Lisa Macuja-Elizalde

Graduated in 1984 from the Russian Ballet Academy (formerly the Leningrad Choreographic School named after Agrippina Y. Vaganova) under Tatiana Udalenkova.

Joined the Marinsky Ballet (formerly Kirov Ballet) as an Artist for two season immediately after graduation. Danced the principal roles of Masha in Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote and Giselle in Giselle while in Saint Petersburg.

Was awarded the silver medal in the 1987 Asian-Pacific International Ballet Competition in Tokyo, Japan and the fifth place medal for artistic achievement in the Diaghilev International Ballet competition in Moscow among others.

Was an international guest artist with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Singapore Dance Theater, several Japanese companies as well as the State Ballet and Opera Theaters in Riga, Lithuania, Odessa, Krasnoyarsk, Ulan-Ude, Yakutsk, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Norilsk, Petrozavodsk and many other Russian and former Soviet Union cities.

Was principal dancer with Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theater and currently Ballet Manila - the 15 year old classical ballet company that Macuja founded in 1995.

Less