Ballet Manila dances with The Dawn
After four years in Russia, including two years with the centuries-old Kirov Ballet, Lisa Macuja returned to the Philippines for a homecoming gala in August 1986. Souvenir program and ticket from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
By Leah C. Salterio
For the first time, Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde (rightmost) and The Dawn – with members (from left) Bim Yance, Sancho Sanchez, Jun Boy Leonor, Francis Reyes, and Jett Pangan – are collaborating on a project: a special edition of Ballet & Ballads.
What do prima ballerina Lisa Macuja Elizalde and the rock band The Dawn have in common?
They share anniversaries in the performing arts scene, and this year – as inconceivable as it may seem – their worlds are colliding in a unique showcase of ballet and rock music.
They are jointly celebrating their respective 40th year in Philippine entertainment with The Dawn of Ballet, a first-time collaboration and a free-admission concert that will be held on February 20 and 21, 7:30 p.m., at Aliw Theater.
The Dawn of Ballet is a special edition of Ballet Manila’s long-running Ballet & Ballads series, a brainchild of Manila Broadcasting Company chairman Fred J. Elizalde who is Lisa’s husband and the chief patron of the premiere classical dance company. With MBC’s extensive network of radio stations, Ballet & Ballads has helped make ballet more accessible to audiences nationwide with pop icons performing alongside ballet dancers.
Lisa Macuja Elizalde and The Dawn hold a unique joint celebration for their shared 40th anniversary. Photo taken at the rehearsal for The Dawn of Ballet. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
“It’s such a huge honor to perform with Ballet Manila,” said The Dawn member Jett Pangan at a recent media conference. “We are really very excited for this Ballet and Ballads. I know it’s going to be a great show. It’s also going to be something different for The Dawn.”
Eight of The Dawn’s songs – including Enveloped Ideas, released in 1988, Salamat in 1989, I Saw You Coming In in 2000 and the new song Sa’n Ka Pupunta? released in 2025 – will be featured in the show. “We chose some of our biggest numbers, biggest songs, since we are both celebrating 40 years on both sides. In a nutshell, it kind of features the 40 years of The Dawn.
“We believe that those songs will resonate with our audiences the most and if you are not a fan of The Dawn and you haven’t heard yet much of our music, I think the visual that Ballet Manila has done for the songs will be a spectacle, at the very least. It’s a career-spanning eight songs,” said Pangan.
Enveloped Ideas, one of The Dawn’s biggest hits from 40 years ago, opens the show with a choreography by Martin Lawrance. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
The challenge for the upcoming show was to adjust the arrangement of the eight songs. The Dawn’s Jun Boy Leonor said, “As much as Ballet Manila is dancing to our music, we don’t want to get in the way of their dancing also. We do more dynamic versions of the songs. The thing that’s beautiful with Ballet Manila, it’s not just about tradition, but also (using a) contemporary approach to dance and the arts. So I think we don’t need to be too nervous about our music. This is a collaboration.”
Sancho Sanchez, another member of The Dawn, disclosed they had to modify most of the songs they lined up for the show, compared to their regular gigs. “The pace is still how we play the songs live,” Sanchez said. “We just had to make sure there’s a little bit more space for the dancers, so our music will not enter right away. There was a song that we really modified, but the rest are really based on our live performances.”
The music will be “very contemporary,” according to Macuja Elizalde. “They are being choreographed by Ballet Manila’s resident choreographers, Martin Lawrance and Gerardo Francisco Jr. The music will be different from the usual Ballet and Ballads.”
The message of The Dawn’s anthemic Iisang Bangka Tayo — of solidarity and strength — is aptly echoed in Gerardo Francisco Jr.’s choreography for Ballet Manila. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
As for the choreography, she described, “The moves are very athletic, very dynamic. The new movements are also grounded and very expressive. What we hope to do is tell stories of the eight different songs of The Dawn in dance.”
Macuja Elizalde believes it is always possible to choreograph to any kind of music. “It is even possible to choreograph to silence,” she pointed out. “It’s always easy to choreograph as long as the choreographer is able to visualize the song and we create it with the dancers. It’s relatively easy but at the same time it’s difficult because we are a classical company. We train in the classics more than contemporary dance. But we have a lot of very versatile dancers in Ballet Manila.”
It was in 1986 that Macuja Elizalde returned to Philippines after a four-year stay in Russia, two spent studying with the Leningrad Choreographic Institute (now known as the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet) and another two dancing with the famed Kirov Ballet.
While she had originally hoped to dance with the Sadler’s Wells in London, her audition didn’t materialize as the dancers’ union there was quite strict. She performed in a homecoming concert at the Manila Metropolitan Theater in August 1986. She was subsequently invited to be the first artist-in-residence of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Gerardo Francisco Jr. (left) and Martin Lawrance, seen here guesting on Lisa Macuja Elizalde’s program Art 2 Art, jointly worked on the choreography for The Dawn of Ballet. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
“I was meant to come home, stay in the Philippines and be based in the Philippines for the rest of my life,” mused Lisa who, through her dancing years, was invited to guest with various companies around the world.
She co-founded Ballet Manila in 1995 with Osias Barroso Jr. and ten other dancers. Last year, the company celebrated its 30th anniversary with The Pearl Gala.
For four decades, The Dawn has shaped the sound, soul and the story of OPM (Original Pilipino Music). Their songs have crossed generations and they continue to influence and inspire audiences today.
After The Dawn of Ballet, the group will embark on a tour of Australia and New Zealand this April and May. The anniversary concert Kwarenta will then be held on June 27 at The Theater at Solaire. They will also stage a concert in Singapore.
“We continue writing music,” said Pangan. “We also want this ballet concert to be a part of our celebration, especially since Miss Lisa reiterated this is a free show. We also want to give back.”
Gerardo Francisco Jr. choreographed Sa’n Ka Pupunta?, a song The Dawn released in 2025. It is a reminder that amid life’s uncertainties, someone out there is willing to listen and help. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
