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.
A blindfolded Jessica Pearl Dames sizzles in mocha as she is partnered by Sean Pelegrin in PJ Rebullida’s Blind Love, performed in Tuloy ang Sayaw-an (2019). The dance is about a consuming love that blinds a person to the point she is oblivious to the pain being caused by her partner. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
Though mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella (Abigail Oliveiro) remains kind and good-natured. In the 2018 restaging of the fairy-tale ballet choreographed by Lisa Macuja Elizalde, the heroine – clad in a dress in mocha and brown – finds joy even by herself doing house chores. Photo by Ian Santos
Solor (Rudy De Dios) is summoned by the Rajah who is eyeing him as a match for his daughter Gamzatti in La Bayadere (2013). The warrior is dashing in his attire in mocha, the top resplendent with ornate embroidery and glittery details. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
The mocha suit of Benigno (Mark Sumaylo) complements the yellow dress of Corazon (Dawna Reign Mangahas) in Martin Lawrance's Rebel (2016). The full-length ballet combines the themes of power and influence explored in Spartacus and the real-life events leading to the People Power Revolution in the Philippines in 1986. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde goes contemporary in David Campos’ For Lisa which premiered in Two! (2014). Wearing a mocha costume designed by Irene Sabas, she performs the contemplative solo piece revolving on love for dance. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
The hunters in Gerardo Francisco Jr.’s Ibong Adarna (2019) are an energetic bunch, as they move briskly through the forest. While the men are in outfits in shades of brown, their leader (John De Dios) stands out in mocha. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
