We could have danced all week

Dance, dance and more dance will be celebrated during this year’s International Dance Day and Philippine National Dance Week.

Contemporary Dance Network Manila (CDNM) is staging Contemporary Dance Map Gala 2012 and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA) is hosting a dance competition and workshop-festival.

Philippine National Dance Week, celebrated on the last week of April, began in 1993 as per Presidential Proclamation 154 signed by President Fidel Ramos.

International Dance Day was founded in 1982 by the International Dance Committee of International Theater Institute (ITI) of Unesco and is celebrated every April 29—the date commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre, a French dancer and ballet master regarded as the creator of modern ballet.

Contemporary dance

Contemporary Dance Map Gala 2012, featuring different contemporary dance groups, is directed by Ava Villanueva and Elena Laniog.

Participating groups include UP Dance Co., Airdance, Chameleon Dance Theater, Lyceum of the Philippines Dance Troupe and Myra Beltran’s Dance Forum, among others.

CDNM, chaired by Angel Lawenko-Baguilat, UP Dance Company artistic director, is an organization of contemporary dance companies, artists, school-based organizations, and institutions, whose goal is to promote contemporary dance in the Philippines.

The show is part of CDNM’s Contemporary Dance Map series, where the group “maps alternative spaces for dance in a performance tour of these spaces.” The series started in 2005 and has since continued annually.

The Contemporary Dance Map series has included performances in spaces such as the LRT2 line (2010) and the streets of Araneta Center in Cubao (2011).

“Contemporary Dance Map Gala 2012” runs April 28-29, 8 p.m., Dance Forum Space, 36E West Ave., QC. Student and senior citizen discounts available. Call 0917-8514732.

Contests and workshops

The National Committee on Dance of the NCCA is holding Sayaw Pinoy: The NCCA National Dance Competition as part of its efforts to promote dance in its various forms.

Now on its fourth year, the competition will be held April 23-24 at Music Hall of SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. Folkdance, neoclassical and ballroom will be the categories on the first day. Contemporary and hip-hop will be on the second day.

The dance committee, chaired by Shirley Halili-Cruz (Shirley Halili-Cruz School of Ballet artistic director), notes that the contest aims to highlight competition as a means of motivation for artistic excellence and encourage emotional fitness through teamwork.

The NCCA is also hosting Dance Xchange 2012: Philippine International Dance Festival April 27-30 at Cebu International Convention Center, Cebu City.

The festival’s theme is “Cultural Connectivity through Dance.” Dance Xchange, now on its fourth year, will have activities like dance performances; dance workshops to be conducted by dance directors and dancers from participating countries; master classes; artists forum and cultural tours.

To register for the workshop, contact 5272209, 5272214, 0917-5296946, 0920-9514911; e-mail pmd@ncca.gov.ph; visit www.ncca.gov.ph.