Four choreographers and a love guru in Ballet Manila’s 19th season-opener

MANILA, Philippines - For its 19th season-opener, Ballet Manila brings the top-rating talk show TLC (True Love Conversations) on Love Radio to the world of dance in Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika: An OPM Festival, which will have its gala night on Aug. 22, 7:30 p.m. at Aliw Theater, CCP Complex Pasay City. Other performances are slated on Aug. 23, 24, 29, 30 and 31.

As the title suggests, the show is a celebration of Original Pilipino Music, which Ballet Manila has been using in abundance for its locally flavored productions.

“For the first time, we’re showcasing a tie-up of radio and ballet in one production,” says prima ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Ballet Manila’s artistic director. “I have to thank my co-artistic director Osias Barroso for coming up with this idea of creating a ballet that brings in the mass appeal of this highly popular porgram and its charismatic host Papa Jack.”

Four of Ballet Manila’s in-house choreographers have each put together a piece to make up the production. An integral part of the presentation is the fusion of dance with OPM. “Musika’t Pag-ibig” by Jonathan Janolo depicts the search for love. “Pangarap” by Francis Jaena focuses on a love triangle that later has a twist. “Handog” by Michael Divinagracia is the story of a man’s ultimate sacrifice for his beloved. “Barkada” by Gerardo Francisco is a celebration of friendship, love and happy endings.

At the center of it all is Papa Jack, the man behind the long-running love counselling radio program. “I’m brutally frank. I call a spade a spade. But the callers know that when I’m on air, I’m not a DJ, but a friend,” he says.

“We are all excited to see how our audiences will react to TLC. For us, to be able to introduce new avenues in dance is always worth the effort when the work resonates with viewers,” enthuses Macuja-Elizalde.

The first half of the program features the Luzviminda Ballet Suite comprised of numbers representative of Luzon (choreographed by Jojo Lucila), Visayas (Rudy De Dios) and Mindanao (Gerardo Francisco).

Papa Jack will have a meet-and-greet session on Aug. 29, after the 1 p.m. show. Tickets to this show are discounted at P350 each and are available at Ticketworld and at the Ballet Manila office.

For tickets, call Ballet Manila at 525-5967 or 400-0292, via e-mail at info@balletmanila.com.ph or through www.balletmanila.com.ph; or Ticketworld at 891-9999 or ticketworld.com.ph. There is an ongoing season subscription promotion for BPI credit cardholders via Ticketworld.