IN THE TIME of the COVID-19 pandemic it has become the “new normal” for all the theaters and stages across the country to suddenly be dark. Concerts and festivals from ballet, symphonies to contemporary music are cancelled. Museums are closed. Yes, indeed, the pandemic has a profound effect on the arts. In fact, next to the tourism industry the arts are the hardest hit.
But not in “I Am Iloilo City”. Nila Claravall, founder and artistic director of the Claravall-Gonzalez School of Classical Ballet, faces the obstacles brought about by the pandemic and the quarantine restrictions head on to celebrate the National Arts Month with the staging of Sayaw, Musika, at Tula.
So on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021, the stage at the Outdoor Atrium of the Festival Mall was not dark. In fact it was brightly lit and it was showtime that Sunday evening as we slowly get our lives back. And one way we can do this is through art, as art allows us to examine what it means to be human, to voice and express, and to bring people and ideas together.
And the best expression of art in expressing our humanity is through dance and music. Despite the de rigueur facemask, social distancing and limited seats for the audience, those who were fortunate enough to be there that night were treated to a magnificent show celebrating our humanity and the National Arts Month.
For a period in time the audience seemingly forgot that we’re still in the midst of a pandemic and just enjoyed the show.
And what a show Sayaw, Musika, at Tula was. The repertoire included ballet and neo-classic pieces as well as a showcase of art in its many forms, through music and poetry, from the many guest artists.
The celebration of the National Arts Month is an annual tradition of the Claravall-Gonzalez School of Classical Ballet and certainly no small thing like a pandemic will stand in its way. All it takes is a creative mind and viola, you have a celebration of the arts all perfectly within the parameters set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19 or IATF.
What is really worth mentioning is the special feature, Humabon at Juana, a performance by the faculty and alumni of the Claravall-Gonzalez School of Classical Ballet depicting the celebration of the first Catholic baptism in the Philippines.
Humabon at Juana’s choreography is by Marveen Lozano, with Isabel Gonzalez as Juana, Bernie Mailla as Humabon, together with Chino So as the principal dancers.
That special feature also caught my eye and I was especially impressed by its originality. I really liked the full-size paraw on stage, or was that just a scaled-to-size stage prop? Nevertheless it was a good touch. It certainly added to the ambiance of pre-Spanish-colonized island of Cebu.
The costumes were also worth mentioning. I’d like to describe them as a fusion of Filipino ethnic and glam rock with just a tinge of steam-punk, which brings to mind the flamboyance and artistic expressions – while performing live – of David Bowie and Grace Nono, particularly on Humabon (Bernie Mailla) and Juana (Isabel Gonzalez). Now if only the music they were performing was the music of Grace Nono and Bob Aves then it would be the perfect Filipino ethnic jazz fusion.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if the ballerinas of the Claravall-Gonzalez School of Classical Ballet would perform their repertoire to the music of Pat Metheny, perhaps Pink Floyd? But that would be asking too much. Anyway the Neo Classic number to the music of New Age artist “Enya” has some similarities to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”, albeit subtle.
Anyway that’s just Moi with some wishful thinking; the show was an oasis in the bleak landscape of the pandemic and a joyful testament why we need the arts in this time of crisis.
I leave you with these lines from a poem by one of the guest artists, John Anthony Estolloso:
Sing of glory and doom, of wrath and rage
Dance the jazz-beat of the tattered page
Carve humanity out of the marble savage
Write the poetry of the worker’s wage
But yes – it is always onstage
Call it a rostrum, a pedestal, a gallery wall,
A stand, an arena, a studio, a concert hall:
It’s always a stage …
Indeed the world’s a stage but not everyone is fortunate or talented enough to perform. Yet everyone wants to sit in the critic’s chair./PN
