Alice Reyes Dance Philippines launches its 2025 season with PAGDIRIWANG: Sayaw Alay sa Sining, a mixed bill program that showcases the company’s versatility. Set to take the stage on April 4 and 5, 2025, 2:00 and 7:30 PM at the Auditorium of Maybank Performing Arts Theater, this landmark production promises an unforgettable evening of dance, featuring masterful works by renowned choreographers
Now on its 4th season, Alice Reyes Dance Philippines continues its commitment to elevating Philippine dance by presenting a repertoire that spans classical ballet, neoclassical, modern, and contemporary works.
The program includes a selection of works from some of the most celebrated names in dance, led by National Artists for Dance Alice Reyes, alongside internationally renowned choreographers:
- AMADA (Filipino Modern Dance), choreography by National Artist for Dance, Alice Reyes, Music by National Artist for Music, Lucrecia Kasilag
- SONGS OF A WAYFARER (Modern Dance), choreography by Norman Walker, music by Gustav Mahler
- MUYBRIDGE/FRAMES (Contemporary), choreography by Denisa Reyes
- The world premiere of C’EST LA CIE, a neo-classical choreography by Agustus ‘Bam’ Damian III
- GLINKA’S VALSE (Classical Ballet), choreography by Adam Sage, music by Mikhail Glinka
- NOCTURNE (Neo-Classical), choreography by Carlo AC Pacis and
- MOON (Contemporary), choreographed by Kun-Yang Lin, music by Dead Can Dance
Candice Adea, multi-awarded Filipina ballerina who had been performing with the West Australian Ballet was a former Principal Dancer of Ballet Philippines. For this performance, Adea will take on the titular role in Alice Reyes’ AMADA, delivering a poignant farewell to the Philippine stage, as she commences her retirement from dance.
Don’t miss this extraordinary season opener! Catch the performances on April 4 and 5 at 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM. PAGDIRIWANG: Sayaw Alay sa Sining is made possible through a partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines, CCP Professional Artists Support Program, BGC Arts Center, Century Tuna, and the support of Blackbird.
Tickets will be available on www.ticketworld.com.ph.
Celebrate the best of Filipino artistry and talent! For more information, check @ARDancePh on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
THE CHOREOGRAPHERS
Alice Reyes
National Artist for Dance (2014)
Amada
The storied career of National Artist for Dance (2014) Alice Reyes is inextricably intertwined with dance in the Philippines as well as the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She brought modern dance to the country and grew it to become “an effective creative expression of our national cultural identity.”
She made dance a legitimate profession, allowing dancers to work full-time and earn a decent wage. Her works maximize the possibilities of body movement and synergize different artistic forms, resulting in a total theatrical experience. There is a whole book about her, and countless articles and interviews. After all, Alice has been a major and vital part of Philippine dance for over half a century.
During the pandemic, rather than hunkering or slowing down, she “adopted” displaced dancers, even opening her home – which came to be called CasAR – to some who could not go home to their province or had no place to live. She called on friends to support these dancers with a monthly allowance, and got them work teaching and training online through the CCP’s Arts Education Department.
Currently, she is artistic consultant for the Professional Artist Support Program and the chairman emeritus of Alice Reyes Dance Philippines. She has collaborated with the CCP and its Arts Education Department in its educational thrusts, audience development and regional outreach. She actively works for support for the creation of new works by the upcoming generation of Filipino choreographers and continues to mentor and nurture dancers and choreographers.
Norman Walker
Songs of a Wayfarer
Norman Walker is best described by critic, Walter Terry as “A choreographic talent of towering proportions.“ One of America’s multi-talented Director–choreographers, Walker is known by those who have worked with him for his high energy level. A disciplinarian, perfectionist, and a demanding choreographer, Walker makes certain that the dancers’ potentials surface to the fullest. He created several original works for the Filipino dance repertoire, including Season of Flight (1972), Songs of a Wayfarer (1973), Wanderings of a Wayfarer (1980), and Summer‘s End (1980).
