Panaginip – The Dream: National Ballet of the Philippines at Marios Tokas

This international ballet performance in Limassol, Cyprus brings Ballet Philippines — the national ballet company of the Philippines, founded in 1969 — to the Marios Tokas Municipal Garden Theatre on Sunday, May 10, 2026 at 19:30, as part of their European Tour 2026. The programme, titled Panaginip – The Dream, consists of two one-act ballets performed by a cast of 30 dancers, running for 1 hour and 35 minutes with intermission. Suitable for ages 6 and above.

Ticket prices start from €30.

The first work, IVATAN (People of the Sea), is set in Batanes — the northernmost archipelago of the Philippines and home to the ancient Ivatan culture. A shipwrecked man finds himself on an unfamiliar shore, where the spirit of the land appears to him in the form of an Ivatan woman. Their encounter unfolds not as a conventional love story but as a ritual of cultural acceptance — of a foreign land, a different rhythm, and a new version of oneself. Choreographer Mikhail Martynyuk weaves traditional Ivatan movement vocabulary — angular, grounded, rooted in labour and nature — into a classical ballet framework. Costumes by acclaimed Filipino designer Leeroy New reconstruct the traditional vakul textile of Batanes, adorned with geometric patterns, while the score by Ronald Vincenzo Khaw de Leon draws from the folk melodies of the northern archipelago.

The second work, PANAGINIP (The Dream), brings eighteen dancers to the stage, each representing a different region of the Philippines — from mountain plateaus to tropical shores. Within a dreamscape, they meet their destined partners in a series of elegant duets and sweeping ensemble scenes. Classical ballet merges with Filipino musicality in what Martynyuk describes as a hymn to love, diversity, and the cultural unity of a nation of over one hundred islands.

Both works are choreographed and directed by Mikhail Martynyuk — Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, recipient of the Vaganova Prix and Gold Medal at the International Competition in Astana, and Artistic Director of Ballet Philippines. The company itself is a first resident ensemble of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, an international award-winner and participant of Expo 2025 in Osaka, with over 56 years of history bridging Western classical ballet and Filipino cultural heritage.

The production is brought to Cyprus by Celebrity Gala and Papadopoulos & Schinis Productions Ltd. — two of the island's most established cultural production companies, whose combined track record spans decades of bringing world-class performances to Cypriot audiences.