Wanna Buy Fish?

Bili Na Kayo Ng Isda!

Nov 28, '08 3:43 AM for everyone

"FOR ART'S SAKE" - AWPI Artists' Tiangge Hi Guys. Please come to our Artists’ Welfare Project Inc. (AWPI) tiangge at the CCP tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 29 from 7am to 6pm. It’s called “For Art’s Sake” and will have artsy fartsy stuff at bargain prices. I’m selling fish! Here’s an article by Singkit of Philippine Star that explains the AWPI plight: Philippine Star EDITOR'S NOTE By Singkit Updated November 16, 2008

Artists are usually solitary creatures, alone in their universe during the process of creating an artwork. Yet artists are also very communal, sharing resources with open arms, open hearts and open wallets, never asking for promissory notes or charging interest or calling about due dates. This is particularly true when an artist is faced with a dire need, such as a medical emergency; the hat is passed among artist-friends, and inevitably the hat comes back full, even though those to whom the hat is passed rarely have money to spare. They hold fund-raising events – concerts, exhibits, auctions – to help out a fellow artist in need, and everybody comes, everybody pitches in, and in the process a good time is had by all. Unfortunately, such emergency situations happen all too often, and such ad hoc measures are far from ideal.

The Artist’s Welfare Project Inc. came about following one such emergency, when a group of artists realized that something must be done to give artists some kind of security in terms of health care, of having a roof over their heads, and money to live on when they get old and can no longer dance or sing or act or paint. AWPI has lofty goals; as trustee Edna Vida-Froilan says, “I have a dream” – of affordable housing for artists, of health insurance, of pensions, even of legal assistance when needed and financial management advice, which more often than not artists do not have.

While the dreams are lofty, the beginnings are realistic: enrolment in the national health and social security programs, leading to possible health insurance coverage. Not even a year old, AWPI is trying to build up its nest egg in order to be able to extend and sustain benefits for its artist-members. Fund-raising has come not surprisingly in most creative ways: trustees donate proceeds from their shows, one even used the occasion of a testimonial to raise awareness of and funds for AWPI.

On Nov. 29, a Saturday, the artists will come together for a super-tiangge/bazaar/arts happening at the CCP grounds from 7 in the morning to 6 in the evening, with booths selling an array of goods that only artists can assemble, as creative an array of merchandise as the likes of Grace Nono, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Karina David, Nina Tesoro-Poblador, Nanding Josef and others can assemble. It’ll be high-style meets kitsch, designer meets urban poor cooperative, specialty kitchen meets native delicacies. There will be performances too throughout the day.

One thing’s for sure – a good time will be had by all, and it will all be for art’s – and the artists’ – sake.

Did you know that ... Gerald & Katrina Mercado revived the E-Dance Theater?

They are such a cute couple.

I first met Gerald in the 90’s when I was about to hang my feet (not shoes since I was barefoot in modern dance) and say, Goodbye Dance World.

He was just saying hello to it.

Denisa Reyes, then artistic director of Ballet Philippines, was putting up a show that had choreographer Agnes Locsin and myself doing sumo-wrestling. So there I was wrestling with Agnes and this young dancer catches my eye. Gerald. He was watching us with intensity and, true enough, he was to become one of the more intense dancers of BP. I eyed his career with gusto shortly after.

Gerald got the lead role in Agnes’ Elias alright, plus her other neo-ethnic pieces and bagged awards with her at the Japan International Choreography Competition. He also joined Denisa’s Realizing Rama, an all Asian production that toured Europe and Asia.

The shy young man – no less inspired by our sumo wrestling – broke out of his shell and made a mark in the dance world.

It wasn’t surprising that when he hung his shoes many years after, he founded the E-Dance Theater with co-dancers Dwight Rodrigazo, Orland de Leon and Katrina Santos. Paul Morales later joined them as choreographer. It was a fascinating group that did contemporary work with a fresh oomph. They were captivating the elusive young audiences too, the hi-tech youth we had a hard time pinning down. Go guys!

