MANILA, Philippines - The Effie Nañas Ballet (ENB) wrapped up a two-week study tour last summer at the Beijing Dance Academy (BDA), China’s prominent dance school and ranked as a higher-education institution. ENB is the only Philippine ballet school that has so far been given the distinct privilege to receive special private classes the second time around, after experiencing a breakthrough opportunity last year.
This time, the study group consisted of 12 promising students namely: Veronica Atienza, Cassandra Chan, Christel Chongson, Kimberly Lim, Judy Miano, Jana Negre, Tiffany Ong, Grace Parugganan, Isabel Rivera, Mikaela Santos and Angela Tan. They underwent three ballet classes per day, under the tutelage of BDA’s experienced teachers. The Philippine group was given another exclusive opportunity to observe a class and rehearsal of the National Ballet of China, the sole national ballet company and residence of China’s professional ballet dancers.