Friday, February 10, 2012

PUSONG WAGAS


Ballet Philippines' Pusong Wagas

Ballet Philippines ends its 42nd Season with undying love in the all-new contemporary ballet, “Pusong Wagas” on February 17 to 18 at the CCP Little Theater.

BP resident choreographer Alden Lugnasin creates his original contemporary ballet based on the legend of the city of Mandaluyong, with libretto by Nicolas B. Pichay and original music by independent music icon Cynthia Alexander.

Set in pre-colonial Manila, the story highlights the exemplary love of Luyong, a gifted carpenter, and Manda, a tribal princess, and their sacrifice in the face of the coming foreign invaders. This work is co-produced by the City of Mandaluyong and Hon. Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr.

Contact Details:
For tickets call Ticketworld at (63 2) 891-9999; Ballet Philippines at 551-1003, 551-7919, 624-5701; CCP Box Office at 832-3704

Thursday, February 2, 2012

LAB KO ‘TO


Aliw Theater
Star City
Vicente Sotto cor. Magdalena Jalandoni Sts., CCP Complex
Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines

Ballet Manila wraps up its 16th season with the ballet gala Lab Ko 'To, a collection of world-premiere pieces by choreographers Max Luna III, Augustus Damian and Manuel Molina, combined with a classical favorite, Satanilla Pas De Deux (from The Venetian Carnival), and a touch of the exotic in Morions, an international award-winning piece by BM choreographer Gerardo Francisco.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

CAPTURING GRACE AND FORM AT SAYAW PINOY 2012


Capturing Grace and Form at Sayaw Pinoy 2012
11.18.2011

Once again, Filipino dancers will showcase their form and grace in national and regional dance floors through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) longest running national dance tour, the Sayaw Pinoy.

One of the seven flagship projects of this year’s Philippine Arts Festival (PAF), Sayaw Pinoy, spearheaded by the National Committee on Dance headed by Shirley Halili-Cruz, will showcase the colorful tradition of dances and movements in the country. It aims to reach the grassroots level to discover new talents as well as to connect to more Filipino dance artists.

“Sayaw Pinoy has provided a venue for interaction and collaboration among the different dance troupes and companies, both professional and upcoming groups, all over the country,” Halili-Cruz said.

The dance tour brings together different dance forms such as classical ballet, folk dance, contemporary and modern dance as the country’s top dance companies perform with the local dance troupes of host cities and municipalities.

For this year’s celebration, performances will be held in various venues in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and NCR.

PAF is held every February in celebration of the National Arts Month in pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 683 signed in 1991. The month-long festival is spearheaded by the NCCA, led by its chairman Felipe de Leon Jr. and OIC-executive director Adelina Suemith, with Marichu Tellano as head of the Planning, Policy Formulation, and Programming Division.

For this year’s celebration, the NCCA has taken the theme “Tradisyon at Inobasyon” (Tradition and Innovation) which aims to further advance local creativity in the arts. Eminent local and foreign artists will take part in this biggest and grandest month-long cultural gathering.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY


Bring the whole family to Ballet Philippines’ The Sleeping Beauty

From December 2 to 11, 2011, Ballet Philippines will perform one of the most beloved classical ballets, The Sleeping Beauty, at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). Perfect for the whole family, it will have 17 performances, including 13 matinees at 10am and 3pm, where children as young as 3 years old can watch. Tickets range from Php200 to Php600 on matinees, and student and senior citizen discounts apply.

Audiences of all ages will delight in the familiar music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, which was used in the 1959 Disney cartoon. Songs such as “Once Upon A Dream,” and “Hail to the Princess Aurora,” and soundtrack themes such as the battle scene and the bright and perky melody introducing the fairies are straight from Tchaikovsky’s score.

The Sleeping Beauty first premiered in 1890 at the Maryiinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. Based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, the ballet’s music was composed by the great Tchaikovsky, and was choreographed by Marius Petipa, the duo behind Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

The ballet begins with the royal christening of the infant Princess Aurora, with her fairy godmothers bestowing gifts upon her. The festivities come to a sudden halt when the dark fairy Carabosse arrives, furious because she was not invited. She curses the princess and dooms her to prick her finger and die. The good fairies protect her only enough to soften the curse, and instead promise 100 years of sleep, which will only be broken by the kiss of true love.

The kingdom spends the next years protecting the Princess Aurora from her fate, but the evil Carabosse is determined to cast her spell. The good fairies, led by the Lilac Fairy, shine their light on the whole kingdom, and ensure that the princess and the whole kingdom get their happy ever after.

