Written by Joseph O. Cortes

During the holidays, Ballet Manila (BM) unveiled a new production that is sure to become a Yuletide staple like The Nutcracker. Its Tatlong Kuwento ni Lola Basyang, which is based on the Anvil retelling of the classic short stories of Severino Reyes, proved to be a hit with the crowds that saw the performances all throughout December.

Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde realized that the Lola Basyang stories could serve as seed for a Christmas ballet after reading the multivolume retelling by Christine Bellen. After choosing four from the 15 books, with the help of her artistic team, she was able to narrow down the selection to three for a ballet trilogy. “The amazing thing about this trilogy is that each story is different from all angles—music, choreographic styles, theatrical treatment, plot, mood, characters—and each story can stand independently from the others if needed,” she says in her director’s notes.