Manila, Philippines - Two Filipino ballet dancers received special awards at the First Boston International Ballet Competition (BIBC) held from May 12 to 16 in Boston, Massachussets.
Candice Adea and Jean Marc Cordero, both 24 years old and principal dancers of Ballet Philippines, the resident dance company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, competed in the Senior Division as partners.
The pair won the “Lead Role in a Russian ballet performance” special award given by the artistic director of Chelyabinsk State Academy Opera and Ballet Theater to a single participant or a couple of the highest level to perform the lead role in a full length ballet production in Russia. Date and production are to be announced.
Adea also won the “Maris Liepa Prize for outstanding artistry,”which was presented by competition judge Andris Liepa, son of late ballet legend Maris Liepa. By winning the award, Adea will be invited to perform in Paris in 2012 along with stars from the Bolshoi and Mariinsky Theaters presenting Fokine ballets as part of the Russian season in France.
She is the first Filipina to be invited to a star-studded international ballet gala. She is also the first Filipina to win a medal at one of the most prestigious dance competitions in the world: the silver medal at the 2010 USA International Ballet Competition held in Jackson, Mississippi.
In the final round they performed a well-received rendition of the Don Quixote Grand Pas de Deux and the show stopping contemporary piece Evacuation by Bam Damian.
Adea and Cordero’s participation at the Boston competition is sponsored by Philippines Airlines.
“Watching Candice and JM perform in competition at BIBC made me truly proud as a Filipino because they are at par with the best in both classical and contemporary dance,” says Ballet Philippines president Margie Moran Floirendo, who was with the dancers in Boston.
“I think their hard work has born fruit. The awards coupled with the international invitations illustrate how their talent is ready to take on the world,” says Paul Alexander Morales, artistic director of Ballet Philippines.
The pair was coached by Ballet Philippines ballet master Victor Ursabia, who also coached them at Jackson last year, where Adea won the silver medal and Cordero was a semi-finalist, the first Filipino male danseur to reach that far in a top international ballet competition.
The rest of the BP delegation included soloist Cyril Fallar and company member Philip Rocamora. The delegation was sponsored by Philippine Airlines, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Sofia Zobel-Elizalde, Margie Moran Floirendo and JNA Dance School.