But, as in all pioneering endeavors, things went awry and they separated ways. Okay lang, that happens all the time to artists who are young and full of dynamism. What was sad though was they were already getting attention and funding from established organizations. E-Dance thus went into a coma.

Katrina (Kets) Santos is one beautiful ballerina. I worked with her in a piece I did for the Philippine Ballet Theater. She is musical. Intelligent. Sensitive. No doubt she gave her distinct luster in major ballerina roles. I was pretty shocked when she romped off to Ballet Philippines that was doing ground-breaking contemporary pieces. Daring.

It was in BP where she met Gerald. Uhmmm … a sexy male dancer enchanting an exquisite ballerina … or say it was the other way around. There was a marriage. In church, on stage and in the malls. Romantic. Way to go! They now have a handsome 9 year old Elijah who will hip hop his way to stardom. Sorry BP.

One day I get a call from Kets. Would we mind being interviewed for their coming project? Not at all! … not until Nonoy and I found out we will be shown on screen during the performance. My face on screen annoys me – but okay … for dance education.

It turns out their idea is gallant. The concert titled, Platforms, A Performance Insight on Classical and Modern Dance aimed to present dance and educate audiences. People never really know the roots of ballet and how it evolved. What in the 1400’s opened the door to dance as it is now? And who really are the dancers clad in those shimmering tutus and unitards? Are they even human???

BP’s Noordin Jumalon, Tita Radaic (the grand dame and mentor of ballerinas), Nonoy and I were tasked to describe the journey of dance. What better way to rouse minds to theater than with an understanding of mime, court dances, ballet variations and contemporary movement? It’s pretty clever way to stir up curiosity in what people think is nothing but glitter and glamour. Really, not everything is beautiful at the ballet.

The present crop of E-Dancers, particularly Gilliane Gequinto, Jerrica Marasigan and Veronica Ylagan have a special sparkle, a gullible kind of dancing that’s nice to watch. Gullible meaning a blend of inhibition and composure. Trusting the muses. It was nice to watch these young girls overcome fear with a feisty I’m-just-gonna-do-it transparency. It roused stirrings of the past in me when, as a young dancer, I cared a lot but didn’t care to death. When push comes to shove, just dance. It will always be beautiful anyway. And they were.

In Gerald’s A Woman’s Soliloquiy, Kets mesmerized with her own gullibility, fluffing up vulnerability and assurance in a whisk.

With her it was I’m-just-gonna-do-it-because-I’m-good. A finely chiseled face on top of an articulate body is powerful. She was breath-taking. And Gerald, as choreographer, is inching his way to a new dance lingo, one veering away from his French/ethnic background in BP. He is saying hello to a new horizon and I find myself eyeing his creative career with gusto all over again.

Although the program needs more tightening and research, I hand it to the two for their heroism. The path is still murky and narrow and, fueled by nothing but purpose, they are on a mission that deserves backing in every respect.

Seated beside me during the show at the UP Aldaba Hall, Tita Radaic voiced out motherly concern for Gerald and Kets; funding, salaries, marketing, training hitches and glitches; the long and arduous path the couple has just begun to tread. I laughed it off with, “Never mind, Tita. They’re still young and full of dreams. Tayo, gising na gising na …”

And so another door opens to the future. What in 2008 will boost the evolution of Philippine dance? Young Gerald and Kets are still dreaming it up the way Leonor Goquingco, Rosalia Merino-Santos, Alice Reyes, Julie Borromeo, Tita Radaic, Steve Villaruz, Eddie Elejar did in the past. Tony Fabella, Agnes Locsin and Denisa Reyes are still doing it. Alden Lugnasin, Osias Barroso, Dwight Rodrigazo, Paul Morales and dozens others have joined the dream. And Gerald and Kets. Buti na lang they don’t know what’s coming but honestly? They do know. They’re just brave and this is the reason why art progresses.

Way to go, Gerald and Kets. Keep talking ‘experiment, unconventional dance spaces, dialogue, approaches and explorations’. This is the vocabulary of evolution. Keep dreaming. E-Dance is roused from its coma and when it is gising na gising na (wide awake) you can heave a sigh of relief.

