A refreshing season-ender for Ballet Philippines came in the guise of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” The ballet, which has been a staple in many international ballet companies, underwent a transformation in the hands of guest choreographer Carlo Pacis, Hong Kong-based dancer, teacher and choreographer. In the past 12 years Pacis danced [...]
The year 1980 saw the world premiere of a landmark theater piece by Ballet Philippines entitled “Rama, Hari.” It was a creative collaboration among several artistic stalwarts, three of whom became National Artists: Salvador Bernal (scenography and costumes), Bienvenido Lumbera (libretto) and Rolando Tinio (English translation).
What lies in the minds of young children that gestates as they grow older, is sometimes never forgotten, and one day is realized, whether in the reality of life itself or in a beautiful fantasy translated in an art form?
As we sadly bade adieu to Candice Adea, perhaps the most decorated Filipina ballet dancer to date, garnering all colors of medals in international competitions, the bittersweet reality is that she now finds herself in a “better place.” She has accepted the invitation of the Hong Kong Ballet as soloist, making her debut as company member on Nov. 2 in Balanchine’s “Theme and Variations.”
On Sept. 18, after a year-and-a-half preparation for the retrospective of the works of Chilean artist Claudio Bravo, the exhibit “Claudio Bravo: Sojourn in Manila” will finally open.
In Ballet Philippines’ 43rd- season opener “Dragon Song,” artistic director Paul Morales could not have chosen a better mix than this repertoire of modern, neoclassical, neo-ethnic and a dash of neoclassical kundiman charm, each showcasing the choreographers’ respective fortes.
In a generation rife with high technology but low on verbal communication, a time inundated by Postmodernism and Abstract Expressionism, Conceptual and performance art, heady definitions of contemporary art and postcolonial discourse, the art of portraiture seems to have gotten buried in a haze of paint splashes, drips, swipes and impasto. Portraiture, because of its [...]
The serviceable old pouf stood by her dresser for years, and when Cookie Guerrero finally felt her stool was due for a makeover, she let loose her creative juices and went the full nine yards.
On the weekend of March 24, Manila theater goers were taken by pleasant surprise with the twin bill performances of Barcelona’s Ballet David Campos’ “Sleeping Beauty” and “Giselle.”
This year’s Manila Fame buzzed with a vibrance that has been missed over the past few years. On the first floor were row upon row of furniture booths featuring all styles, ranging from rococo to tense linear moderne.
“Nervous… afraid… worried” is Agnes Locsin’s reaction to anticipating the second restaging of “Encantada,” since it premiered 20 years ago at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Locsin is particularly vigilant about whom she casts, primarily because the dance language she has chosen to choreograph in is one all her own, developed and evolved through [...]
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