Highlights of Mr. Pacaña's years with The Boston Ballet include: his performance of Colas in La Fille Mal Gardee during a 12 week tour in China, the Middle East and Europe; his debut as Albrecht in Giselle for which he won critical acclaim; a tour of Europe with Rudolph Nureyev and The Boston Ballet that included such cities as Brussels, Milan, Rome, Sicily and London; and his performances of Espada and the Gypsy Boy in Don Quixote.
Mr. Pacaña joined the Atlanta Ballet in 1982 as a Principal Dancer and became well known for his interpretations of Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty; Taverna in Carmina Burana, and lead roles in Balanchine ballets such as Tarantella, Raymonda Variations and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. He established himself as the lead danseur for the Atlanta Ballet for 11 years, during which audiences were both charmed and fascinated with his technical and artistic talents. In 1987, he was called upon to replace an injured Mikhail Baryshnikov in the Don Quixote Pas de Deux with only four hours notice during Baryshnikov's Atlanta tour. Mr. Pacaña has performed and taught all over the world. In 1985 he returned to the Philippines to perform with the Philippine Ballet Theatre at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

He has had the distinguished pleasure to work with the following directors and choreographers:

Ben Stevenson (former director of The Houston Ballet), Sara Caldwell (former director of the Boston Opera), Yasuki Sasa from Japan, Violette Verdy (former director of Paris Opera and Boston Ballet), Choo San Go (former resident choreographer of the Washington Ballet), Glenn Tetley, Lynn Taylor Corbett, Michael Lavrosky (The Bolshoi Ballet), Pierre Locatte (Paris Opera Ballet), Tom Pazik, Bruce Wells, Dennis Nahat, Eric Cruz, Gener Carringal, Bronson (Denmark), Robert Barnet (Director Emeritus The Atlanta Ballet), Virginia Williams (Founding director Boston Ballet).   

In 1993 Mr. Pacaña traveled again to the Philippines to teach and choreograph in his home country. Since returning to the United States in 1994, he has been named as Co-Artistic Director of Atlanta Festival Ballet, and Festival Ballet School in Stockbridge, Georgia. Mr. Pacaña has been prolific in developing stunning new ballets for the company. His Paganini was chosen to close the GALA at the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association Conference in 1994 and received stunning reviews.  Ballet’s such as Peter Pan, The Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Tchaikovsky have been commissioned around the world. 

 In 2001 Mr. Pacaña was invited by his former Director and Teacher, Fe Sala Villarica, to return to the Philippines to guest dance and choreograph.  Since that time he has returned annually to stage productions of  Repertory as well as The Little Mermaid,  Alice in Wonderland and the Nutcracker for Balletcenter in Cebu, The Royeca Schools of Ballet, Davao City, Tagum City and General Santos City. 

I n 2006 Mr. Pacaña was named Co-Artistic Director with Gregory Aaron, of Balletcenter Cebu, located in Cebu City, Philippines.  He also continues to direct Atlanta Festival Ballet.  2006 also saw the introduction of  the International Summer Series in Cebu, which brought students from all over the Philippines to participate in .

Mr. Pacaña remains in great demand as a guest artist and teacher and his reputation as an outstanding choreographer continues to grow throughout the southeast and the world.
 
 
 

Photo Credits by Keiko Guest