This Month in BM History: July 1995
The highlights of Ballet Manila’s five-week Russian tour is summarized in this news item which also announces the company’s homecoming shows in July 1995. Clipping from the Ballet Manila Archives
Fresh from a five-week Russian tour, Ballet Manila returned to the Philippines for homecoming concerts on July 28 and 29 at the Francisco Santiago Hall, PCI Bank Tower 1, Makati.
Elline Damian and Christopher Mohnani are paired in Eric V. Cruz’s Panaginip, a pas de deux portraying the search and discovery of true love.
Ballet Manila’s tour was a historic feat considering that the dancers were the first Filipino delegates to the International Music Festival of the Asia-Pacific Region in Krasnoyarsk. What made it even more remarkable was that the group was just seven months old at the time.
The trip took Ballet Manila to four Siberian cities – Ulan Ude, Yakutz, Krasnoyarsk and Norilsk. Dancing with the state ballet theaters in each host city, the company completed 16 performances in all, six of which were full-length ballets.
The homecoming concerts featured the mix of choreographies that Ballet Manila also performed on Russian stages, including: Ianne Damian’s Mosquerade, a stylized interpretation of a traditional wedding from Muslim Mindandao comprised of a fan dance and the singkil dance led by the bride and groom; In Quest, Osias Barroso Jr.’s portrayal of man’s search for passion, power and love; Panaginip, Eric V. Cruz’s pas de deux on the search and discovery of true love; Marius Petipa’s Satanilla Pas de Deux, an excerpt from a rare Rusian classic; and Alexander Gorksy and Marius Petipa’s Don Quixote Grand Pas de Deux, the wedding pas de deux of Kitri and Basilio highlighted by technical fireworks from the two lead characters.
Bringing the Filipino choreographies to Russia was special as it provided a glimpse into facets of Philippine culture rarely seen on stages there. Yuri Frolovich Muruyev, artistic director of the Buryat State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet, had expressed gratitude to Ballet Manila for having “brought the warmth of the Philippines to snowy Siberia.”
Lisa Macuja and Osias Barroso lead Ballet Manila in dancing Ianne Damian’s Mosquerade, a stylized interpretation of a traditional wedding in Muslim Mindanao.
