Ballet Manila in Full Color: Tickled pink

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.

Though sheathed in the softest shade of pink, Nikiya (Lisa Macuja Elizalde) is all set to unleash her raging emotions in this scene from La Bayadere (2006). Nikiya does not anticipate that when she confronts Gamzatti – whom her beloved Solor apparently has been pledged to marry – she would end up attempting to stab the “other woman.” Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Pink on pink! Wearing a tutu in the most popular color in ballet, Shaira Comeros is a picture of pure joy as she tackles the challenging piece that is Tony Fabella’s Dancing to Verdi. The fast-paced ensemble piece, a gift of the choreographer to Ballet Manila in tribute to its dancers’ technical skills, was performed at the Ballet Dance Gala last April in celebration of International Dance Day. Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto

The Sugar Plum Fairy (Jessica Pearl Dames), her pink tutu echoed in the subtle tones of the castle behind, only has eyes for the Nutcracker Prince (Sean Pelegrin) in The Majestic Nutcracker. Guesting in the Christmas production of Ballet Baguio in December 2023, the Ballet Manila pair reprised the pas de deux that they also just performed in The Nutcracker: Clara’s Journey, the recital showcase of the Lisa Macuja School of Ballet. Photo from Jessica Pearl Dames’ Facebook page

The fairy doll princess (Missy Macuja Elizalde) is pretty in pink and unruffled that the two clowns (Glenn Ragel, left) and Alvin Santos are fighting over her in the Fairy Doll pas de trois. A favorite in the Ballet Manila repertoire, it was staged in the Carmen International Friendship Gala in 2013. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

As the wicked stepsisters in Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s Cinderella – Stephanie Santiago (center) in pink and Jasmine Pia Dames (left) in yellow green – shamelessly try to get the Prince’s attention at the palace ball, as their mother portrayed by John Balagot (right) looks on approvingly. The fairy tale ballet just finished a five-show run at the Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium of Silliman University in Dumaguete City. Photo by Craig Estrada/ Silliman University Camera Club

It’s Prince Siegfried’s twenty-first birthday in Swan Lake (2014) and the celebration is ongoing at the palace. The entertainment includes numerous dances, including one featuring a court lady (Marika Capati) dressed up in mesmerizing pink. Photo by Daniel Trinidad

Elena Chernova is eye-catching in pink as she matches moves with (from left) Kenneth del Rosario, Alvin Santos and Roduardo Ma for an interpretation of the playful ditty Da Coconut Nut. It is just one of the scenes making up the urban-set Maynila ni Juan, choreographed by Gerardo Francisco Jr. which premiered in Halo-Halo ni Juan (2010). Photo by Ocs Alvarez