With opulent sets and costumes, and beautiful music, the ballet is sure to enchant audiences of all ages. Here, royalty and fairies walk the halls of the grand palace, and royal guests are well-loved fairy tale characters such as Puss n’ Boots and Little Red Riding Hood. There is also a lot of spectacular dancing such as the Bluebird pas de deux, whose music is more familiar as Princess Aurora’s song in the woods in the Disney cartoon.

The Sleeping Beauty was last performed by Ballet Philippines in October 1988, with then CCP Artist-in-Residence Lisa Macuja and BP principal dancers Cecile Sicangco and Nonoy Froilan in the lead. Latvian ballet dancer Aivars Leimanis was international guest artist.

The 2011 staging will have BP ballet master Victor Ursabia as restager, and principal dancers Carissa Adea, Candice Adea and Katherine Trofeo as Princess Aurora, and Jean Marc Cordero in the role of Prince Desire. He will alternate with international guest artist Nobuo Fujino, former principal dancer of Hong Kong Ballet, who will perform for two nights only.

The Sleeping Beauty will begin with a fundraiser Gala Night on December 2, featuring international guest artist Nobuo Fujino partnering our very own international award-winner Candice Adea, with the Manila Symphony Orchestra playing live.

The Sleeping Beauty will have 17 performances from December 2-11, 2011. For more details visit www.balletphilippines.org. Buy tickets online and get exclusive promos and free tickets to BP’s next production, Wagas. For tickets call Ticketworld at (632)891-9999; Ballet Philippines at (632)551-1003, (632)624-5701; CCP Box Office at (632)832-3704.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

BALLET PHILIPPINES’ THE SLEEPING BEAUTY


Ballet Philippines’ The Sleeping Beauty Features International Guest Artist Nobuo Fujino

On December 2-11, 2011, Ballet Philippines will present the well-loved classical ballet, The Sleeping Beauty at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). The performances will kick off with a fundraiser Gala Night on December 2 featuring international guest artist Nobuo Fujino partnering our very own ballerina, USA International Ballet Competition silver medalist Candice Adea. The Manila Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Jeffrey Solares will perform the music of Tchaikovsky live.

Born in Japan, Mr. Fujino studied at the Egawa Ballet School in Kobe, Japan. He won a scholarship to the Australian Ballet School by winning the Idemitsu Scholarship Award at the 1995 Asian Pacific Ballet Competition. In 1997, he joined the Hong Kong Ballet and became principal dancer in 2002, and joined the Australian Ballet in 2005 before returning to Hong Kong in 2008.

As former principal dancer of the Hong Kong Ballet and senior artist of The Australian Ballet, Mr. Fujino has portrayed roles such as the Prince in Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, Albrecht in Giselle, Solor in La Bayadere, the title role in Spartacus and Basilio in Don Quixote. He has also performed principal roles in George Balanchine ballets such as Concerto Barocco, Rubies, and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Frederick Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardee, William Forsythe’s Step Text, and Jiri Kylian’s Forgotten Land, among others. He has received awards such as the Rising Artist Award by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Hong Kong Dance Award by Hong Kong Dance Alliance and was nominated for the Prix Benois de la Danse from the Bolshoi Theatre.

The role of the Prince from The Sleeping Beauty is one that is quite special to Mr. Fujino, as it was the role he was performing when he was announced to become principal dancer for Hong Kong Ballet. He has performed the role just once more after that.

He says, “This character, ‘the prince’ is well known as ‘prince charming,’ who was chosen to give a kiss to awake the sleeping princess. So the most difficult thing for me to interpret the character is a prince that has no background. He is a simple ‘prince charming’ and I always try to imagine what a ‘perfect man (prince)’ would be.”

Originally choreographed by Marius Petipa with music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the duo also known for Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty is based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale La belle au bois dormant about a Princess who was cursed to die by a resentful dark fairy. However, good prevails over evil, and instead, the Princess falls into a long sleep, to be awakened only by the kiss of true love.

The Sleeping Beauty will have 17 performances from December 2-11, 2011. For more details visit www.balletphilippines.org. Buy tickets online and get exclusive promos and free tickets to BP’s next production, Wagas. For tickets call Ticketworld at (632)891-9999; Ballet Philippines at (632)551-1003, (632)624-5701; CCP Box Office at (632)832-3704.

