Joffrey Ballet’s Christine Rocas, BM dancers in ‘The Winners’ Circle’
Christine Rocas, a soloist of the Chicago-based Joffrey Ballet and an outstanding alumna of Ballet Manila, will come home this month to perform in The Winners’ Circle, joining other dancers who like her have joined international ballet competitions and brought honors to the country.
Christine Rocas guested in 2014’s Stars of Philippine Ballet, a production of Ballet Manila.
Scheduled on June 21, 8 p.m., at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, The Winners’ Circle is one of the highlights of Dance.MNL: The Philippine Dance Festival.
Winning the silver medal at the New York International Ballet Competition in 2005 paved the way for Rocas’ entry to the famed Joffrey Ballet. Since then, she has returned for guest performances in Stars of Philippine Ballet in 2014 and in BM 2.0, Ballet Manila’s 20th anniversary gala in 2015.
Rocas this time will be featured in the world premiere of Martin Lawrance’s Amid Shadows, a work made especially for her and the Ballet Manila principals.
Also expected to grace The Winners’ Circle are Candice Adea of BalletMet, Jared Tan of Atlanta Ballet and Nazer Salgado of Singapore Dance Theatre, and Jasmine Cruz of Westlake School of Performing Arts.
Locally based dancers who have won awards in major dance competitions will complete the line-up of The Winners’ Circle. These include: Ballet Manila’s Katherine Barkman, Rudolph Capongcol, Pia Dames, Anselmo Dictado, Gerardo Francisco, Elpidio Magat, Dawna Reign Mangahas, Abigail Oliveiro, Romeo Peralta and Joan Emery Sia; Ballet Philippines’ Jean Marc Cordero, Garry Corpuz, Monica Amanda Gana and Denise Parungao; and Philippine Ballet Theater’s Matthew Davo, Regine Magbitang, Ian Ocampo, Lobreza Pimentel and Veronica Ylagan.
Ballet Manila artistic directors Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso (both in black) celebrate the company’s multiple win at the 2015 Asian Grand Prix. In photo are (from left) Nicole Barroso, Abigail Oliveiro, Katherine Barkman, Elpido Magat, Joan Emery Sia and Romeo Peralta.
Barkman, who had just signed up with Ballet Manila last year, was fielded in the 2015 Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong in August and emerged as the competition’s top winner.
Dance.MNL: The Philippine Dance Festival is on its inaugural year and is planned as a bi-annual event focused on uniting and celebrating the Filipino dance community. It is presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Ballet Philippines, in cooperation with Ballet Manila and Philippine Ballet Theater, and is supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Manila Broadcasting Company. Dance.MNL will be held from June 14 to 26 at the CCP, Aliw Theater and Star Theater, and will feature 11 performances, a two-week dance intensive and a dance conference.
