VIDEO: Ballet Philippines Performs PAQUITA AND BOLERO

BALLET PHILIPPINES performs Paquita and Bolero for The Metropolitan Theater digital series, 'Tuloy Ang Palabas sa MET!'

BALLET PHILIPPINES presents two performances that meet at the crossroads of fate and fear, destiny and despair, love and isolation: Paquita and Bolero at the MET. Debuted in 1846 at the Paris Opera Ballet, PAQUITA tells the story of a gypsy girl in Spain during the time of Napoleon's occupation. Unaware of her noble lineage, the heroine saves the life of a young French officer, Lucien d'Hervilly. It was by decree of the conspiring Spanish Governor that his life be taken by gypsy chief, Inigo. Coincidentally, abduction by gypsies also took Paquita away from her birth parents.

Events leading up to Paquita and Lucien's first encounter echo the story's themes of fate and destiny. A romance told through dance, PAQUITA is a celebration of love conquering all--from the pas de trois in the first act, down to the Mazurka des enfants in the final act.

Inspired by worldwide quarantines and pandemic lockdowns, BALLET PHILIPPINES' Artistic Director Mikhail Martynyuk choreographs BOLERO as a nod to the times. In this performance, the company's core dancers move within enclosed spaces to depict struggle, anguish, and despair. Their movements, accompanied by the music of Maurice Ravel, resemble that of a toreador, which is equal parts hypnotic, encompassing, and relevant in a time when we all ache for the liberties of a pre pandemic world.