Imagine beauty and grace when nail polish in shades of summer are named after ballet movements.

 

The realm of marketing calls it co-branding.

 

Ballet Philippines (BP) gears for its next season by joining forces with Caronia Nail Polish to create a product that reflects both their personalities.

 

Lending the dance company’s prestige to a mass market brand like Caronia is anticipated to enhance the product’s image and reach a wider clientele.

 

The arrangement allows Caronia to raise its profile as it promotes BP’s 45th season in print ads and billboards.

 

In exchange, the BP Foundation has received generous corporate support from Caronia maker, Vibelle Manufacturing.

 

Co-branding between dance and art is nothing new.

 

In 2012,  OPI nail polish collaborated with the New York City Ballet when it developed nail lacquer in beige, pink, white, lilac and silver.

 

The colors were evocative of the classic dancewear colors.  Names given to the shades were witty and catchy—Barre My Soul for beige, You Callin’ Me a Lyre for ballet pink and My Pointe Exactly for sheer gray to name a few.

 

At the Caronia press launch, special-edition colors under a series called “The Art of Dance” had the image of a ballerina in the package.

 

The nail polish colors are summery and were named after French ballet movements (which may be a bit daunting to pronounce to the average Filipino).

 

Chassé (sha-seh), a traveling step, comes in royal blue. The shade is suggestive of  ballet’s courtly beginnings.

 

Glissade (glisahd), a glide, is a light green shade that is timely for summer, the peak season for dance schools.

 

Piqué (pikay), a transfer from one leg to another on a lifted heel, is a salmon pink that is a reference to the softness of ballet.

 

This collection becomes more special as it is the first color series sans additives like toulene and formaldehyde that are considered hazardous to the environment.

 

Select Art of Dance packs containing the three seasonal shades will have a coupon that would afford the customer a chance to win two tickets to BP’s current season.

 

The ballet shades collection  is already available in major retail outlets.

 

Proceeds from the sales will benefit the Noordin Jumalon Scholarship program that supports more than 100 deserving students every year.

 

BP performances will offer Caronia’s Art of Dance collection in its shows.

 

“It’s a year-long partnership with Vibelle. We can give samples and sell through CCP but we’re not obliged. Whether we sell or not, they will continue to support us,” said BP president Margie Floirendo.

 

Francis Ang, president of Vibelle Manufacturing, said the company had a previous project where music students were challenged to give the Caronia jingle a new spin.

 

This year, the company has chosen dance as Caronia’s venue.

 

Although Caronia continues to lead in nationwide sales, Ang said the company realized a need to reinvigorate the public perception about the decades-old brand.

 

“Caronia has been in the market for so long. We want the younger people to appreciate it. This is not just for the older market,” he said.

 

Vibelle is currently developing a second Art of Dance collection to be released in September in time for the holidays.

 

Blue sapphire, the traditional gemstone used to mark a 45th anniversary, would be the core shade.

 

This as BP celebrates its 45th year that would be marked by  next season’s gala titled “Blue Moon.”

 

Kathleen Liechtenstein, BP board member and former president of the Cosmetic Chamber of the Philippines, was the one who broached the co-branding idea to the Ang family, owners of Vibelle.

 

“Caronia has beautiful colors. It’s also art. We were thinking of putting together the art of movement and the art of nail painting. It’s a good fit as we were a promoting a Philippine dance company and Philippine brand,” she explained.