheming queen’s bidding, however, and decides to just bring Snow White to the forest where she is eventually taken in by the seven dwarves. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
Carabosse is insulted that she has not been invited to the baptism of Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, so she shows up years later to retaliate. She hands over a bouquet of flowers to the princess who is pricked by the thorns and promptly falls into an eternal sleep. The scene is recreated in the excerpt of the fairy tale ballet, as showcased in Gold, Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s 50th birthday show in 2014 where she danced as Aurora. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
