Ballet Manila’s founding director, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, took inspiration from George Balanchine’s advice to start a ballet school before establishing a company, and within two years of the company’s foundation, the Lisa Macuja School of Ballet was created in the Philippines, with links to the Russian Ballet Academy of St. Petersburg and a focus on the Russian Vaganova method; since then, it has provided high-standard classical ballet training to its students and has produced graduates who have gone on to successful careers in ballet. The school has also offered free training to talented but disadvantaged students through Project Ballet Futures, reflecting its commitment to making ballet accessible to a wider audience.