Monday, October 10, 2011

STOMP


A high-energy, percussive symphony, coupled with dance, played entirely on unconventional instruments, such as garbage can lids, buckets, brooms and sticks. It is a movement, of bodies, objects, sounds - even abstract ideas, made completely original through the use of everyday objects in totally non-traditional ways.

Venue: Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater)

Time: 8pm
Date: 18-23 October 2011

Time: 3pm
Date: 22-23 October 2011
Tickets: Php7,000 | Php5,500 | Php3,800 | Php2,000 | Php1,000 (Opening Night)
Php5,000 | Php4,000 | Php2,500 | Php1,500 | Php750 (Evening Shows)
Php5,500 | Php4,500 | Php3,000 | Php1,500 | Php1,000 (Matinee Shows)

For tickets and inquiries, please contact: CCP Box Office (02)832-3704, (02)832-1125 loc. 1409 & 1406; Ticketworld (02)891-9999

History

STOMP, a unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, was created in Brighton, UK, in the summer of 1991. It was the result of a ten-year collaboration between its creators, Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas.

They first worked together in 1981, as members of the street band Pookiesnackenburger and the theatre group Cliff Hanger. Together, these groups presented a series of street comedy musicals at the Edinburgh Festival throughout the early 80s. After two albums, a UK TV series and extensive touring throughout Europe, Pookiesnackenburger also produced the highly acclaimed ‘Bins’ commercial for Heineken lager.

The piece was originally written and choreographed by Luke as part of the band’s stage show; it proved to be the starting point for Stomp’s climactic dustbin dance.

In 1986, Luke and Steve created an eight-minute ‘percussive movie’ for Bette Midler’s HBO special Mondo Beyondo. Between 1987 and 1990, Luke staged, as Artistic and Musical Director, four large-scale outdoor events, including Beat the Clyde, which involved floating a drum orchestra on a pontoon in the centre of Glasgow; the largest of these events, the Heineken Hove Lagoon Show, involved a 120-piece drum orchestra featuring the Brighton Festival Chorus and a full orchestral string section.

In 1991, Steve and Luke first created Stomp, previewing at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre and premiering at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh, where it became The Guardian’s Critics’ Choice and won The Daily Express Best of the Fringe Award.

Between 1991 and 1994, the original cast of Stomp played to capacity audiences around the world: from Hong Kong to Barcelona, from Dublin to Sydney. The touring culminated in a sell-out season at London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre in January 94, where Stomp received an Olivier nomination for Best Entertainment and won Best Choreography in a West End Show.

An expanded version of Stomp, involving up to 30 cast members, was originally created for the Brighton Festival, UK, and was subsequently presented in Melbourne, Australia. It was most recently seen in September 95, open-air, at the Acropolis in Athens and at the Royal Festival Hall, London. This production broke all box office records, which had been established by Frank Sinatra in 1972.

Stomp began its run at the Orpheum Theatre in New York in February 1994 and quickly went on to win both an Obie and a Drama Desk Award for Most Unique Theatre Experience. By the summer of 1994, the first American cast was in place at the Orpheum, freeing the original cast for sell-out tours of North America and Japan.

In the summer of 1995, two more American productions were created for the sole purpose of US touring, which continues to this day. US casts have also debuted Stomp in Chile, Brazil and Korea. Meanwhile, a fifth Stomp company, also touring from the UK, was formed in 1997 and has consistently toured the world ever since. This company presented Stomp for the first time in Scandinavia and South Africa, and has been a regular visitor to Germany, Holland

About the performers and their instruments, see www.stomponline.com

Saturday, August 20, 2011

HINILAWOD





Hiyas Kayumanggi
HINILAWOD

Hinilawod is an epic poem written by the early inhabitants of a place called Sulod in central Panay. The word means tales from the mouth of the Halawod River. Hinilawod is not just a literary piece but also a source if information about culture, religion and rituals of the ancient people of Sulod; showing us that ancient Filipinos believed in the “sacred,” in the importance of family honor and in courage and dignity.

Date & Time: 3-4 September; 3pm & 8pm
Venue: Tanghalang NIcanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater)
Tickets:
Matinee shows: Php1,500 (Orchestra Center) Php 1,000 (Orchestra Left and Right) Php500 (Balcony 1) Php300 (Balcony 2)
Evening shows: Php2,000 (Orchestra Center) Php 1,500 (Orchestra Left and Right) Php800 (Balcony 1) Php500 (Balcony 2)

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