Dancer Profile : Gladys Baybayan

Gladys Baybayan

---

Training and Honors

Gladys started her classical training at the age of 5 at Effie Nañas School of Classical Ballet under the tutelage of Effie Nañas. In 2000, Gladys transferred to Halili Cruz School of Ballet. Recognized for her talent in dance, she was granted by Ms. Shirley Halili Cruz the “Directors’ Scholarship”. During her stay in HCSB, she performed soloist roles in the school repertoire, one of them is in Tony Fabella’s “Dalagang Filipina”.

She has travelled in various tours and competitions, both local and international (China, Malaysia, Brunei, England, Singapore, Hongkong, Thailand, and Russia). Among her most significant mentors were Effie Nañas, Shirley Halili Cruz, Grace Garalde Perez, Anna Lissa Tuazon- Balmadrid, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Osias Barroso, Mailene Agabao- Salgado and Eileen Lopez.

Eager to finish her academic studies, Gladys received a scholarship grant at the University of the East, under Mr. Gener Caringal and became a member of UE Silangan Dance Troupe. Gladys was accepted as one of the new Company Artists of PBT during its 29th Season.

---

Performances

As a Company Artist, she has dance as Tea from China (2014 & 2015), Spanish Chocolate (2016 & 2017), and Dance of the Reed Flutes (2017) in “The Nutcracker”; Sabel: Love and Passion; Dancing in One Voice; Friend of Kitri in “Don Quixote”; Cygnets in Swan Lake and Paquita Pas de Trois of “The Great Classics”; Bird in Darangen ni Bantugen & Vinta and Entablado in “Filipino Masterpieces”, La Bayadere; Pilipino Komiks; one of the Spring Fairies in Cinderella.

Dancer Profile : Marika Desembrana

Marika Desembrana

---

Training and Honors

Marika’s dancing journey began in 1999 under Ms. Ianne Damian and Ms. Melanie Motus at the IDMM Ballet School. Seeing her love for dance, she was encouraged by her teachers to take classes at PBT in 2008. After a year, she was invited to join PBT as a scholar. Her first company production was “Ang Pasaway and other ballets” which was followed by “Mir-I-nisa”. From then on, she has been dancing with PBT in major productions and provincial tours.

Eventually Marika was promoted as company apprentice. In 2011, she studied in Melbourne, Australia for one term at The Australian Conservatoire of Ballet (ACB) under Christine Walsh, Valmai Roberts and other teachers. She returned to PBT and performed in “Romeo and Juliet". While still an apprentice of PBT, she continued to train with her teachers and received a mark of Distinction in the ACB Level 4 Examinations in 2012 and Highly commended in ACB Level 5 Examinations in 2013.

She was offered a place as a member of the company in 2013. As a company member she danced in classical ballets such as “Le Corsaire”, “Don Quixote”, “Carmen", “The Merry Widow”, as well as in PBT originals such as “Darangen ni Bantugen", “Vinta", and “Andres Bonifacio". Marika graduated with a degree in BA Linguistics at the University of the Philippines.

---

Performances

Her notable performances include the Dance of the Reed Flutes and Tea of China in “The Nutcracker” and wittily essayed the role of Rita in the restaging of Gener Caringal’s “Pilipino Komiks”. She also danced in the Philippine production of the musical “The King and I".

Dancer Profile : Ma. Regina Magbitang

Ma. Regina Magbitang

---

Training and Honors

Regine is a protégé of Dance Educator and Artistic Director Shirley Halili-Cruz since she was 8 years old. As a scholar of the Shirley Halili-Cruz School of Dance, she received solid ballet training from Grace Perez, Anna Balmadrid and Shirley Halili-Cruz. A few years thereafter, Regine, with 11 young budding ballet students were chosen by the school's director to be the junior members of the Quezon City Ballet, and participated in all its performances both locally and internationally. Subsequently, she was promoted as a senior member and has dance lead and solo roles in almost all the school's major productions.

She has also represented the Philippines in different international dance & arts festivals and competitions. In 2012, having completed the HCSB 12 level ballet syllabus, and driven by her passion to further improve her craft, Regine joined the Philippine Ballet Theatre. With her continuous training in PBT, Regine won 3rd place in NAMCYA Senior Ballet Category (2012), and Won 2nd place in the 1st CCP National Ballet Competition (2014).

---

Performances

She made her first debut lead role as Medora in "Le Corsaire" (2013), Kitri in "Don Quixote" and Sugarplum fairy in "Nutcracker" both partnered with Joseph Phillips in (2015), Flames of Paris and Paquita Grand Pas in "Great Classics" partnered again with Joseph Phillips in (2016), Gamzatti in "La Bayadere" (2017) Valencia in "Merry Widow" (2017-2018), also essayed the role of Cinderella in PBT's Cinderella (2018), and played the role of Clara in the yearly Nutcracker production of PBT from 2013 up to 2018. She also dance the lead roles in the different original PBT productions by Gener Caringal such as Vinta, Sa Entablado, Datimbang in Darangen ni Bantugen, Darna in Filipino komiks. Her outstanding performances in the "Start in Philippine Ballet" (2013) "BM International Dance Day" (2016), and as part of the Winner's Circle in Dance.MNL Festival in (2016).

Dancer Profile : Irene Kim Abrogena

Irene Kim Abrogena

---

Training and Honors

Kim started her formal dance training under the tutelage of Marilinda Claravall. She passed all major levels of the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus with marks of Distinction. She has also trained under the guidance of Breshnev Larlar, Raul Sauz, Victor Madrona, Dwight Rodrigazo, and Elena Laniog Alvarez.

In 2011, Kim was a finalist at the NAMCYA Junior Ballet Competition, and in 2012 she represented the Philippines at the Genee International Ballet Competition in New Zealand, where she was a semi-finalist. Continuing her ballet training under Anatoly Panasyukov and Ronilo Jaynario, Kim joined PBT in 2013 as a company artist. Last November 2016 she joined the 2nd CCP Ballet Competition and became the highest prize awardee for the Senior female category.

---

Performances

Upon joining the company, Kim was already given the opportunity to perform a few notable roles such as 2nd Odalisque in "Le Corsaire", Snow Queen, Arabian, Russian, and Dew Drop fairy in "The Nutcracker", Mercedes and Dryad Queen in "Don Quixote", Odette in Swan Lake of "The Great Classics", Magimar in Darangen ni Bantugen of "Filipino Masterpieces", and Bangenge in Gener Caringal's "Pilipino Komiks." Her recent performances with PBT include Nikiya in “La Bayadere”, Hanna Glawari in “The Merry Widow”, and the Fairy Godmother in “Cinderella”.

Dancer Profile : Veronica Atienza

Veronica Atienza

---

Training and Honors

Veronica had her first taste of ballet at an early age of four. It was only at the age of thirteen when she started her formal ballet training at the Effie Nañas School of Classical Ballet, taking classes and private trainings directly under Effie Nañas. She has participated in study tours at the Beijing Dance Academy in Beijing, China in 2011, and Universal Ballet Academy in Seoul, South Korea in 2013. She also attended classes and private coaching under ballet masters Edward Ellison of Ellison Ballet, and Elena Kunikova of Steps in Broadway, both in New York City in the years 2012, 2014, and 2016.

In 2015, she also took classes and private coaching under Viktor Kabanaiev of Westlake School of arts in Daly City, along with the different faculties of City Ballet in San Francisco. Veronica competed in the 1st CCP National Ballet Competition in 2014 where she garnered the Luva Ademeit Special Award for Female Performance in the Junior Category.

In 2016, she placed 4th Over-all in the Pre-professional Level of the World Ballet Competition held in Orlando, Florida, an annual event where around 175 dancers from all over the world compete in various categories. She was then granted a scholarship for the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. She recently competed in the 2018 USA International Ballet Competition, where she won the Jury of Encouragement Award.

---

Performances

Veronica was chosen to perform in the 10th Anniversary Gala of the World Ballet Competition in June 2016, where she danced the Diana variation from Diana & Acteon. For PBT, she joined as a guest artist dancing in The Nutcracker’s Dance of the Reed Flutes. She joined as an apprentice in 2016, where she danced the Diana & Acteon pas de deux in the The Great Classics; and Lead Diwata in Filipino Masterpieces. Veronica was promoted to Company Artist in the last show of PBT’s 2016 Season, where she performed as the Dew Drop Fairy and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. For PBT’s 31st and 32nd season, she performed the role of Dyesebel in Pilipino Komiks, Gamzatti in La Bayadere, debuted her role as Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and as Cinderella.

Philippine Ballet Theatre Open Audition 2019

Attention dancers! Philippine Ballet Theatre invites you to its 33rd season this year. We are opening our doors to new aspiring dancers to be part our company.

AUDITION DATE: January 28, 2019 (Monday)

TIME: 4:00PM Opening of Registration and 5:30PM Audition proper.

VENUE: PBT Studio, Meralco Theater Backstage

This audition is open for male and female ballet dancers who are at least intermediate in level. Please come early and make sure to wear a proper ballet attire during the audition. Female dancers are required to bring their pointe shoes during the audition.

Audition and be part of the PBT family!

Philippine Ballet Theatre presents The Nutcracker

Whether you're a kid or a kid at heart, one thing is for sure—this show is a must watch! Join us this November 18 & 19 at the CCP Main Theater for PBT's favorite holiday classic, The Nutcracker

Show Schedule

• November 18, 2017 : 8 PM
• November 19, 2017 : 3 PM

Philippine Ballet Theatre presents The Merry Widow

“It is the year 1905. The fate of Pontevedro, a proud but increasingly impoverished Balkan principality, relies perilously on the marriage plans of Hanna Glawari, a rich and beautiful widow. If she weds a foreigner, Pontevedro will lose the benefit of her wealth and will be left in dire straits. To save her homeland therefore, she must be coaxed into marrying a fellow Pontevedrian.”

“The Merry Widow” was first shown as an operetta by Franz Lehar in Vienna in 1905. The operetta has been used as the basis for several choreographic versions by ballet companies worldwide.

In its very own version, “The Merry Widow” is skillfully choreographed and presented by Philippine Ballet Theatre’s Artistic Director, Ronilo Jaynario in way that’s guaranteed to appeal to the Filipino audience’s inherent eye for passion, melodrama and “vida/contravida” counterplay. Through a series of pas de deux and dance scenes, themes of courtship,
romance, forbidden love and adultery receive both provocative and witty treatment. The dancers are called upon to show their talents in classical ballet, character dance, mime, and theater acting.

Coming from a wellspring of Filipino talent, honed by the dedication of its Russian ballet master, Anatoly Panasyukov and its Artistic Director, Ronilo Jaynario, and supported by a powerhouse cast of homegrown talent, PBT’s “The Merry Widow” features Irene Kim Abrogena, the highest awarded female dancer in the 2016 CCP Ballet Competition’s Senior
Solo Category and Veronica Atienza, 4th place winner at the 2016 World Ballet Competition (widely considered to be the Olympics of Dance) alternating in the lead role, with esteemed guest artist Martin Buczko, whose dancing and choreographic talents come to the Philippines from Germany, his current base in Europe.

It is worthwhile to note that prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn danced the role of Hanna Glawari when she was almost 60 years old, as her last major ballet role before her retirement. At PBT, “The Merry Widow” will be danced by young lead dancers, both between the ages of 19-21. It will be interesting to watch their take on this ballet’s challenging mix of maturity and humor with grace and aplomb.

Come and enjoy “The Merry Widow”, PBT’s second offering for its 31st Season, on Sept 30 at 3pm and 8pm and on October 1 at 3pm.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
September 30, 2017 (Saturday) | 3PM & 8PM
October 1, 2017 (Sunday) | 3PM

Maria Michaella Carreon places 2nd in the Junior category at the 2016 CCP Ballet Competition

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines held its second Ballet Competition on November 17 & 19, 2016 at 5:30 PM at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theater).

Uploaded by Bianca Trocino on 2017-05-29.

Ballet dancers from different parts of the country competed in the Junior Category (13-18 years old) on November 17, 2016 and the Senior Category (19-25 years old) on November 19, 2016. The Competition consisted of two parts: the first part was the rendition of classical variations, and the second part was the performance of a contemporary piece.

Uploaded by Bianca Trocino on 2017-05-29.

Winners List:

Junior Category:

• First Prize: Nicole Klaudine Barroso
• Second Prize: Maria Michaella Carreon
• Third Prize: Brian John Sevilla.

Senior Category

Female

• Second Prize: Irene Kim Abrogena
• Third Prize: Aisha Josephine Polestico

Male

• First Prize: Godwin Merano;
• Second Prize: Al Frederick Abraham
• Third Prize: Matthew Davo.

Trudl Dubsky Zipper Award for Contemporary Choreography

Junior Category

Choreographer of “Ili Ili” Gerardo Francisco interpreted by Joshua Rey Enciso.

Senior Category

Choreographer of “Empty” Gebvelle Ray Selga interpreted by Al Frederick Abraham

Original Article: http://culturalcenter.gov.ph/press-room/ccp-announces-ballet-competition-2016-winners/

PBT presents Pilipino Komiks at the Filipino Heritage Festival

The Filipino Heritage Festival and PAGCOR presented Philippine Ballet Theatre's "PILIPINO KOMIKS" on May 14, 2017 (3PM & 8PM) at the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

This comedy neo-classical ballet in 3-acts pays tribute to Mars Ravelo and brings to life such characters such as Darna, Valentina, Dyesebel and Bangenge, in a dance story and spectacle of the battle between good and evil.

Original Article: http://philippinewide.blogspot.com/2017/05/gener-caringals-pilipino-komiks-re.html

Photo Credits: Erica M. Jacinto