Adam Sage
Glinka’s Valse
Adam Sage was trained in San Diego, California at the United States International University of Performing Arts Conservatory and the California Ballet School. He went on to become a principal dancer with Hong Kong Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Ballet Memphis, Bophuthatswana Dance Company, N.A.P.A.C. Dance Company in Durban, South Africa and a company member of Ballet West and Ballet Philippines.
He has been teaching classical ballet across the world for over 40 years and has coached competitors for the USA International Ballet Competition, Beijing International Ballet Competition, Prix de Lausanne and the American Ballet Competition. He has also served as Adjunct Dance Faculty at Washington University in St. Louis Missouri and for Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau Missouri.
Mr. Sage has served as Associate Artistic Director and Ballet Master of Ballet Philippines Artistic Director of Virginia School of the Arts, Founder and Artist Director of Missouri Ballet Theatre, and School Director and Ballet Master of Nashville Ballet.
He has choreographed classical and neo-classical works as well as restaging full length ballets for Ballet Philippines, Cape Town City Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Missouri Ballet Theatre and Virginia School of the Arts.
Kun-Yang Lin
Moon
KUN-YANG LIN is founding Artistic Director of Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (“KYLD”) & co-founder of KYL/D’s CHI Movement Arts Center in Philadelphia. Taiwan-born Lin probes at the limits of national identity, drawing upon Eastern philosophy while expanding the perimeter of Western contemporary dance. Lin has won numerous awards in Taiwan and been widely recognized in the U.S. for both his dancing and choreography including, in 2002 by Back Stage, which named him “the year’s most promising choreographer in NYC.” Lin has been on the faculty of The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, H.B. Actor’s Studio, Peridance International Dance Center and The Limon Institute and he offers master classes and workshops throughout the U.S. and abroad. Currently, Lin is Professor of Dance at Temple University. Lin received his MFA from New York University’s Tisch School (on full scholarship) and his BFA from Taiwan National University of the Arts. He currently serves as KYL/D’s Executive Artistic Director.
Denisa Reyes
Muybridge/Frames
Truthful and fearless. These are words that describe Denisa Reyes’ work. A former Artistic Director of Ballet Philippines, Denisa was formally trained as a dancer and choreographer. Denisa’s constant search has led her to film and theater directing, choreographing for theater and mentoring younger dance artists. She collaborates with artists from various forms and gives deeper meaning to social and political issues through dance. This is seen most evidently in her Neo-Filipino series, which, for three decades, has championed young Filipino choreographers to collaborate with artists to create fresh, fearless ideas. Aside from her work for dance companies, Denisa choreographed Realizing Rama for the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information and various acclaimed theater productions by Tanghalang Pilipino and PETA.
Augustus ‘Bam’ Damian III
C’est La Cie
Hailing from a family of dancers, Bam had a 20-year-long career in Europe that took him through six different theaters all as a soloist, or as principal dancer. For four consecutive years, he was awarded “best dancer“ by the public of the United State Theaters of Mönchengladbach and Krefeld.
He has toured extensively and performed in many of the world’s most prestigious theaters such as the Paris Opera, Garnier, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Het National in the Netherlands, under acclaimed choreographers Maurice Bejart, Hans Van Mannen, and Christopher Bruce to name a few. He turned to choreography, providing both dancers and audiences a fresh, contemporary take on classical ballet. His visually stunning works showcase, the power and athleticism of ballet, the sensual energy of the pas de deux and the ultra-precision of the corps de ballet.
Carlo AC Pacis
Nocturne
Carlo Pacis is a dancer, teacher and choreographer who graduated from the Philippine High School for the Arts in 1993 and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 1998 with First Class Honours. He joined the Hong Kong Ballet shortly after graduation and obtained his Master of Fine Arts in Dance degree from the HKAPA in 2009. As a senior soloist at the Hong Kong Ballet, he danced lead roles in ballets such as The Merry Widow, Madame Butterfly, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and Firecracker. He also danced principal roles in Balanchine’s Rubies and Stanton Welch’s Clear. In 2002 he received a Hong Kong Dance Award for his technical artistry and the depth of his dramatic reading of roles.
