Thrilled to be a soloist at 18, Shamira Drapete vows she will always be a student first
Making her debut as Princess Aurora, Shamira Drapete says it was a role that revealed her lines and tested her technique but also allowed her to have fun. Photo by Missy Macuja Elizalde
By Jv Ramos
Shamira Drapete, Ballet Manila’s newly minted soloist, is committed to working harder so she can give her best to any role she is given. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
The opening performance of Ballet Manila’s Prima Season with Sleeping Beauty last March 13 concluded with the promotion to soloist of 18-year-old Shamira Drapete, the ballet’s Princess Aurora. Noticeably shocked by the announcement, the Ballet Manila artist confirms she was dumbstruck at that moment; she was just in complete disbelief. “In my head, as I was on stage, I was saying, ‘Are you sure about this, Ma’am Lisa?’” recalls Shamira, referring to the company’s artistic director and Sleeping Beauty choreographer Lisa Macuja Elizalde.
The promotion actually comes after a number of milestones for the ballerina, among them winning the silver at the Asian Grand Prix International Ballet Competition last August and making her full-length debut as Laura in Florante at Laura last October. As a company artist, she had already been entrusted with such lead roles as Giselle, Ibong Adarna and Cinderella in excerpted numbers for Ballet Manila guestings. The most daunting assignment yet was Sleeping Beauty.
Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde congratulates Shamira after announcing her promotion to soloist during the curtain call for Sleeping Beauty. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
An admitted overthinker, Shamira shares that she had doubts when she first heard about being cast as Aurora alongside principal dancer Joshua Enciso. That was in December, back when the two had just partnered for Ballet Manila’s show at the Ayala Triangle. “I kept asking, ‘Why me? Are they sure?’ I was very self-doubtful to the point that Teacher Eileen [Lopez, BM co-artistic associate] had to tell me, ‘Tama na ang pag-iisip, Shamira. Sumayaw ka na lang!’” (Stop overthinking, Shamira. Just dance!)
As December was still far from Ballet Manila’s season opening, this ballerina chose to rein in her excitement and focus on pre-season engagements, including the company’s participation in the Pasinaya Festival, its collaboration with Filipino rock band The Dawn in The Dawn of Ballet, and the Ibong Adarna tour in Dumaguete. Aurora only started becoming real for her when Ballet Manila’s Russian mentors, ballet mistress Natasha Radulgina and ballet master Alexander “Sasha” Kurkov, told her to start rehearsing for the pas de deux in Act 2. “It was also only then that all my self-doubt and those thoughts about what people think went away. When you’re so focused on getting the technique right, you really don’t have time for those thoughts.”
Shamira performs in the Paquita divertissement featured in the Pearl Gala (2025). This June, she alternates in the female lead in Ballet Manila’s full-length Paquita. Photo by Erica Marquez-Jacinto
Asked how she felt about Aurora, Shamira notes that she was intimidated by how classically demanding the princess role is. “This role reveals your lines and tests your technique, so I didn’t expect to have much fun with her. But then, Aurora as a character also allows you to play! She has that youthfulness and like a rose, is also delicate, which I loved portraying. Then, there’s an obvious difference between Aurora in Act 1 and Act 2. At the wedding, there was a regal thing about her, and I enjoyed exploring that development!”
Ballet Manila’s youngest soloist adds that her prince, Joshua, was a big part of her preparations for Aurora. “We’re good friends, so there’s just a lot of trust between us. Joshua is also very gifted in partnering, so he knows how to handle me no matter how I would stand, and there was no pataasan (competing for attention) between us, so it turned out well.” She notes that it’s an honor to dance with a company principal for aside from being experienced in partnering, Joshua proved to be generous with his time.
At the Asian Grand Prix finals in Manila last August, Shamira emerged as the silver medalist in the Senior Division. Photo from Sheila Drapete’s Facebook page
“In between our Ibong Adarna shows in Dumaguete, Joshua and I would practice Sleeping Beauty. Kuya Josh was willing to rehearse with me until it was time for the company to warm up for the next show!” recalls Shamira. “It also helped that we did The Dawn together, because the choreography that Martin Lawrance did for us contributed to our (experience) in partnering.”
Shamira shared a milestone with soloist Rafael Perez as they performed the lead roles in their first full-length ballet, Florante at Laura, last October. Photo by Erickson Dela Cruz
Assessing how she did as Aurora, Shamira candidly says, “All in all, I’m happy with how my Sleeping Beauty turned out. Of course, I saw areas where I could improve on, but I’m happy about my performance. It also really meant a lot that my family, my former ballet teacher and friends from Maquiling Ballet came to watch.”
Shamira shares that her dinner with her family that night was a way of marking a successful Sleeping Beauty and her promotion. But it was a challenge to be in a celebratory mood as there were two more shows the following day and that Sunday wherein she would dance as Cinderella then Snow White in the wedding of Aurora.
“Since I still had those performances, I was only able to reflect on what happened after the weekend, when I took a vacation with some of my friends here in the company. Being away for a bit really helped in sorting out all my thoughts.”
Celebrating with her family after her Sleeping Beauty debut and promotion to soloist: Shamira with (from left) dad Victor, brother Symone, mom Shiela, and brother Vincent. Photo courtesy of Shamira Drapete
So how is the teenager handling her new role? Shamira responds that whenever the pressure creeps in on her, she tells herself, “I’m always a student first. I don’t think that just because I’m a soloist, I stop being a student or should stop working hard. I think it’s good to be given more work. I’m happy to do more work!”
Since her promotion, Shamira has been starting to learn the full-length Paquita, another piece that demands classical technique which will be Ballet Manila’s second offering for the season. “I still only have a vague idea of what the story of Paquita is, and I guess I’m excited to see how it would turn out, how I would portray the character, and what Ma’am Lisa would think.”
The ballerina has much to look forward to and she is hard-pressed at first for an answer as to what other roles she would like to tackle. “Gosh! There really is a lot in BM’s repertoire that I would like to try, kaya bahala ka na sa akin, Ma’am Lisa (so I leave it up you, Ma’am Lisa),” she asserts. “But if it were up to me, for the classics, I’m just in love with Giselle. I like the whole idea of dancing with a lover as a ghost. I hope to be able to dance the full-length one day. Then for contemporary, I’d like to explore Ibong Adarna and do MAZN. There’s really so much that I’d like to perform!”
In The Dawn of Ballet last February, featuring the rock band The Dawn, Shamira leapt fearlessly into Joshua Enciso’s arms repeatedly. Photo by Larry Salgado
Reacting to a story about Shamira’s promotion, Lisa Macuja Elizalde commented of the ballerina: “Beautiful expressive and academic technique. Strong and true! What an artist you will become, Shamira!”
Regarding the expectations some may have of her now that she’s a soloist, Shamira says, “I don’t have to be perfectly in line with people’s expectations. I just think that I need to improve every day and find my identity as a dancer. There will always be comments that I would have to be like this or that, but I think it’s also important to discover the dancer I am.”
While she knows people may have more expectations from her now that she is a soloist, Shamira says her goal is just to improve every day and find her identity as a dancer. Photo by Giselle P. Kasilag
