Ballet Manila in Full Color: In the navy

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.

Striking a fittingly somber note in their navy blue get-ups, Joshua Enciso and Nicole Barroso bring life to the serious issue tackled in Gerardo Francisco Jr.’s choreography that is Fuga, referring to refugees who must flee their homes to escape oppression. Fast-paced and adrenaline-pumping, Fuga was one of the pair’s contemporary pieces at the USA-International Ballet Competition in 2018 and premiered in Ballet Manila’s Iconic that same year. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

One-half of a power couple featured in Martin Lawrance’s Rebel (2016), Imelda (Tiffany Chiang-Janolo) likes being the center of attention. This is what she gets as she prances about in a navy blue dress, with a coterie of loyal followers clad in complementing shades of blue keeping pace with her movements. Photo by Ian Santos

Looking every inch refined in their navy blue tunics and white tights, Mark Sumaylo and Rudy De Dios are ready to step into the Prince’s shoes in Lisa Macuja-Elizalde’s Cinderella (2018). It was a role they shared in that year’s staging of the fairy-tale ballet in which the Prince meets and falls in love with Cinderella at the ball, only for her to rush off at midnight, leaving behind a glass slipper that he must then use to track her down. Photo by MarBi Photography

Romeo (Joshua Enciso, right) and his friends portrayed by (from left) Jamil Montibon, Sean Pelegrin, Rafael Perez and Anselmo Dictado are literally men in blue as they traipse around the streets of Verona proudly identifying themselves as belonging to one group through the color they wear. The scene is from Sketches from Romeo and Juliet, shown in Tuloy ang Sayawan (2019). Choreographed by Martin Lawrance, it would later be expanded into a full-length Romeo and Juliet that premiered in 2023. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz

Navy blue may not exactly be a color in keeping with the Christmas season, but this young lady (Faith Calingo) is in a festive mood for sure. Together with other hoop-bearing dancers, she launches into a lively interpretation of Sa Paskong Darating, one of the many carols that spring to colorful life in Nutkraker: Pasko na Naman Muli (2014). Photo by Daniel Trinidad

Wearing outfits in dark blue hues, Dawna Reign Mangahas and Alfren Salgado are part of a group that fleshes out the concept of British choreographer Jonathan Watkins – the highs and lows of life and the never-ending quest for balance between the opposites. Titled Present Process, the contemporary piece made its debut in Two! (2014). Photo by Ocs Alvarez

A grand fete is in full swing at the palace where Prince Siegfried is expected to choose a wife in Swan Lake (2025). Courtiers from across the kingdom have come to participate in the celebration, among them this gentleman (Jamil Montibon) in a navy blue coat flecked with gold patterns and fitted with a matching blue cape that swirls about him when he dances. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag