Coming
full circle, Ballet Philippines’ founder, National Artist for Dance, Alice
Reyes steps back into the company’s helm as Artistic Director starting this 48th
season.
“It
is our great honor to welcome Alice back,” says BP President Margie Moran
Floirendo. “She has generously given the company much support especially over
the past few years. We felt that this was the perfect time for her to take on a
more active role in the company’s overall planning and direction, particularly
in leading us to our 50th season in 2019.”
“I
am elated to be coming in at this most opportune time,” says Alice Reyes. “The
company is two short years away from its golden anniversary, and so this is a
fantastic chance to start drumming up the energy and keep it up even beyond the
50th season.”
Alice
Reyes is the visionary founder of Ballet Philippines who propelled the company
into a national arts institution we can all be proud of. In the Philippines,
she established regular season concerts, professionalized dance as a career,
and played a major role in the phenomenal development of dance in the country.
With
a background in ballet, folk dancing and jazz, Reyes ventured into the
challenging and exciting realm of modern dance. Through a grant from the John
D. Rockefeller III Fund, she went through an extensive training period in the
United States at the Colorado College under a Hanya Holm scholarship. She was
subsequently awarded a grant from the Music Promotion Foundation of the
Philippines, which enabled her to study further under leading exponents of the
medium and earn a Master of Arts in Dance from the Sarah Lawrence College under
its scholarship program.
Upon
her return in 1969, she staged her first modern dance concert at the CCP. Its
success made her decide to remain in the Philippines and develop the great
potential of dance in the country. Since then, her outstanding performances on
stage have provided artists an enriching example to emulate. The sheer
diversity of her choreographic talent has produced highly acclaimed works
ranging from the classics like “Cinderella” and “Romeo and Juliet”, to Filipino
modern works like “Amada”, “Itim-Asu”, “Bayanihan Remembered”, “Mga Babae”,
“Tales of the Manuvu”, and “Rama Hari”. Through her efforts, dance has become
among the country’s respected careers and distinguished professions. The
Filipino dancers have emerged as an indispensable part of our cultural
heritage.
She
served as Ballet Philippines’ Artistic Director for the company’s first 20
years. In June 20, 2014, Alice Reyes was declared National Artist for Dance by
President Benigno S. Aquino III through Proclamation No. 807.
Paul
Alexander Morales will be on sabbatical leave for the 48th season.
He served as Ballet Philippines’ Artistic Director from 2009 to 2017.
Ballet
Philippines (BP) is the flagship professional classical and contemporary dance
company in the country. A resident company of the Cultural Center of the
Philippines, it was founded in 1969 by Alice Reyes and Eddie Elejar. It is
widely recognized today as a cornerstone of the contemporary Filipino identity.
The Ballet Philippines Dance School continues to produce dancers of
international caliber.
Connect to Ballet Philippines online through
the following social media networks:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/balletphilippines
Twitter: @balletph
Instagram: @balletphilippines
YouTube: balletph
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