Communicating & Connecting

Without Words

ON STAGE is a bunch of young boys and girls – from pre-teens and ‘tweens to young adults – clad in an assortment of colorful costumes and doing a variety of movements with grace and emotion and in tune with a selection of music and sounds.

EMOTICLOWNS (above), Matrix in Motion  (below),

 Egyptian Rowing  (lowermost), and Ho! Ho! Hip Hop! (bottom):
 Choreographed by Kimberly Clarete & Finina Lava; Sherwin Casepe;

Finina Lava, and Dino Manga & Rodge Villanueva, respectively.

    

     Part of the audience is a group of physically challenged boys – smiling and enjoying themselves, not fully understanding but definitely in a state of rapture over what is happening before them.

THE BOYS of Cottolengo Filipino give their best smiles to me,

the photographer, after enjoying the show.

That’s batchmate Evie Laurito (far right) also flashing her bright smile.

     This is a beautiful and touching scene which happened in December last year. The event was Halu-Halong Indak, a dance concert staged by the USTHS Batch 71 Alumni Association and performed by the House of Dance for the benefit the children of Cottolengo Filipino. It was held at the Irwin Theater of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City.

THE TRIO behind the fund-raising activity: USTHS Batch 71

Alumni Association president Sonny Marquez; Cottolengo

Filipino Director Fr. Julio Cuesta Ortega; and House

of Dance owner/managing director Mirella Gotangco-Clarete.

      Fr. Julio Cuesta Ortega, Cottolengo Filipino’s director, enthused “Fabulous! Fabulous!” after the show. While the kids cannot speak for themselves, their smiles showed they share Fr. Julio’s enthusiasm. It was definitely a unique experience for them.

      The dance concert paved the way for a beautiful connection between the performers and these special spectators. All the dance performances – from the pulsating opening number, Matrix in Motion, to the playful Emoticlowns and Calendar Girls and Harajuku Girls to the dramatic Love Stories and the soulful I’m Forrest to the sexy Bellydance Buffet and the electrifying Bollywood Blues – transported the audience into a  world where words are not needed to express love, happiness, acceptance, triumph, having fun, being one.

      

THE ENTIRE cast take a bow …

      In his thanksgiving speech, Fr. Julio informed the audience about the children who were with him that night. “We found them abandoned in the streets and they cannot speak,” he says. “We are happy to do the best we can for them and that we have many friends to help us, who encourage us to continue day by day.”

      Batchmate Mirella Gotangco-Clarete, owner and managing director of the House of Dance (http://www.houseofdance.ph), would tell us later on how excited the young dancers were in perf worming before the kids of Cottolengo Filipino and how proud they were in being part of this fund-raising project. In fact, one little girl has already asked her when will the next dance concert be.

      Halu-Halong Indak has indeed worked both ways. Performer and spectator succeeded in making a connection. The dance concert was not just another form of entertainment and a venue through which parents can showcase their children’s talents. More than this and more than words can express, the concert was something short of a prayer that all differences – physical, emotional and mental – be bridged as we are all children of God. That in His Loving Eyes, one size actually fits all. That those we consider different are not – never – second rate.
    

     [Before I got any further, I would like to point out that the photos (screen grabs actually) of the dance performances do not do justice to the real color and vibrance of the entire dance concert. My apologies.]

Pre-Concert Footnotes   

      Some of the young ones in the audience – including my nephews and nieces – were introduced to these children and how they should be treated not differently but with compassion. My niece Jam told me that she has a classmate who is physically challenged but they are taught not to make fun of him.

     This is good news that some parents choose to expose their special kids to the real world. Once upon a time, special children were treated not as they are called. How can they be special if they are hidden, given away, or worse, abandoned.

     In one of our meetings with Fr. Julio, he told us that the kids have likewise gotten the attention of Gerald Anderson, who plays the starring role in ABS-CBN’s first advocacy-serye Budoy, about a mentally challenged young man. It has been said in showbiz talk shows that the role enabled Gerald to maximize his talents and become not just the other half of a love team but a much-improved actor.

      Along the way, the role – while in immersion -- introduced him to a group of children who awakened in him compassion and the willingness to share.

      In an interview in Push.com.ph, ABS-CBN’s entertainment news site, he said, “dahil sa Budoy, nakakasama ko po ang mga

tunay na Budoys, yung mga tunay na inspirasyon ko,” and he was referring to the kids of Cottolengo Filipino.

      He translated this inspiration into real action by initially spearheading a basketball game between his team Star Magic and ASAP Rocks  -- whose members come from the performers of this ABS-CBN Sunday noontime show – to raise funds for these kids with special needs. This is not just a one-shot thing as more activities towards this direction will be done in the future, long before the advocacy-serye has been concluded. 

     

THERE’S actor Gerald Anderson (above ) with Fr. Julio and

the Cottolengo Filipino kids before the  basketball game

began. The kids also pose with the other stars of the game

(below), among them, Derek Ramsay, Martin Nievera

and Vhong Navarro. (Photo Credits: PEP.com.ph)

    Another actor in the said advocacy-serye, Enrique Gil, said that people like Budoy are called special children not because of their mental handicap. “Special sila dahil sa puso nila ‘di nila kaya’ng gumawa ng kasalanan, their hearts are pure,” he said.

