PR: BALLET PHILIPPINES’ DANCE SPRING BEGINS WITH BODY POSITIVE + & HUGOT SA ROSAS THIS SEPTEMBER 12 - 20

Two fresh productions are set to bring Ballet Philippines (BP)’s 46^th Season off to a good start. On September 12, 13, and 19, the company will perform Body Positive +, A Dance Gala for HIV Awareness. September 20 brings the comeback of HugotSa Rosas, featuring Ballet Philippines 2, BP’s junior performing arm. The performances will be held at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater).

Swans, Queers, and the rise of AIDS take the spotlight in Body Positive +. Featuring excerpts from Swan Lake, Mark Bogaerts’ Bolero, Enrico Labayen’s Cloth, and other landmark pieces, the show celebrates the dancers’ innate athleticism in the context of the alarming rise of HIV in the Philippines.

Enrico Labayen’s works add a deeper dimension into the show’s HIV awareness advocacy. A Ballet Philippines alumnus and staunch AIDS activist, Labayenlends his voice to raise up the advocacy in the Be Positive forums at the start of the Body Positive + shows.

For one night only, Ballet Philippines 2’s acclaimed concert, Hugot Sa Rosas, returns for a performance at the CCP Little Theater. Set to music from Vincent de Jesus’ Songs to Slash Your Wrist By, the show highlights the talents of BP’s junior company and its new breed of dancers and choreographers. The show premiered at Ballet Philippines Studio One in February 2015, as part of Fringe MNL.

HugotSa Rosas will also feature the premiere of Where the Light Settles, a dance film starring BP Junior Principal Dancer Denise Parungao and Soloist Timothy Paul Cabrera, and featuring choreography by Paul Alexander Morales, Gillianne Therese Gequinto, and Erl Emmanuel Sorilla. The film is a Ballet Philippines and Sindikato presentation of an Alter the Native and Smashed Pumpkin Projects film directed by AJ Orlina.

In addition to the show.Artletics Inc., a group of painters and visual artists convened by the social realist painter, Manny Garibay will join Ballet Philippines and show support by holding a 50-painting exhibit. The exhibit will highlight health and well-being. The exhibit will be displayed at the CCP Little Theater lobby during the Body Positive +’s first weekend and will then be toured to public venues all around Metro Manila.

Body Positive + will be performed at the CCP Little Theater from September 12 to 19, 2015 at 6:00PM. HugotSa Rosas runs for one night only on September 20, 2015 at 6:00PM. For inquiries, visit www.ballet.ph, send an email to info@ballet.ph, or call Ballet Philippines at 551-1003. For tickets and reservations, call the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 or Ticketworld at 891-9999.

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

To join in the Ballet Philippines conversation, use our official hashtags: #balletph, #dancespring, #bodypositive, #bepositive, #hugotsarosas

BP celebrates its 46^th anniversary season under the direction of Paul Alexander Morales. Witness the rise of a new generation of Philippine dance in Dance Spring [Pagsibol].

See you at the ballet!