The Making of "The Mountain"

I have been asked by CityDance Ensemble to create a piece for our annual take on Global Warming. This year's theme is Carbon. I proposed in 2007 but the timing was a bit off and the repertoire has been decided but my director was kind enough to have it considered for the following year. I honestly thought the theme "Global Warming" is a challenge, but having the entire year to work on the concept I found that I do have several ideas.

The Mountain

It was just supposed to be a story about a volcano eruption caused a cataclysm, but then I asked myself... "How can I make this ballet more powerful and compelling to people?" instead of creating a story, i chose to tell my own.

When I was a teenager, I volunteered to conduct a dance workshop for children who resides in the landfill called "Smoky Mountain" (it got its infamous nickname from the flammable methane mist coming out from the dump site), the majority of these children could not afford to go to school and dedicated their lives earning money as garbage picketers. My family is part of the lower class community in the Philippines but when I learned about the livelihood of these children I felt fortunate compare to them

June 1991, I woke up early in the morning found my neighborhood covered in thick white ash. I did not understand what it was until my mom told me about Mt. Pinatubo eruption. This strato-volcano is only 55 miles away from where we live. I was only ten but I remember vividly the feeling of ashes in my hands and I couldn't help thinking of the families who lost their loved ones and the entire village.

These two different mountains urged me to create The Mountain.

We don't realize how we trash our environment. Simple life does not exist anymore, it is human nature to just take as much as we can and never mind the consequences. From never ending production of new computers, cellphones, plastics, toys, cutting more trees to produce furnitures and other things, we forget what happens to them when we do not want them anymore. Common alternatives are Incinerators and Landfill. From what I know none of them are safe for the humanity and the environment. Smoky Mountain was shut down in 1995, but the huge amount of methane trapped in the former Smoky Mountain could explode if triggered and will destroy many lives.

These inspired me to create "The Mountain." I hope that my dance will engender awareness and urge people to educate themselves about proper waste disposal and recycling.

October Blast!

October has been a lucky month for me, I was named by Washingtonian Magazine as one of the "Top 20 Show Stopper Artists" of Washington DC. and our season at The Kennedy Center was successful.

Check my newly renovated website for the latest news and my photo gallery (photos courtesy of Paul Gordon Emerson).

Almost 8 Years

I came here in January of 2001 and I haven't been back home since, why? for so many reasons. First, most of the Filipinos I have met would advice me not to go back for it will be hard for me to come back (mostly because they probably had a bad experience), second, going back to Manila will cost so much money!!! and applying for visa takes awhile. Anyways, a week ago I finally reunited with my older brother "Marion" in Lake Las Vegas. Besides teaching ballet and choreographing dance he is also a Choreographer/Coach for the Aerobics Gymnastics team in the Philippines that brought him here. I was psyched to see him and both felt emotional about it. Strip Vegas was fun but I just wish that he could have more time to stay so I could show him around NYC and Washington DC, he would have loved it here.

Season Finale

I have been waiting for this night to be over. Tonight was our last show for the season and the company will resume in September. 4 days ago my body starts to rest automatically, somehow it knows the season is over and it's telling me to rest but I had to fight it until tonight. I kept my energy level high every time because I know once I close my eyes then it will be over, I had a choice to slept for the whole day and I chose not to because I know my body will be relaxed and it will kill the momentum I have been building for the past few weeks for this last show.

We had a show at Strathmore Music Center tonight. The theater was packed and we can hear them from backstage. We're all a bit nervous because of Folksay, I was nervous I had to pass gas loudly before I entered the stage. Lol. Folksay turned out good, we've been listening to the audience's response to Folksay, at first I thought they're not getting it but couple of laughs later I thought they finally got it. The next dance was "Born To Run" by Paul Gordon Emerson, I wasn't supposed to be in the ballet but something happened and one of the dancers could not do it in last minute. Our schedule was so hectic that day and learning the piece was not even in the schedule so I literally had to learn the duet "I ain't got you" in less than 30mins, We run it once the next day then tech it the next day and finally performed it tonight. Most of the people I have spoken tonight loved it and had a laugh, they were actually laughing when we were performing it, and for me that's a fulfillment. The next one was "On a Train Heading South", this one is special Bruno is leaving the company for NYU, he got a full scholarship to do his Masters. We finish the dance with a duet together, this duet is one of my favorite because Bruno and I have this amazing chemistry and we both share the stage, What I mean is most of the time when you see two people dancing one of them will out dance the other instead of dancing for each other. I will miss dancing with him but he has to follow his dreams and I know he'll succeed.

Folksay

It has been a busy two weeks at Citydance Ensemble. We've been reconstructing a 1942 "Sophie Maslow's" masterpiece "Folksay". You would think that an old dance would be easy to perform but I guess I underestimated it. Folksay is not easy at all, it's very athletic and it really challenges the strength of your thigh muscles but nevertheless the dance is fun. The dance has a hint of Graham Technique which made it easier for me to adapt, the only part that challenges me is the solo where I have to tap dance (I've never tap in my entire life) while holding flowers in my right hand. I am supposed to be the guy that just won a lottery and get all the girls.

Next week is the last week of our season. We'll be performing at Strathmore Music Center on Friday June 13th, all the info is in my website under the calendar. To learn more about the process of reconstructing Folksay please visit the company's blog where you can find videos of our rehearsals and interviews from the dancers and our coaches http://powerpassionpurpose.blogspot.com/

Presentation vs. Representation

There are two different kinds of dancers, one is representational the other one is presentational.Which one is me? I'll get to that later. Presentational; these are the dancers you mostly see on tv, the best example is "So you think you can dance". These dancers mostly called themselves "Competition Dancers". Their characteristics are most likely to impress the viewers with their abilities, they are crowd pleasers. Representational; these are the dancers who don't care about what they can do, they merely want to represent something or somebody or themselves, it talks and communicate to people, some are political, etc.

I think I'm kinda both. I prefer to represent or a combination of both but most choreographers will use me to execute exuberant movement on stage just because I can. This happens to me most of the time and sometimes I feel like I didn't do anything meaningful if I just did a somersault. Believe it or not, the loudest applaud I have ever received was when I did a simple charismatic and charming dance, nothing was hard about it, the movement speaks for itself and I didn't have to act. Whenever I get to do a presentational dance it oblige me to show-off and because of that you have the pressure of doing everything perfectly and this leads to frustration, depression, insecurity,jealousy and sometimes quitting for some dancers.

Which one is better? it all depends on the viewer, in my experience most dance critics hate that you show-off or when you are so enamored with your ability, this is because they've seen it all and they probably have seen better ones.

Fun Weekend in NYC

Last weekend I spent my birthday with my close friends. We went to "Dallas BBQ" which I would say was a good choice and then we went to this bar called "The Ritz" I liked the place but it's just jammed and you can barely move around. The next day we met up with friends at this restaurant called "Nooch" in Chelsea, they really serve good food and the servers were very attentive to their costumers. We then went to "Lea" in Hemsley and we stayed drinking until 3 am. I woke up the next day with with a pounding headache, but the party is not over yet, we all met up in Chelsea for brunch. We were supposed to dine at "Cafeteria" but the place was packed so we ended up at "Ate Avenue" this restaurant is very cozy, and the settings makes you feel relaxed but the menu is quite limited the serving portion seemed like the whole country is in starvation. To sum everything up, I had a blast just being surrounded with friends that cares and supports me in what I do, that's the greatest gift a person can ever have