That means you’ve done it, you can rest on your laurels and it would be your turn to worry about the next generation.

God Bless the King! Lucrecia R. Kasilag 1917-2008

Aug 19, '08 4:19 AM

I was just one of the scholars of the CCP Dance Company when Lucrecia R. Kasilag – fondly called ‘Tita King’ by everyone – was CCP president and artistic director. As far as I was concerned, she was second only to Imelda Marcos, then First Lady and the most important figure in the Philippine art scene.

My sister Alice (Reyes) had completed a successful modern dance concert at the CCP after which she approached Tita King to talk about a subsequent summer dance workshop. It was granted. Then, with Jaime Zobel de Ayala, they later talked about a putting up new dance company. Granted again. Today, 40 years later, that company is Ballet Philippines, a company that holds a formidable track record in Philippine art history.

As a nobody in the 70’s, I would cringe and cower at the backstage corridors whenever Tita King passed by to congratulate the dancers after a show. People worshipped her and I preferred to slip in the safe shadows of oblivion. The woman, afterall, was a world renowned and multi-awarded composer, performer, teacher, administrator, pioneer, leader etc., etc. I’d eye her at the CCP lobby during opening nights and was awed by the number of people flocking around her. Oh yes, she was a King alright and I was but her admiring, unknown minion.

A few years later, I did have to approach her. I was getting married, you see, to Nonoy Froilan. As lead dancers of the company it was appropriate that she be one of our wedding sponsors. “Sorry Eds,” Alice told me, “but for this special occasion, you’ll have to ask Tita King yourself.” Oh boy, how difficult was it to get married?

Nonoy and I timidly went up to her office at the third floor of the CCP where I have never been before. She was seated behind a desk full of important-looking, intimidating papers; contracts, documents, treaties, bonds … why should she bother with us? We were just getting married.

“T-t-t-tita K-k-k-k-king,” we began …

“Hi Nonoy! Edna!” she beamed and I was flabbergasted.

“What can I do for you?” she continued smiling as if we were her very important guests.

“Tita King … ahm, err, gulp, ahem … we’re getting married.”

“Oh! Congratulations! When is the special day?”

“August 19 …” we gasped, “and … and … it would be an honor if you could be one of our sponsors.”

“Sure! I’ll be more than happy to be your ninang,” she replied, still beaming. “Let me put that down in my calendar.”

To my astonishment, she pulled out a minuscule appointment book – the ones minor people use – and jotted down the date of our wedding. Tita King! I wanted to shriek, You’re the CCP president and our appointment books are the same! That was how 'cowboy' she was.

My next encounter with her was when I had to choreograph a full length ballet, Adarna, for Ballet Philippines. We asked her to compose the music which she warmly agreed to do.

One of her works, Divertissement, was used by Gener Caringal in his choreography, Ang Sultan. This was the most performed piece in our repertoire, danced all over the world with acclaim. Needless to say, her music contributed to the resounding success of the piece.

I was both thrilled and terrified to collaborate with Tita King for the first time. For Adarna though, I had only a few weeks on my hands and was a toxic wreck. She was very busy at the time and could not submit a music draft early enough. I had to choreograph in silence creating my own rhythmic patterns and imagining melodies. When we later met, I had this fantastic idea of putting the dances on video which she would watch and compose to. It’s the complete opposite of what was routine – music before dance. This was gong to be dance before music and she really got excited about it. How brilliant was that? I never found out because I flaked instead. I decided to put up an existing music colage of my own.

Telling Tita King that I would no longer use her services was like telling the Empress Dowager of China that she couldn’t run an errand for a slave. But she took it so well you wouldn’t believe she was this great artist … yet again, she proved that she was. She completely understood my predicament and gave me her blessing instead of her ire, agreeing instead to serve as music consultant with Rudy Vidad. And, as for my punishment, Adarna flopped. My apologies to all the fine artists involved in it.

