Ballet Philippines brings ‘Paglalakbay’ to Bacolod on October 29

BACOLOD CITY — Ballet Philippines will stage “Paglalakbay: The Journey of the Sea People” at St. La Salle Coliseum on Oct. 29, bringing a full-length original Filipino ballet inspired by Austronesian migration to Negrense audiences.

Presented with the Negros Cultural Foundation Inc. (NCFI), the production follows sea voyagers on a journey to their ancestral homeland in Batanes, exploring migration, endurance, love, and belonging.

NCFI President Lyn B. Gamboa described the production as an opportunity for Negrenses to encounter full-length ballet and see their Austronesian roots represented on the classical stage.

The Thursday engagement will have a 10 a.m. matinee and a 6 p.m. gala, with each performance running approximately two hours.

Open seating for the matinee costs PHP 300.

Gala tickets cost PHP 2,000 for Gold, PHP 1,500 for Silver, PHP 1,000 for Patron, PHP 500 for Green Chairs, and PHP 300 for Bleachers.

The presentation will raise funds for the Panakayon sa Negros Museum educational program, Balay Muñeka, and the rebuilding of the JGM Gallery of International Folk Art and Toys.

The engagement also includes a masterclass and an outreach workshop.

“Paglalakbay” had its world premiere at The Theatre at Solaire in Manila from April 10 to 12, 2026, with the opening gala held at 8 p.m. on April 10.

The production continues Ballet Philippines’ effort to develop original Filipino narratives for the classical stage while moving beyond its traditional repertoire.

Artistic director Mikhail Martynyuk choreographed the ballet, working from a libretto by Sheree Chua.

Young Filipino composer Ronald Vincenzo Khaw de León created the score, blending the traditional beats of the Kalusan with ballet’s rhythmic foundations.

The work connects the movement of people across the sea with the physical language of dance and the experience of a new generation discovering ballet.

While rooted in classical technique, the choreography draws its movement qualities from the wind, rocks, and ocean of Batanes, the Philippines’ northernmost islands.

Dancers use a low center of gravity, broad, grounded steps, and torsos tilted forward as though resisting the wind.

Hand movements serve practical purposes, recalling a sailor’s gestures rather than purely decorative poses, in choreography the company describes as complex but accessible to first-time ballet audiences.

The production grew out of Ballet Philippines’ Ballet Brigade outreach program in Batanes in May 2024.

More than 200 residents, including community officials, elders, and students, gathered at Batanes National Science High School for a cultural exchange that involved sharing dances and traditions.

Ballet Philippines’ account of the outreach dates the first workshop to May 11, 2024, and describes an exchange in which visiting dancers also learned local dances, including the Palu Palu, a traditional mock battle dance.

The experience inspired Chua’s libretto and prompted further cultural immersion and dialogue with the community.

The first act, “The Journey and the Land,” follows a small group of voyagers crossing dangerous waters, sustained by courage, instinct, and the promise of a new homeland.

After surviving wind, waves, and uncertainty, they reach a fertile island with a peaceful village, where Ama, a traveler from the sea, forms a bond with Kaman, a woman of the land.

The Spirit of the Land, the island’s guardian, fears the change represented by the newcomer and turns Ama to stone.

In the second act, “The Cry of the Soul,” Kaman mourns through a solo dance and pleads for another chance.

Sensing new life within her, the Spirit responds with compassion, lifts the curse, and restores Ama.

The reunited couple vows to build a future in harmony with the land.

Their son, Biyag, grows into a teenager and feels the same call of the sea that once drew his father.

The villagers encourage him to begin his own voyage toward another land: “Go, Biyag. Be our next leader.”

For Chua, the story’s treatment of migration draws on a personal understanding of movement and identity.

“Migration is often framed as displacement, but my mother showed me that movement can also be expansion, a widening of self without losing origin.”

Martynyuk said the landscape shaped his approach to the choreography.

“Academic technique is a form, not a style. Batanes is wind, rocks, and ocean. As the scenery changes, the quality of movement changes as well.”

Production designer Leeroy New likewise drew from the islands’ physical environment.

“We wanted the stage design to emulate the key visuals and movement of the Batanes landscape: waves crashing on the shore, jagged rock beaches, wild winds hitting the grass.”

Ballet Philippines President Kathleen Liechtenstein said the production seeks to deepen audiences’ connection to Filipino stories.

“We hope audiences leave with a deeper appreciation of the Sea People’s journey and a renewed sense of pride in Filipino identity. Because our stories are epic, resilient, profoundly human, and universally interconnected.”

New and assistant designer Arvie Santos began developing the production’s visual world through a research expedition to Batanes, including Itbayat, where they looked for traces of early Ivatan structures.

The stage design uses cogon, reed, sawdust, and raffia to evoke the islands through elemental materials rather than elaborate scenery.

Costumes emphasize texture and freedom of movement, allowing natural fibers to ripple with the dancers like windblown grass or waves crossing open water.

Founded in 1969 alongside the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Ballet Philippines was the CCP’s first resident company.

The professional classical and contemporary dance institution has spent more than five decades combining classical technique with Filipino movement and storytelling.

With a repertoire of 400 works, the company brings Filipino narratives to international audiences, and “Paglalakbay” closed its 56th season, themed “Our Stage, The World.”

NCFI is a Bacolod-based cultural nonprofit that operates the Negros Museum and Balay Negrense.

Its work includes cultural programs, film festivals, museum exhibitions, and campaigns supporting Negrense identity, heritage preservation, and community access to the arts.

For ticket reservations and event information, contact 0985 800 4757.