Popular culture says Mardi Gras and New Orleans are synonymous. However, New Orleans is also synonymous with jazz music, a music genre that, in my opinion, was created by the “citizens” of New Orleans in the late 19th to the first few decades of the 20th century by experimenting with rhythms and harmonies from blues,…
Category: Cultural Performance
New York City Theatre District: A World Heritage Site?
“Aren’t you glad – you are walking on the streets of your dream city?” commented my good friend and former officemate at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, who was visiting New York City for a few days en route to Winnipeg, his new home since more than a decade now. My friend and…
Celebrating the All Saint’s Day in Kutná Hora
Today is the last day of our Germany-Czech tour before returning to Frankfurt for our flight to Manila. It’s the 31st of October. Commonly, on this day, the Philippines is really busy – cleaning the nitso, the puntod, and the mausoleum of dead loved ones. The next day is All Saints’ Day, and on 2…
Dramaturgical Notes: Pumpon ng mga Gunita/Bouquet of Reminiscences
Pumpon ng mga Gunita: A Reminiscence Theatre and a Documentary Theatre Staged at various locations in Wilhelmsfeld on 27 October 2024, Pumpon ng mga Gunita / Bouquet of Reminiscences is a performance of memory, retracing Jose Rizal’s reminiscences of, in, and with Germany. We think of the Pumpon ng mga Gunita as an experiential-learning performance about Jose Rizal’s…
Dulaang UP’s Kung Paano Nano sa Karera si Rosang Taba: Dramaturgical Notes
ʙᴀᴛᴀʏ ꜱᴀ ᴍᴀɪᴋʟɪɴɢ ᴋᴡᴇɴᴛᴏɴɢ “𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘢𝘣𝘢 𝘞𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘙𝘢𝘤𝘦”ni Dean Francis Alfar ᴀᴅᴀᴘᴛᴀꜱʏᴏɴ ɴɪɴᴀ Rody Vera at Maynard Manansala ᴅɪʀᴇᴋꜱʏᴏɴ ɴɪɴᴀ José Estrella, Issa Manalo Lopez, at Mark Daniel Dalacat ɪᴛɪɴᴀᴛᴀᴍᴘᴏᴋ ꜱɪɴᴀ Kiki Baento, Peewee O’Hara, Meann Espinosa, Victor Sy, Jojo Cayabyab, Aldo Vencilao, Garnet Acala, Dyas Adarlo, Danzar Dellomas, Moi Gealogo, Lia Lilagan,…
Tallinn: From Russian Nobility to Baltic Cultural Identity to a Fairy Tale Wonderland (Part 1 of 2)
In 2022, while preparing my Reykjavik trip for the International Federation for Theatre Research Annual Conference, one lay-over consideration was Helsinki in Finland. The reason: to cross the Baltic Sea and visit Tallinn in Estonia. Why would I want to visit Estonia’s capital city? Because, why not? The historical centre (Old Town) of Tallinn is…
My first Ati-Atihan Festival (January 2020)
Hala Bira literally means ‘dispense all means.’ Many times, it also means ‘blessings to us all’. It is an Aklanon phrase that is usually chanted during the Ati-atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan. Today’s the phrase is chanted almost all over the archipelago during festivals, parties, and other social gatherings. The last time I heard the phrase chanted live was in…
Bulating
Barangay Malbog prides itself as the home of the Bulating, or the tradition of parading the streets of the main town of Boac, Marinduque with participants covered in mud as a form of panata. Anyone from the barangay can join the Bulating. There is no age limit, as long as they are able to walk. As such, children…
Derivatives, Entanglement and the Dramaturg: Contemporary Theatre in Manila (Last Part: Dramaturg)
This essay originally came out in Philippine Panorama: Sunday Magazine of the Manila Bulletin Volume 44 (12): 8 – 11, 2016. [Cover Photo: a scene from Bilanggo ng Pag-ibig, adaptation by Rody Vera, directed by Jose Estrella; Photo courtesy of Dulaang UP]. Theater in the Philippines is often conceived to be a theater of the director….
Derivatives, Entanglement and the Dramaturg: Contemporary Theatre in Manila (Part Two: Entanglement)
This essay originally came out in Philippine Panorama: Sunday Magazine of the Manila Bulletin Volume 44 (12): 8 – 11, 2016. [Cover Photo: a scene from the children’s play Umaaraw, Umuulan, Kinakasal ang Tikbalang, a children’s story by Gilda Cordero-Fernando, adaptation by Rody Vera, directed by Jose Estrella; Photo courtesy of Dulaang UP]. Considering these issues…
Tanghal Kultura 