...the international ballet winners

Young Pinoys shine in int'l ballet tilt

GMA News

September 12, 2013

 

 

Three young pairs of Filipino dancers emerged victorious in an international ballet competition held in Hong Kong last month.

The six Filipinos bested at least 200 participants from other countries in the Pas de Deux division of the 2013 Asian Grand Prix International Ballet Competition (AGPIC) held last August 13 to 18.

A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Filipinos won gold and silver medals.

The Asian Grand Prix website listed the winners as:

• Jasmine Pia Dames and Rudolph Capongcol - Gold

 

• Dawna Reign Mangahas and Elpidio Magat, Jr.; Joan Emery Sia and Alfren Salgado – Tie, Silver

In the senior division, Capongcol also received a silver medal while his partner, Dames, came in at fifth place. On the other hand, Mangahas received bronze while Magat entered at seventh place. Jessica Pearl Dames placed at six and Arnulfo Andrade Jr. eighth.

Dames and Capongcol were recipients of the Sansha Excellency Award, while Mangahas, Magat, and Andrade received the So Danca Prize for the Senior and Male Dancer category respectively.

Winners in the Junior division included:

• Lormaigne Hannelore Bockmuhl – Junior A, Bronze; recipient of So Danca Prize for Junior Division
• Pia Angela P. Custodio – Junior A, Fifth place
• Raye Vince Pelegrin – Junior A, Sixth place; recipient of Summer Intensive Program scholarship for the Junior A Division
• Rissa May Camaclang – Junior B, Silver
• Jessa Balote – Junior B, Fifth place
• Julio Laforteza – Junior C; Fifth place

Some of the Philippine schools represented in the event were Acts School for the Performing Arts, Ballet Manila, and Steps Dance Studio/Sofia Zobel Elizade.

Capongcol and Sia had also participated in last year's AGPIC where they were also victorious.

Held at the Y-Theatre, Youth Square in Hong Kong, AGPIC was established in 2011 and is open to young ballet dancers from all over the world.

Carlo Pacis, a former member of Ballet Philippines, is one of the former principal dancers of the Hong Kong Ballet who organized the competition. — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

 

 

...the ballet dancer at Finland tilt

Filipino ballet dancers triumph in Finland competition

By Maria Sheila Riikonen,

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau

06/08/2012

 

 

HELSINKI - Ballet Philippines' principal dancers Candice Adea and Jean Marc "JM" Cordero won the top prizes at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition on June 7.

 

Adea won first prize for Seniors: Ladies (8000 euro) while her dance partner and real-life sweetheart Cordero won the Jury´s Special Prize for Best pas de deux -technique (2000 euro).

They won the jury’s approval in this prestigious competition, which attracted 69 dancers from 28 different countries. In the senior and junior division, the top male and female dancers received prizes worth over 55,000 euro.

During the Gala Award Night, the winning pair performed the classical ballet “Diana ja Acteon” pas de deux, which  Finnish dancer and professor Jorma Uotinen widely applauded and described as a “dream, delicate, and achingly beautiful”.

HIBC 2012 guest blogger Johanna Aurava heaped praises for the second time on their final performance.

“Magical was no other than my early favorite, Candice Adea. Again. She danced her Diana and Actéon variation with such technical purity, exquisite expression and warmth.. I think most of the audience has already fallen in love with her! Adea and her now non-competing partner had also one of the scariest over-head lifts, which had one of my back-stage friends praying for their safety! If Ms. Adea doesn't place high, I should be very surprised," Aurava said.

Deputy Principal Arja Tervo from Finland’s Ballet School commented: “...they (Candice and JM) reached out to the audience and touch their hearts....they made us feel special.”

“PILIPINAS we got the GOLD and the BEST PAS DE DEUX TECHNIQUE award ,“ Candice thanked her fans through her Facebook fan page. “Thank you Lord for being there every step of the way."

"We came here to Finland...to just give our best," Cordero said earlier in an interview with ABS-CBN News.
"We are truly satisfied with the results and... overjoyed," Victor Ursabia smiled to the Pinoys who congratulated him right after the results were announced.

"The women's race was tight...but Candice Adea's virtuosity was dazzling,” Mika Saarelainen from a leading Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat wrote.

The competition's top prize, the Gloria Grand Prix, worth 15 000 euro went to Chinese Yun Wang, 23, who won 7 of the ballet competition prizes. 

Finnish National Ballet dancer and homegrown favorite Maria Baranova, 2009 Junior First Prize winner,  came second and third went to Belarusian Ekaterina Oleynik .

Meanwhile, the Senior Men's category was not awarded any First Prize, at all.  Instead, two competitors were placed second --  Rodrigo Almarales Cuba and China‘s Ruichen Sun.

“We are not just looking at the highest jumps and the perfect pirouttes, we also want to see depth and passion,” Kenneth Greve, Director of the National Ballet of Finland, summarized the jury’s decision.
The elegant Gala was hosted by well-known Finnish performance artists Uotinen and Minna Tervamäki. World famous ballerina Barbora Kohoutková also performed with the National Ballet. 

The National Opera was full and corporate sponsers were highly visible. No less than Finland's former President Tarja Halonen graced the final round last June 4.  Professor Doris Laine-Almi, who is credited for starting the Helsinki International Ballet Competition was present in the preliminaries.

‘Proud na proud tayo sa kanila (We are very proud of them),”  Celine Railonkoski, a long-time Pinoy resident, said after watching the performance. Ticket prices for the performances ranged from 25 to 150 euros.

Tessie Ruutu, cultural director of the Finnish-Philippine Association ry who sat in the fourth row said she was nervous and excited before the results were announced, “para na akong hihimatayin sa kaba” (I almost fainted with excitement).

Now, she and the 2,000-strong Pinoy community are just looking forward to celebrating the Philippines Independence Day party in Finland with Adea and Cordero performing a special dance on June 10.

---

...the Swan dancer

Ballet Manila receives standing ovation in Ireland

 

 

07/16/2011

GMA News

Ballet Manila, one of the Philippines’ classical ballet companies, had a successful maiden tour in Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said over the weekend.

The troupe earned praise from the Philippine Embassy in Dublin for its show dubbed “Philippine Ballet Gala Concert-East Meets West," according to a DFA statement.

Performing for Ballet Manila was Liza Macuja-Elizalde, the first Philippine ballerina and the artistic director of the troupe, the DFA said.

“You are a great ambassador for Philippine culture and the arts," Philippine Ambassador Ariel Abadilla told Elizalde after the Dublin finale, according to the DFA.

Abadilla was “very pleased" with the media reviews and the reaction of the predominantly Irish audience, the DFA said, noting that members of the audience gave the finale a standing ovation.

In the audience were two Irish cabinet ministers and several Irish government and business personalities, according to the DFA.

Producing the shows in Ireland were Dublin-based Filipina trader Teresa Adaya-Meaney and her Detail Design Production.

The DFA said, “[The shows] aimed to raise the profile of the Filipino community in Ireland by showcasing the talent and world-class artistry of Filipinos."

On the other hand, it said Filipinos in the audience were “visibly touched" by the nationalistic elements in the repertoire. “The show made us so proud to be Filipinos," the DFA quoted a long-time Filipino resident in Ireland as saying. — JE, GMA News