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.
Urbanatives, a choreography by Agnes Locsin that premiered in OPM at OPB (2003), centers on a housewife (Lisa Macuja Elizalde) who takes a pause from the monotony of her daily chores. In a dress predominantly bearing brown stripes, she dances with abandon and casts aside her dreary routine even just temporarily. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
The fearless Reyna Amazona (Stephanie Santiago) leads her community of women warriors, all projecting strength and femininity in their respective brown garbs. The scene is from Gerardo Francisco Jr.’s Ibong Adarna (2023), which capped Ballet Manila’s 25th performance season. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
In La Fille Mal Gardee, Colas (Osias Barroso) is in love with Lise and she with him. Though Lise’s mother disapproves of the relationship, Colas – seen here in brown and white – is unworried and expresses the lightness of his feelings through dance. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
In Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Snow White (2019), the huntsman (Mark Sumaylo) and his wife (Nanami Hasegawa) lead a modest life. Clad in matching clothes colored brown and beige, the pair snatches some happy moments together when he is not working in the palace and doing the queen’s bidding. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
Between her duties tending to Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (2007), the Nurse (Eileen Lopez) joins the merriment in the household of the Capulets. She doesn’t let her conservative frock, in a combination of brown, tan and white, keep her from kicking things up quite literally. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
The arrival of the royal hunting party in Giselle (2019) is announced by the horn-blower (John Balagot), wearing a brown coat. This is the scene where the court lady Bathilde and the village girl Giselle meet, exchanging news of their respective engagements, but unaware they are referring to the same man as their partners. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
Garbed in brown, down to his footwear, the hunter Acteon (Elpidio Magat) wanders in the forest, unknowing that he will soon encounter the goddess Diane whom he will be smitten with. The famous pas de deux Diane et Acteon, from the ballet La Esmeralda, was performed as one of the short pieces featured in Maligayang Christmas (2011). Photo by Ocs Alvarez
