Ballet Philippines Performs Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker

In its 53rd season, Ballet Philippines returns to the holiday season with a Christmas classic.

The Nutcracker follows the adventures and misadventures of a young girl to a magical land on Christmas Eve. The score was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky who was initially reluctant to write the score, finding the libretto based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s children’s tale, The Nutcracker and the King of the Mice, lacking in fantasy.

Today, The Nutcracker’s delightful plot and timeless music have made it a perennial favourite and most companies hold a version in their repertoire, including the Ballet Philippines. Founded by Alice Reyes and Eddie Elejar, Ballet Philippines is a national arts institution that began professionalizing dance in the Philippines in 1969. It is also the first resident company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

This classic and all-time favourite ballet performance of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker wows the audience in the CCP’s (Cultural Center of the Philippines) main theater hall. BP’s “The Nutcracker” will be the last show before the CCP closes its doors for its 3-year renovation.

With artistic director Mikhail Martynyuk leading, this year’s performance marks some of CCP’s best moments this season. He is also an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.

Click here to watch CCP’s Christmas Show and Building Facade Lighting here.

Italian opera at the Cultural Center of the Philippines

Recently, Puccini’s opera was also performed at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Manila theater hall.

Rustan’s Group of Companies’ Zenaida “Nedy” Tantoco, one of the producers, said she decided to tie up with the CCP for the “Turandot” staging in time for the 60th year of the Philippine-Italian Association (PIA). “Presenting Turandot by Puccini would be an appropriate way to further promote Italian arts and culture in the Philippines and in the process raise funds for PIA,” she pointed out.

The Filipinas Opera Society Foundation, Inc.(FOSFI) is another moving force behind the production. FOSFI previously co-sponsored another opera production organized by Tantoco together with the CCP, Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor,” which was staged just before the pandemic.

The foundation was created under the leadership of the late Imelda Ongsiako-Cojuangco to promote the appreciation of opera in the Philippines and to support talented Filipinos. “We are delighted to join hands with PIA and CCP in this endeavor that brings the rarely staged Puccini opera in Manila,” said Dr. Laya of FOSFI. “It is also a great opportunity to hear distinguished Korean and Filipino singers in one big opera collaboration.”

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