Soundbites: ‘It’s one ballet that should be toured to widen consciousness on the need to preserve the environment’
Ballet Manila was a newsmaker from the very beginning. Over the years, as it grew and reached milestones, it has been the subject of countless stories in media. With the company celebrating its Pearl Anniversary in 2025, we mine the Archives for published tidbits describing moments from its 30-year history, as spoken by its own leaders and dancers or as said by those writing about them.
Alamat: Si Sibol at Si Gunaw, based on Ed Maranan’s children’s book, is a pitch for environmental protection. Souvenir program from the Ballet Manila Archives
“The big surprise is that after years of watching swans and snowflakes, one gets a bigger thrill seeing tribal handmaidens and malong-garbed corps de ballet executing what looks like the Philippine answer to Aurora’s wedding in Sleeping Beauty, and perhaps a more exotic version of the Kingdom of the Shades.
“If there is one ballet that should be toured to widen consciousness on the need to preserve the environment, it would be Alamat: Si Sibol at Si Gunaw.”
– PABLO A. TARIMAN
December 21, 2009
Ballet Manila’s ‘Alamat’ triumphs over old Christmas warhorses in
Philippine Daily Inquirer
