Within a week of TicketWorld opening sales for Ballet Manila’s (BM) 30th-anniversary “Pearl Year” shows, “Swan Lake” achieved P1 million in advance sales, despite performances being scheduled for May 31 and June 1.

BM’s artistic director and CEO, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, attributes this early success to “Swan Lake’s” enduring popularity as a classic, stating, “It brings people to the theater.”

The company’s 30th-anniversary repertoire focuses on its strengths: classic ballets. While some ballet aficionados might perceive the choices as predictable for such a significant milestone, Ballet Manila justifies its selections with practical reasons.