Ballet Manila celebrates 30 years of dancing in Pearl performance season
Principal dancers Mark Sumaylo and Abigail Oliveiro perform the White Swan Adagio from Swan Lake.
By Leah C. Salterio
Ballet Manila celebrates a special milestone as a professional dance company with its performance season titled Ballet Manila @30.
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde (center) leads the announcement of the company's 30th season in a media conference at Shangri-La Plaza mall last Tuesday. She is joined on stage by (from left) choreographer Martin Lawrance, principal dancers Joshua Enciso, Romeo Peralta, Mark Sumaylo, Abigail Oliveiro and Shaira Comeros, co-artistic associate Gerardo Francisco Jr. and event host Mitch Valdes.
The 30th anniversary season kicks off with The Pearl Gala slated on March 7, 8 p.m., March 8, 5 p.m., and March 9, 5 p.m., at Aliw Theater, Pasay City. It will feature pieces highlighting Ballet Manila's commitment to the highest standards of classical ballet based on the company’s Russian Vaganova roots in which artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde was schooled.
The Pearl Gala will consist of three different suites – Paquita, Bloom and the world premiere of Pearls, choreographed by Macuja Elizalde and British choreographer Martin Lawrence.
Paquita, which leads the line-up, is being presented as it was restaged in its purest form by Merited Artist of Russia Tatiana Udalenkova, Macuja Elizalde's mentor during her years in St. Petersburg.
The Paquita Adagio features soloist Noah Esplana and principal dancer Shaira Comeros.
“When we were planning and brainstorming the repertoire for the Pearl Gala, we were trying to choose from 30 years of repertoire. It was not easy,” said Macuja Elizalde. “But I really zeroed in on Paquita because it was our first finale in Ballet Manila Dances, our first concert 30 years ago in 1995.
“So I think it was just fitting that we open The Pearl Gala with a performance of Paquita not just because of its historical impact for the company. It's also our way to show off our very strong female corps de ballet which Ballet Manila has been known for."
Paquita, she added, is the company's way of showing off its principal dancers and soloists in solo and group dances that are very classically-influenced. "That is the forte of Ballet Manila. The classical repertoire remains our forte. It is a no-brainer to open with Paquita."
Bloom, meanwhile, by internationally acclaimed choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, highlights distinctly Asian traditions.
“It is a contemporary number that really showcases our very own dancers,” said Macuja Elizalde. “And Ballet Manila is actually in a very unusual situation, where we have more male dancers in the company than female dancers."
Principal dancer Joshua Enciso partners soloist Stephanie Santiago for the pas de deux from Anabelle Lopez Ochoa's Bloom.
She related that Ochoa had choreographed Bloom on Ballet Manila in 2015 and has since "exported" the piece to the world, being performed in different parts of Europe and the Americas, including by Cincinnati Ballet and Los Angeles Ballet.
It was the new work, Pearls, that took a longer time to “percolate,” Macuja Elizalde pointed out. Loosely based on Balanchine's Jewels, Pearls is intended to illustrate how Ballet Manila is moving forward into the future and not just looking back at the past.
She said Pearls is also a reflection of how a ballet company such as hers grows and how the dancers develop their skills through time. “In a ballet company, you have the corps de ballet, soloists, the principal dancers... All of those dancers are trained and are the product of many, many years of actual experience dancing different roles.
An excerpt from Lisa Macuja Elizalde and Martin Lawrance's Pearls is danced by company artists Benedict Sabularse and Francesca Raypon and soloist Jessa Balote.
"What you see on stage is a product of all these different layers of experience and the pearl is just like that. It’s created by many different layers that time creates and, in the end, results in this perfect jewel. That’s why it represents wisdom.”
The ballet is divided into six vignettes and culminates with the dancers, representing various kinds of pearls, performing in both classical and contemporary styles.
From The Pearl Gala, Ballet Manila continues its performance season with Swan Lake. The comeback of the ballet classic features guest artists from San Francisco Ballet -- soloist Katherine Barkman, former Ballet Manila principal dancer, in the dual role of Odette and Odile, and principal dancer Esteban Hernandez as Siegfried.
Swan Lake performances will be on May 30, 8 p.m., and May 31 and June 1, 5 p.m., at Aliw Theater. A special matinee on May 31, 1 p.m., showcases Ballet Manila principal dancer Abigail Oliveiro and San Francisco Ballet company artist Nathaniel Remez in the lead roles.
Performing the Don Quixote Fandango are company artists Jos David Andes and Nanami Hasegawa, principal dancer Romeo Peralta and soloist Rissa May Camaclang.
The 30th anniversary performance season is capped by Don Quixote, another classical ballet, featuring the return of Mariinsky Ballet's prima ballerina, Renata Shakirova, who headlined Ballet Manila's Giselle in 2024. Shows are on August 22, 8 p.m., and August 23 and 24, 5 p.m., at Aliw Theater.
Don Quixote, said Macuja Elizalde, is a great way to end the season as it has become a signature full-length ballet of the company and the female lead Kitri being her signature role during her years of performing. Principal dancer Joshua Enciso makes his debut as Basilio to Shairova's Kitri.
"We end the season on a positive note as it is a ballet that seems like a two-hour non-stop celebration!" she enthused.
