Ballet Manila in Full Color: Timeless black and white

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.

Elegant in black and white, the dashing Prince (Mark Sumaylo) leaps with excitement as festivities are underway to celebrate his 21st birthday at the palace in Swan Lake (2017). Little does he know that the Queen’s gift of a bow will lead him to a trek to the forest where he will come upon the swan princess Odette whom he will fall in love with. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

A disheveled Don Jose (Osias Barroso Jr.) finally catches up with the object of his obsession, Carmen (Lisa Macuja Elizalde), who has left him for another man in Eric V. Cruz’s Carmen (2003). The pair is well matched in black and white, reflecting the stark intensity of their confrontation – she in a black dress with white tights and a white flower on her hair; he in black tights and a white dress shirt already covered in smudges after a wild search for her. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

The poet (Elpidio Magat Jr.) is entranced by a pair of sylphs (Joan Emery Sia, left, and Rissa May Camaclang) while out in the woods in Michael Fokine’s Les Sylphides, performed as part of the twinbill Deux (2019). In the non-narrative ballet, the wandering poet is clad in a black and white top paired with white tights, an outfit that complements those of the sylphs he encounters, all clad in white. Photo by Ian Santos

On Christmas Eve, Uncle Drosselmeyer (Marcus Tolentino) – wearing black coattails and pants and a white inner shirt – has arrived to give presents to the children and provide entertainment for the guests. But a precious gift is reserved for Masha (Danica Rili), the nutcracker toy that will kick off a fantastic adventure later that night in The Nutcracker (2003). Photo by Ocs Alvarez

In their black and white practice gear, dancers simulate what it takes to keep improving in their craft as captured in Osias Barroso Jr.’s Ecole. Ballet Manila and Ballet Baguio join forces in this staging of Ecole to pay tribute to the choreographer in Dance for Shaz in October 2023, displaying the skill and discipline that can only be honed through years of training. Photo by Erica Jacinto

Predominantly white with streaks of black – just the simple yet classic ensembles for Lisa Macuja Elizalde and Rudy De Dios to wear as they perform Sonata, choreographed by Osias Barroso Jr. to Edward Elgar’s Sonata in E Minor, Opus 82 for Violin and Piano. Featuring 18 dancers in all, the piece is described as a kiss of awakening. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Black and white blouses with block prints unite these women in Martin Lawrance’s Beatles-themed choreography, The Winding Road, which premiered in Deux (2019). But in keeping with the music, Shaira Comeros, Joan Emery Sia, Nanami Hasegawa and Jasmine Pia Dames match their tops with tights in psychedelic colors associated with the 1960s. Photo by Ian Santos