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…

Carlos Celdran, Padre Damaso and the Catholic Church

This selection was originally published in my book Buhol-Buhol/Entanglement: Contemporary Theatre in Metropolitan Manila (Bern et al: Peter Lang, 2017). The essay is a tribute to the performance artist Carlos Celdran, who passed away on 9 October 2019 and whose provocative and bold performance of Damaso becomes 10 years old this year. Note: cover photo…

A Simplified History of Traditional Theatres in the Philippines (Part 3)

At the height of the localization of the komedya, Dario Cepedes came to Manila in 1878 bringing with him the zarzuela, a Hispanic musical performance following domestic or ordinary people’s stories.  The origin of this performance form is vague. However, the recognized origin is Isagani Cruz’s narration that the zarzuela started in Spain as sainete or an intermission performance in a comedia. Like the komedya the…

A Simplified History of Traditional Theatre in the Philippines (Part 2)

Most of the dramatic troupes in the islands came from Spain through the Galleons. Since the colonial era, actors or performers are what we call human resources. Human resources were (and still are) expensive. Back then, performers of comedia were the celebrities of the time. They were the KathNiels or the JaDines or LizKen of the colonial…

A Simplified History of Traditional Theatres in the Philippines (Part 1)

The Hispanic annotators wrote in their reports to the Hispanic monarchy that if not for their introduction of the theatre, the natives (the precolonial settlers in the islands in the Visayas) would not have one. In a way, this is true because the theatre (read here as formal theatre), meaning the staged, the costumed, and…

Articulating the Cosmopolitan in the Theatre

This post is a continuation of my 12 August post on my seduction to cosmopolitanism, which may be viewed here. My attraction to cosmopolitanism vis-à-vis the theatre experience is based on a vision of community that may be perceived in the relationship among audience members and the relationship between the audience and the performance. The…