This Month in BM History: June 1998
On June 11, 1998, the eve of the Philippine Centennial, Ballet Manila joined eight other companies in a show to cap an unprecendented six-week, 100-performance series. The show was fittingly called Entablado Grande or “Grand Stage” which was aimed to be a “grand tribute to the world-class Filipino performer and fitting celebration of Philippine freedom expressed in outstanding performances of Philstage’s nine member-groups.
Ballet Manila was one of nine member-groups of Philstage that joined Entablado Grande, the final presentation of the new arts association’s 100-show Philippine Centennial series in 1998. News clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives
The series, which had begun on May 3, was the inaugural effort of Philstage or the Philippine Legitimate Stage Artist Group Organization, Inc., an umbrella organization of professional companies which had recently received an incentive grant through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Apart from Ballet Manila, the group was comprised of Actor’s Actor Foundation, Gantimpala Theater Foundation, Musical Theater Philippines, Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM), Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), Repertory Philippines, Tanghalang Pilipino, and the Triumphant People’s Evangelistic Theater Society (Trumpets).
Buhay! 100 Live Performances was set at Shangri-La Plaza Mall where a variety of venues became the setting for such events as poetry readings, pop concerts, lounge acts, play excerpts, street theater and yes, ballet performances.
Director Freddie Santos said of the landmark series back then: “We thought of this to remind people, and to teach new generations who have gotten used to taped programs, of the inimitable appeal of a live performance. We want to encourage people to go back to the roots of performing and to break the barriers put up by a technogically advanced world. It will be a feast for the senses.”