Ridiculous as it may seem, when I started to write, I had the nerve to interview her for my column at the Manila Times. Again, she gladly obliged and I ended up writing two articles on her. That was when I caught her up close. Tita King was the most down-to-earth legendary figure on this face of the earth. I learned, just from her disposition, that the greatest of the greats are the most humble, unassuming, self-effacing and extremely funny human beings. Tita King truly laughed at herself and was never the condescending person others (of slighter stature) often tend to be. No wonder people flocked around her.

When she fell ill, Nonoy and I kept promising ourselves that we would visit her. “Let’s do it next week? Next month? Next year?” We never did and this we mournfully regret. When I found out she had passed away, all I kept thinking about were the nights she was surrounded by countless followers. I’m sure she was looked after by loyal friends and relatives but where was everyone else – Nonoy and I included – when she was but a lonely, crippled, almost blind person? Is it only in death that we are to exalt her again?

As if on cue, today, on the day of our wedding anniversary, we got a call from Max Luna, one of the directors of Ballet Philippines. He asked us to please mount the pas de deux of Ang Sultan for Tita King’s necrological services at the CCP Main Theater this coming Thursday, Aug. 21. The dancers have two days to learn it. What better way to give tribute to our ninang, than to mount her work on the day of our wedding? We will rush to CCP tonight to rehearse the dancers.

And so, another magnificent soul has completed an outstanding journey. Thank you for everything, Tita King. You served us well and honored us, the little ones, your humble minions. Without you sitting on that throne many of us wouldn’t have made it. You basked in the glory of your influence and when it was all gone, you humbly endured alone. Where were we when you needed us? Fighting to reach the peak that you reached, perhaps, and now begging your pardon for our apathy. There you sat on your wheelchair anyway, cheering us on. For that you are truly a great person. Hail to the king! our beloved Tita King, who will surely receive her real crown in heaven.

Edna Vida Froilan: Benjie Toledo & Tony Fabella: Of Friends and Loved Ones …

Edna Vida Froilan: Benjie Toledo & Tony Fabella: Of Friends and Loved Ones …

Benjie Toledo & Tony Fabella: Of Friends and Loved Ones …

Dear Friends -- We had a beautiful memorial mass for Benjie Toledo at Santuario de San Antonio, Forbes Park last Aug. 4. It was an intimate gathering of his friends from all walks of life.

Hospicio de San Jose nuns, two classmates from the orphanage, CCP and Bayanihan dancers, models, singers, composers, designers, writers, his family in Manila: Tony Fabella, Eddie Elejar and Luther Perez, and NY’s Orly and Leah Bartolome were all there.

The Manila Dance Choir (Tony and Luther’s Manila sector of street kids) sang hymns during mass along with the Hospicio nuns.

Ding Mercado’s rendition of ‘Minahal Kita’ was so moving it drove some to tears. I was asked to read my Multiply blog article on Benjie. Leah too said a few words.

Friends brought food and there was bonding that followed.
I often glanced at Mara sitting at the side of the chapel looking solemnly radiant.

Benjie was definitely beaming. I’m sure he was so very happy that day.

Now, let me continue with news about Tony Fabella, Benjie’s mentor. Tony Fabs or Ton, as we fondly call him, will have an operation on Sept. 5 at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila. His cardiovascular surgeons, Dr. Catalan and Dr. Kaw briefed him and Luther on the procedure and costs. “You know,” Ton said, “when the doctors were explaining everything to us, nothing entered my mind. I just kept nodding.” So it was Luther who gave me the facts that I’d like to share with you.

Early this year, Tony Fabs was diagnosed with colon cancer, stage 1, for which he had to undergo a series of radiation treatment. Let me add that it’s the bane of dancers – and a majority of artists, especially in the Philippines – never to think of insurance policies.

Like the rest of us, Tony Fabs never bothered with these ‘trivial’ insurance policies. He just keeps sharing his craft with anyone who is interested in dance.

When we are still hale and hearty and doing things the body is never meant to do in the first place; dance 8 hours straight, starve, turn 32 times on one leg, leap like a frog, lift bodies overhead, etc., etc., etc., we all believe we are perpetually invincible.

