Ballet Manila in Full Color: Basic black and white

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.

In Swan Lake (2003), Prince Siegfried (Osias Barroso Jr.) is in a joyful mood. He’s turning 21, and to celebrate the milestone, a ball is being thrown in his honor. His color combination of choice for this momentous occasion befits his regal lineage – classic black and white. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Men in black… and white! Whether in suits (front row, from left, Romeo Peralta, Gerardo Francisco Jr., Rudy De Dios and Elpidio Magat) or in vests (second row, from left, Sean Pelegrin, Joshua Enciso, Jamil Montibon and John Balagot), the get-ups of these dancers – along with the choreography of Martin Lawrance set to The Winding Road – are all inspired by The Beatles. The rollicking number was premiered in Deux (2019). Photo by Ian Santos

It's a match made in black and white! Arnulfo Andrade and Stephanie Cabral pair up in Widmung (Dedication), one of three choreographies (along with Sotto Voce and Reconfigured) by Augustus Damian III featured in World Stars of Ballet (2012). A tribute to the late choreographer Tony Fabella, the piece has been described as combining strength and delicacy. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

Alfredo (Mark Sumaylo) has found happiness with the courtesan Violetta. Debonaire in black and white, he dances with abandon in this scene from Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s La Traviata, showcased in Ballet Manila’s Greatest Hits in Malaysia (2024). His love turns to bitterness, however, when he later mistakenly believes that Violetta has left him in favor of a rich man. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag

In Eric V. Cruz’s Carmen (2003), Escamillo (Marcus Tolentino) struts into the scene wearing black and white. Whether it’s his fame or his fashion sense, Carmen is captivated and though already romantically entangled with Don Jose, she quickly favors the dashing toreador instead. Photo by Ocs Alvarez

His outfit in muted black and white belies the celebratory mood of the happy-go-lucky barber Basilio (Mikhail Martinyuk) in Don Quixote (2012), having just escaped the disapproving father of his free-spirited partner Kitri. Photo by Jojo Mamangun

Jerome Espejo is elegance personified in his black and white ensemble, dancing as half of the pair in the romantic Sana Maulit Muli. Playing on the themes of love and longing, the pas de deux was performed in BM Goes International in 2005. Photo by Ocs Alvarez