Soundbites: ‘Ballet Manila has garnered acclaim for building an audience for ballet’
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Bloom, showcased in BM 2.0, uses to the full the company’s corps of danseurs in a visually stunning and thought-provoking piece.
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.
Osias Barroso’s Ecole, a choreographic number utilizing the basic lessons in a ballet class as springboard to a full presentation, capped Ballet Manila’s 20th anniversary show called BM 2.0 in 2015.
“A ballet company’s lifeblood lies in its corps of dancers. Unless it has strong talented dancers who are skillful in their performances, no amount of hype can convince the public to come to their shows and watch them dance. They must be able to dazzle the public, showing them not only something new, but also consistent presentations of ballet classics.
“For the past 20 years, Ballet Manila has garnered acclaim for building an audience for ballet. Its active program to bring in students to the theater to learn an appreciation of dance has made it one of the more important dance companies in the country. Not only has it been staging classic ballets with regularity, but it has also introduced a number of new works, making it a truly versatile dance group. This equation is a win-win situation, where both company and audience benefit in the long run. It nurtures a new audience for ballet that sustains its continued existence.”
JOSEPH CORTES
20 years of Ballet Manila in one night in
Business Mirror
April 17, 2015
Photos by Ocs Alvarez
