BLOSSOMS AT THE RECITAL

As of this writing, the first recital performance for Ballet Philippines Dance School would have ended. I wrote about designing for this recital in an earlier post. The article was on executing design and transposing ideas into costume. This time I'm writing about the performance of the kids.

cherry blossoms

Any dance costume is worthless if you can't dance in them! So looking at the costumes which were painstakingly made by the Ballet Philippines production team, I would say the young dancers had a fun time dancing in them.

orchids

This year's theme was all flowers. So the dance school assigned a particular flower to a class level. The babies had a hey-day waving to their mommies from the stage. Some were showbiz hams, as it were. There were no cry babies as well among this crop of young ballerinas. Much to the delight of the parents.

sunflowers

But allow me, as costume designer, to juxtapose the existing design to the costumes created by the seamstresses of  Ballet Philippines. In all I had more than 200 kids to create costumes for and  5 manangs to do all the sewing. You can see how cute these kids are.

yellowbells

There's another matinee performance tomorrow. So family members who've not seen their favorite grandchildren or nieces can still take a shot at watching them perform. And believe me, the experience for any blooming artist at performing at the CCP main theater stage is priceless.

poppies

On a sad note, Manang Terry, our dear costume supervisor and cutter for the costumes, has succumbed to  fatal heart disease. Manang Terry's contribution to Ballet Philippines is invaluable. She has tirelessly worked at the production room since 1981 and continued to do so until Sunday of last week. She passed on and left behind a legacy of costumes that will be treasured by future generations of dancers. Manang Terry will be missed... 

MANILA COLLECTIBLE COMPANY

new location

I've been meaning to write about the Manila Collectible Company for many months now. Finally I got the chance! This is the most opportune time to do a short article since they have moved to a more accessible site inside the Fort Santiago.

espadrille footwear re-purposed from scrap cloth

Since Charisse Aquino-Tugade started her own business, her company's getting some buzz in social media and in newspapers and magazines. That's because the Manila Collectible Company is built on a foundation of selling authentic Filipino products with the end in view of providing a decent livelihood for the ethnic communities. Originally, her atelier was right behind the Manila Cathedral. The move, as of late, has been quite providential in that they now are located at the Baluarte de San Francisco Javier. You can't miss it as you pass along the visitor's center of Fort Santiago.

all natural tanning oil

Ever one to promote responsible tourism and heritage preservation, the MCC's products provide a sort of curiosity for kids who are engrossed in new technology as well as memorable throw-backs for parents who can recall toys of their childhood and adolescence in an updated version. You can dress your kids in various  indigenous costumes from her off the rack clothes.

updated sungka

Aside from Native bags and basketry, one can order local textile sourced from indigenous tribes in the Philippines. One can purchase rolls of  T'nalak from the south or Inabel from the north. There are lingling-o pendants on string chokers, T'boli belts complete with brass bells, beads and bangles and leather bags galore.

antique pasiking (native backpack designe to repel rain)

Not only that! Since Charisse is a wanderer herself, who sources the items from the hinterlands  she makes sure that her items at least directly profits the communities that create her merchandise withou having to go through middlemen. What a lovely marketing strategy!

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....

FEBRUARY 25TH

The Kalayaan Hall of the Malacanang Palace

The celebration of People Power every 25th day of February is beginning to lose its significance on the younger generation. Is it because we, the generation that lived through the Marcos regime, have dwindled in number and interest in it after a succession of mediocre presidents? Or is it because the experience of living under Martial Law is lost on the youth who were never even conceived at that point in our history?

Lunch at the Metropolitan Museum hosted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas  

Either way, it is exciting for us Mabuhay Guides to be involved in a "balik-bayani" (returning heroes) tour for the 3rd Conference of the Filipino Diaspora which was conducted on that very same day to commemorate our renewed independence from the Marcos dictatorship  29 years ago. Participants to the Balik-bayani tour were overseas Filipino workers who have returned to Manila after self-imposed exile in different countries all over the world. All seven jeepneys had at least 20-30 participants. A lot of them left the Philippines to seek protection from other governments or to establish a base from which to launch a mechanism to counter the abuses of the Martial Law regime of many years ago.

Me with Chef Laudico

The pick-up point was at the historic Manila Hotel.  The first stop was supposed to be at the Malacanang Museum. However, because of the volume of participants we were asked to delay the tour of the palace until 11 a.m.  We had to make a short stop at the San Miguel Pro Cathedral within the periphery of the presidential palace.  It was quite a stretch as the museum staff had to accommodate earlier tour groups that packed the museum. 

Menu Card of lunch served by Chef Laudico's 

After a winding tour of the Kalayaan hall and museum we had to gather all the participants and proceeded to the Metropolitan Museum of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas complex. The main focus of this part of the tour was the gold collection of the museum and the works of the 17th and 18th century masters on display at the Met. 

fish fillet on a bed of pasta with malunggay pesto

After the short tour, the guest were treated to a sumptuous lunch by renowned husband and wife chefs Roland and Jackie Laudico. By two p.m., guests were led to their assigned jeepneys and given a brief tour of the National Museum and then back to the Manila Hotel. It was interesting to see how the guests observed the many changes that Manila has undergone after 29 years. Some participants had not been back in the country since they left. Some, who had entrenched themselves as upstanding citizens of their adoptive countries, have managed to make yearly visits if only to touch base with their native land that seemed to be choking under the Marcos regime. 

For those of us who have stayed behind and surived... the more things change, the more they stay the same...

ASH WEDNESDAY IN BINONDO

This year's Ash Wednesday and Chinese New Year are a day apart. And so, as I had accepted a Binondo Tour for students of Assumption College, I expected a day of merriment and confusion as residents of the area were in the thick of preparations for the beginning of Lent and a rousing start to the Chinese Lunar year of the wooden goat.

My dear friend, Anne Vera now teaches Cross Cultural Communications at the Assumption in San Lorenzo Village, Makati. I gladly accepted the tour assignment since it would mean the opportunity to be right in the center of all the action on an ash Wednesday and the eve of chinese New Year.

There were four Mabuhay Guides on the first day of the tour (this was a Tuesday): Lovely Reynoso, Jeff Velasco, Ronnie Gador and myself. The next day's tour had Yael fernandez, Ronnie Gador and myself leading the students divided into three groups. 

We did our usual Binondo route with the girls in tow and we enjoyed the company of Anne's students. They were all willing to learn and intently listened to commentaries of the Mabuhay Guides along the way. Such well-behaved girls! Naturally, our commentaries centered on the mixed influences of the Filipinos, Filipino-Chinese in the area. After all, Binondo is a microcosm of the mixture of culture, traditions, norms, mores, economy, architecture, and religion of the common tao living within its 66.11 hectare boundary.

By noon (on both days), everyone had converged at President's for a sumptuous lunch that had the girls and the guides eating their fill... and then for some last minute shopping for fried siopao and more boxes of Tikoy... We jostled our way in and out of the thickening crowd that ignored the heat and humidity of the busy Binondo streets. Some of the students even got media exposure from the networks covering the festivities... Now, that's priceless!