His choreographic works include one-act ballet Beatles On A String in 2004 and There’s A Fly In This Soup in 2006, which appeared at the 1st Asia Pacific Ballet Festival in Seoul, Korea. He also choreographed for the Opera Hong Kong’s Aida in 2007. It was later restaged for the Beseto Opera in Seoul in the same year. In 2010 he received a PhilStage Award for Outstanding Choreography for a Dance Production at the GAWAD BUHAY 2010 for his work “Shifting Wait” with Ballet Philippines. Also with Ballet Philippines, his full-length ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream earned him five PhilStage Awards in 2013.
Pacis is currently based in Hong Kong and teaches at the HKAPA. He is also a certified Pilates and Gyrotonic instructor and is the Director of the Elevate Studio in Central, Hong Kong.
THE REPERTOIRE
GLINKA’S VALSE
Music by Mikhail Glinka
Choreography by Adam Sage
Premiered in February 2020
Choreographed by Adam Sage in the neoclassical style to the sweeping and dynamic music of Mikhail Glinka, this exciting piece showcases the dancers’ mastery of the classical ballet technique and artistry as they embody sheer joy through movement.
Still incorporating the Balanchine-inspired style of the movements found in the original 1974 “Valse Fantasie” mounted by Muneca Aponte, Sage choreographed the piece, with the title of GLINKA’S VALSE for the monumental Alice and Friends show on February 21, 2020.
Ejay Arisola and Monica Gana
Sarah Alejandro, Karla Santos
Krislynne Buri, Francia Alejandro
Francine Beltran, Cielo Inday
MUYBRIDGE/FRAMES
Choreography by Denisa Reyes
Music by Philip Glass
Set and Costume Design by Salvador Bernal,
National Artist for Theater Design
Premiered in 1984
Last Staged in 2014
Inspired by the sequential photographic study of movements by famous photographer Eadward Muybridge, this abstract ballet features dancers demonstrating through a series of poses the sequential movements of a moving picture show.
John Ababon, Ricmar Bayoneta, Dan Dayo, Lester Reguindin,
Erl Sorilla, James Galarpe, Luigie Barrera
NOCTURNE
Music by Felix Mendelssohn
Choreography by Carlo Pacis
Last Staged in 2019
The final pas de deux from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” showcases the reconciliation of Titania and Oberon. The production won Outstanding Modern dance Production and Outstanding Choreography among many other awards at the 2013 Philstage Gawad Buhay Awards.
Renzen Arboleda and Krislynne Buri
AMADA
Choreography by Alice Reyes, National Artist for Dance
Music by Lucrecia Kasilag, National Artist for Music
Set and costume design by Salvador Bernal,
National Artist for Theater Design
Original lighting design by Teddy Hilado
Philippine Premiere 1970
Last Staged in 2017
The ballet draws inspiration from Summer Solstice, a short story written by National Artist for Literature, Nick Joaquin. The principal characters are Don Rafael and Doña Amada, an aristocratic couple in the Catholic, Hispanic 19th-Century Manila. Their traditional, authoritative, and male-dominated relationship is suddenly shaken when it is touched by the Tadtarin, a ritual during the summer solstice in which women suddenly reign supreme while dark frenzied ceremonies celebrate death and resurrection. AMADA was choreographed in 1969 by National Artist for Dance, Alice Reyes, and is the very first of the many examples of the company’s repertoire using Philippine literature, lore, music and Philippine ethnic movement.
