COSPLAY CONVENTION

Once in a while I find myself at the right place at the right time. I was at the Robinson's Place Ermita after Sunday Mass last week. After walking around the mall, I chanced upon a gathering at the Pedro Gil activity center wing where a huge crowd had begun to assemble.

As it turns out, there was a Cosplay Convention on that weekend. For those of you who have no idea what cosplay is, it's an activity where the participants come in costume dressed as their favorite anime character.

It's a new preoccupation of the youth these days where Japanese characters come to life via fans who spare no expense at imitating dark characters of cartoons with superpowers. I'm not all too familiar with some of the characters but some of them look really outlandish. Some have the weirdest faces one could ever imagine... and the youth like that!?! Though I may not totally understand why some of them would want to look that way... I do get it... somewhat...

All manner of costumes abound. All sorts of weapons were brandished. All the colors of the rainbow were evident in their wigs. I'm posting all the photos I took with my camera phone and you, dear readers, get to judge which one looks the most absurd/menacing/out of this world. Oh, you get to choose the adjective to describe it too.

I wasn't the only one ogling at the participants, There were mall goers who went around having selfies taken to which the costumed guests gladly obliged. That was a fun afternoon!!!

DESIGNING THE BPDS RECITAL

Ballet Philippines, both the company and the Dance School has been around for nearly half a century. That is no mean feat, to be in existence for that long! Anyone involved in dance knows that blood, sweat and tears have been poured into an institution that gets to outlast the others. I've been fortunate to design for the school's dance recitals and for some of the company productions for at least a third of that time.

This year's recital proves to be different in that I get to design the sets as well. However, most of the costumes have been designed way ahead of recital date to afford the seamstresses enough time for costume execution. No matter how you think a design is set, there has to be room for changes along the ay while the costumes are being made. 

Certain factors like fabric, accessories and sundries availability, design flaws (if any), and time constraints can change the way a costume looks once they are sewn. In my case, I often request that costume samples are made so that I can check how a certain design is transposed from drawing/ sketch to actual. I have to get them approved by the school director prior to mass production for the little girls to be able to dance in them... and their moms to nod approvingly. Yes, there are quite a number of  stage mothers out there ( but let's not even go there.)

This year's theme is flowers. All the participants will be dancing as a particular blossom. Nice! and then the second part of the recital is anchored on a contemporary version of Alice in Wonderland. So, a part of the sets for the first part can and will be retained for the second portion of the recital. that would make life easier for me as set and costume designer... sort of. The materials for the sets have been procured and at this point. the construction should be underway. The costume samples have been completed with the exception of the long tutus.

The artificial flowers for the headdresses have been bought. But registration for the Summer Dance Workshop 2015 is still ongoing. It is standard practice that we add a couple more costumes for the late registrants and we expect some students to have more than one costume or be transferred to a higher level class just in case. No matter how perfectly planned things are there will always be a snag somewhere. 

So for now, while there are still four weeks to go until curtain date, let me share some of the designs and the sewn samples. Whilst I enjoy the lull before all the bedlam happens on dress/ tech rehearsals.

GERMANS AND NORWEGIANS

Summer's nearly half over and I haven't been anywhere at all!

My guiding assignments sometimes takes its toll on my free time that I never get to laze on the beach as I'm inclined to do. Prior to the Holy Week break, I was mostly in Intramuros guiding for various clients. Interestingly, one group were not adults... These are kids from the German European School in Manila. 

They really were a fun group of eight and nine year olds. Lots of energy and lots of spunk. Half the group were boy and the other half were girls and we actually spent most of the morning taking the kids around the grounds of Fort Santiago where the kids had great fun taking groupies with our national heroes at the Rizal Shrine.

After that, the kids had lunch at the picnic area where they brought out packed goodies and bottles of water from their knapsacks. they were actually re-energized to go walking with me towards the Manila Cathedral. They had a fun romp all around the cathedral but they most enjoyed seeing the carillon bells which  were hung at the souvenir shop of the Manila Cathedral.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday were set aside for my religious duties as a good Catholic. This is the time to enjoy Manila sans traffic and sans the masses of Manilenos toiling in the city. After all, at least 70% of Manila's population are out enjoying surf, sand and sea at this time. So,  off I went with friends visiting seven churches in Manila reflecting on the Lord's passion as I prayed at the foot of the altars of repose. Good Friday was spent doing the via crucis and dropping by Quiapo to pay homage to the Nazarene.

I was back at work on Black Saturday, going to Intramuros mid-morning to guide for his excellency, Ambassador Erik Forner and his guests. The San Agustin Museum was closed in solemnity of the season, but the Manila Cathedral was open for the faithful who were there to reflect on the vigil and eventually celebrate the feast of the resurrection of the Lord. 

Sorry, I  can't post my guests' pictures here for purposes of security and diplomatic tact. Needless to say, they had a great time and as it was getting hot and humid, they had to proceed to lunch elsewhere. As a matter of fact, they had so much fun, they have asked me to guide for their other guests next Monday....