This Month in BM History: May 2014
Jessa Balote, one of Ballet Manila’s artists guesting in Just Dance XVII, graces the cover of the summer recital’s souvenir program.
It’s not only in its season productions that Ballet Manila levels up its repertoire. The same is true for the culminating performance of its school’s summer workshop series. Just Dance, as the annual recital is called, has indeed raised the bar in the way it highlights its students at the end of its intensive program – through a professionally staged show that also features guest artists from Ballet Manila.
Joffrey Ballet’s Christine Rocas is partnered by soloist Alfren Salgado in Augustus Damian III’s Romeo and Juliet, the featured piece representing Italy in Around the World in 8 Ballets. Photo by Kurt Alvarez
In 2014, Just Dance was staged on May 24 and 25 at Aliw Theater. It was divided into two parts. The first half was comprised of excerpts from the pirate caper Le Corsaire while the second half was called Around the World in 8 Ballets.
The Le Corsaire Divertissement – with additional choreography by BM artistic director and BM School directress Lisa Macuja Elizalde and BM co-artistic director and school faculty member Osias Barroso Jr. – gave all summer intensive kids a chance to show off their classical ballet technique.
Project Ballet Futures scholars Jessa Balote and Rissa May Camaclang, who had then become BM artists, tackled the roles of Medora and Gulnara, the two female leads in Le Corsaire, respectively. Level 3 students were part of the ballet’s Naila Waltz, while those from other levels tackled their respective variations.
Level 3 students of the Ballet Manila Summer Workshop 2014 perform the Naila Waltz with BM’s Xiu Ling Tan as Medora in an excerpt of Le Corsaire. Photo by Kurt Alvarez
Around the World in 8 Ballets, meanwhile, was anchored by a character who goes on a tour that takes her to places where she gets to watch different kinds of dances – Brazil, Russia, Austria, America, China, Africa, Italy and the Philippines. It was made special by the participation of BM School alumni and siblings Christine Rocas and Frederick Rocas.
Christine of the Joffrey Ballet performed the role of Juliet opposite BM soloist Alfren Saldgo as Romeo in Augustus Damian III’s balcony pas de deux. Frederick of the Alabama Ballet, on the other hand, performed two variations as part of the Russian segment – the Siegfried Variation from Swan Lake and the Basilio Variation from Don Quixote.
Ballet Manila dancers form the ensemble for the Philippine segment in Around the World in 8 Ballets, a number conceptualized by Osias Barroso Jr. Photo by Kurt Alvarez