AMADA
Candice Adea
DON RAFAEL
Ricmar Bayoneta
TADTARIN
Sarah Alejandro
Monica Gana, Karla Santos, Crizza Urmeneta
Francia Alejandro, Cheska Vasallo, Francine Beltran, Cielo Inday
John Ababon, Lester Reguindin, Erl Sorilla
James Galarpe, Luigie Barrera, Darylle Odejar, Justin Joseph Fraginal
– INTERVAL –
C’EST LA CIE (World Premiere)
Choreography by Augustus ‘Bam’ Damian III
Music by René Aubry
Costume Design by Augustus ‘Bam’ Damian III
Augustus ‘Bam’ Damian III’s newest work for Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, C’EST LA CIE, is a captivating exploration into Damian’s neo-classical style vocabulary. Created specifically for the ARDP company, this dynamic piece highlights ARDP’s exceptional technical prowess, artistry, and explosive energy.
Monica Gana, Karla Santos, Krislynne Buri, Francia Alejandro
Crizza Urmeneta, Cheska Vasallo, Francine Beltran, Cielo Inday
John Ababon, Ejay Arisola, Renzen Arboleda, Dan Dayo,
Ricmar Bayoneta, Erl Sorilla, James Galarpe
MOON
Choreography by Kun-Yang Lin
Music by Dead Can Dance
Last Staged in 2017
A powerful solo with contrasting moments of lush dynamism and captivating stillness. The hero is a priest or acolyte of an ancient culture, performing a dance in supplication to a heavenly body.
Dan Dayo
SONGS OF A WAYFARER
Choreography by Norman Walker
Music by Gustav Mahler
Original Lighting Design by Teddy Hillado
Philippine Premiere: 1973
Last Staged in 2017
Songs of a Wayfarer was created on a trip funded by the Embassy of the United States of America. It is the second of a major work that Norman Walker choreographed especially for the CCP Dance Company. Mr. Walker drew his inspiration from the composer’s own experience as a young man, of a totally unrequited love. In his grief, he composed the bittersweet song-cycle used in the ballet. We follow the hero brooding while his love is being wed, out in the fields that bring him no comfort but only show him his love’s likeness wherever he looks. The tormented hero leaves the town in the dead of night and spends it under a linden tree, where sleep makes all well again.
YOUNG MAN
Ejay Arisola
BRIDE
Monica Gana
GROOM
Lester Reguindin
Sarah Alejandro, Krislynne Buri, Karla Santos, Crizza Urmeneta
Francia Alejandro, Cheska Vasallo, Francine Beltran
John Ababon, Renzen Arboleda, Ricmar Bayoneta, Erl Sorilla
James Galarpe, Luigie Barrera, Darylle Odejar, Justin Joseph Fraginal
Candice Adea
Guest Artist
Candice Adea is a multi- awarded dance gem. She made history as the first Filipina to win 1st Place in the Senior Women’s Division at the 2012 Helsinki International Ballet Competition. Her journey continued with a Silver Medal at the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition, and in 2011, she earned Third Prize at the 8th Seoul International Dance Competition in South Korea.
Her list of accolades extends to two Outstanding Female Lead Performer awards from Gawad Buhay earned in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, she was also honored with two special awards at the Boston International Ballet Competition: the Maris Liepa Award for Outstanding Artistry and the Lead Role in a Russian Ballet performance. In 2021, she was further celebrated as Best Dancer at the Performing Arts WA Awards in Australia.
Candice was trained in the Philippines at the CCP Dance School, the Philippine High School for the Arts, and earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree Major in Dance, from De La Salle—College of Saint Benilde. She credits her training to Victor Ursabia, Nonoy Froilan, Brezhnev Larlar, Noordin Jumalon and Cecile Sicangco.
Candice has held prestigious positions as Principal Dancer with Ballet Philippines, Soloist with Hong Kong Ballet, and recently retired as a Soloist with West Australian Ballet. She has danced lead roles in Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, La Bayadère, The Nutcracker, Coppélia, Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Krzysztof Pastor’s Light and Shadow among others.
Her performance credits include notable galas such as the Fukuoka International Ballet Festival in Japan, Night of the Stars Reunion Gala in Jackson, Mississippi, World Ballet Stars Gala in Latvia, and various prestigious events in the Philippines, including the CCP 50th Anniversary Gala and Stars of Philippine Ballet.