When the diagnosis came and, because he is our beloved Tony Fabs, people rallied round to his aid. Contributions and dance tributes given in his honor raised enough to help meet high medical costs.

Later, Ton told me that he was troubled by a bizarre medical development. Scans revealed that he not only had cancer but also abdominal aortic aneurysm. The doctors said that after radiation treatment, he will be given time to gather strength for another major operation, one that costs a lot more and has higher risks.

Luther roughly explained to me what ‘abdominal aortic aneurysm’ means. “The aorta, which is the main artery of the heart, extends all the way to the stomach. This is what I understood from the doctors. CT scans showed that two veins in Ton’s abdomen collapsed, are inflamed and now getting larger. It’s being clogged creates pressure. Ton’s veins are swollen and on the danger mode. If they burst, he will have an internal hemorrhage.”

They were given two choices by the doctors. One operation costs P300,000 and another about 1 million. These packages include doctors’ fees but not post operation expenses which may come later due to complications. They chose the first option. “It all depends on how strong Ton is.” As it is, they are still short of P120,000 so “… dinedma na lang namin yung 1 million,” Luther nervously adds, feigning a giggle.

He also revealed that the first option is more risky because it is an open surgery. A tube will be inserted to replace the problematic vein and create another passageway for the blood to flow through. Although it has a 95% success rate, Tony’s heart and blood pressure will be monitored extensively after the operation. “If Ton recovers well, he can go home in a little over the week and be active in two months. So please ask everyone to pray for his speedy recovery!”

The second option, recommended for Ton’s age, is less invasive. They will insert a tube from his thigh and it will trace all his veins to locate the problem. “This one is a ‘blind’ procedure, hindi sure, so it can be repeated,” Luther adds. “But it is costly and because of financial constraints we’re going for the first option.”

The previous benefit shows helped them a lot. Another dear friend is planning another tribute in December, “… the time of Ton’s recuperation when post operation expenses may come. We also need six persons for blood donations. Ton is Type O but people can donate blood regardless of their blood type. It’s only meant to replace the old stock.” To inquire about this, please text Luther at 0917-8317974.

Tony remains brave. “For me, the colon cancer is on it’s way out.”

“Yeah, you’re looking good … so you’re healed!” I offer.

“And this one … I don’t want to know much about. Maybe I don’t want to know too much,” he laughs.

After his initial radiation treatments his voice did sound exhausted. I’m only too happy to hear his legendary giggle again which means he is getting stronger everyday. I ask everyone to storm heaven with prayers for the success of his operation on September 5 and for his immediate recovery.

I wrote an article about Tony Fabs in the June 2008 edition of Town and Country, Philippines. If you can get a copy, please read it. I will put the article in my blog sometime December since I am to wait for six months before posting it.

Filipino artists are among the few people who bring honor to our country. Yet, the government has not done much to support them. The CCP and NCCA are doing their best but there is still too much state bureaucracy preventing our arts administrators from buoying up full-scale support. Many artists retire in oblivion, poverty and with very little dignity. A few are still asked to practice their craft for free or for a price so ridiculous it is demeaning.

In my opinion, Tony is one of those who have reached a status of prominence that he should be in a pedestal honored not just by younger artists but by the whole country. Artists of his caliber abroad are held in such esteem and reverence. But here, it bounces back to the ‘family’ of artists who end up helping one another. In this context, a group of us has come with with the Artists Welfare Project, Inc. which I will write about soon.

Going back to my beloved mentor, for those who would like to help, please email him at tonyfabz@yahoo.com. He has so much to teach, to give, to create. Let’s keep one of the country’s most fabulous artists on his feet, our much-loved Tony Fabella.

(The photos of Benjie in this blog came from friends who emailed them to me - thanks! The old photos of Tony Fabs were taken by the late Rudy Vidad. They are some of Tony's works for the CCP Dance Company/Ballet Philippines: Prince of the Pagodas, Batuque, Six for Kasilag, Semana Santa. Tony's dancing photos are from his lead roles in Rosalia Merin-Santos' Halina't Maglaro and Alice Reyes' A Midsummer Night's Dream.)