The House That Loves

    Talking about where the performers come from, the House of Dance is a house that loves.  It is not new in the field of advocacy and, since its birth a couple of years ago, has been active in outreach programs and has consistently supported various charities. This include, aside from Cottolengo Filipino, the Kaibigan ng Mga Kabataang May Kanser (KKK) in Iloilo City; the special children under the care of the Sacred Heart Center in Fairview, Quezon City; and the Smile Train and the School for the Deaf  in Iligan City.

      It is worth mentioning here that the House of Dance  embodies  Mirella’s great passion. Since her teenage years, she was already having a passionate love affair with dancing. And that has not waned one bit until now.

                           FLOWERS for the Lady of Dance … USTHS Batch 71

Alumni Association president Sonny Marquez hands

over to Mirella Gotangco-Clarete a bouquet of

flowers – the least the association members

could do for a job well done –  after a successful

Halu-Halong Indak  at the Irwin Theater

of the Ateneo last December.

    

       The dance studio likewise is a great connection tool as teacher and dancer collaborate to develop dance skills as well as to bring out the best in every dancer’s uniqueness.  Mirella thinks that “all movement comes from the heart of one’s life experiences … these experiences enrich not just the dancer but also the dance itself.”   

      The House of Dance is a member of the Conseil International De La Danse (CID; www.cid-unesco.org), UNESCO’s official umbrella organization for all forms of dance in all countries of the world. It is also a member of the Singapore Arts Fest Club and, locally, the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines (ABAP) and the Philippine Association for the Advancement of Dance Studies (PAADS).

      The House of Dance uses the Australian Concervatoire of Ballet (ACB) syllabus. Now this is just a tip – check out their website for their summer programs and learn something new or unleash talent possibilities.

Dance Learnings

      Going back to Halu-Halong Indak, I especially enjoyed watching the Bollywood Blues, choreographed by Sherwin M. Casepe. I wished I was one of the dancers and wearing those orange and violet costumes.



JAI HO! … The dance – choreographed by Sherwin

and performed by the House of Dance

Company – was simply energetic and electrifying.

       It also reminded me of the movie Slumdog Millionaire which had Jai Ho – the music used in the dance number – as the movie’s theme song. Jai Ho actually means may victory be yours!  and, for me, it was a performance that delineated hope.

     And there was I’m Forrest, also choreographed by Sherwin.

     Moving is the word that immediately comes to mind to describe its choreography. It aptly captured the inspiring naivete of Forrest Gump in the movie of the same title and played by Tom Hanks.





I’M FORREST, a moving interpretation about an inspiring

man, Forrest Gump, who said that life is a box of chocolates.

The dancers’ rendition of Sherwin’s choreography is indeed sweet.

      As the couple dancers moved in romantic harmony, I remember that part in the movie when Forrest proposed to her love interest, telling her in his clipped but spontaneous tone, “I’m not a smart man but I know what love is.”

      And that brings me to the Love Stories and who doesn’t love a love story.  There were four pairs of dancers communicating in dreamy moves and graceful glides about “… how great a love can be … that sweet love story that is older than the sea.”

LOVE STORIES  as interpreted by the House of Dance

Company. Again, choreography was done by Sherwin.

      I liked the colors of the girls’ costumes, seemingly epitomizing the many interesting shades of love – true faith in blue, genuine happiness in tangerine and yellow, and steadfastness in violet.

     Indeed, a dance – just like a picture – is worth a thousand words. It can convey a lot of things in one move, a couple of emotions in one sway. It is always worth watching because it soothes, it relaxes, it tells beautiful stories.

      It is one unique activity – both doing it and watching it – where words are not needed and yet it can communicate, it connects, it can interact. Maybe because as somebody once said, “Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself.”

      And just like that little girl from the House of Dance, I likewise want to know when is the next dance concert?

A Slice of Life in a Piece of Cake

GEORGE HARRISON once said, “all the world is a birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.”

        Well, I took too much during my birthday last year. Maybe because it was not just a birthday cake but a bunch of cupcakes with moist marshmallow icing and with yet another hard but sweet coating with greetings from family and friends inscribed on them.

        Not the usual Happy Birthday Lulu but personalized messages that really touched my heart I had to hold back tears because everyone around me was getting excited and having fun as the boxes of cupcakes were paraded before me with the first box  lighted with two reed thin candles.

                                                             THAT’S ME with my birthday cupcakes about

                                                                     to blow the candles … and about to cry.

        The day after that memorable event, I wrote in my journal:

I really had a happy birthday. At the

rate my family and friends were greeting me

as soon as the third of September

officially started a second after

the stroke of midnight,

there's no way I'm not going to be

happy on the day I was born.

My daughters, of course, were the first

to greet me. Ghiselle cannot be

outdone as she was just there with me

and at 12 midnight

verbalized her greeting. Even

Pee Ann adjusted her Canadian clock to

Manila and she texted me her

message a few minutes after midnight.

I knew that my daughters

arranged – and I really looked forward

to them – for a spa treat at

Blue Water Day Spa (near ABS-CBN) for

me and my sisters Pat and Maleck,

and bachelor brother Abe,

and a dinner at Dapo, a garden-like

bar and restaurant a few blocks away.

But the cupcake thing was

definitely a surprise!

          I was going to expound on that and write about those touching personalized messages in cake icing but I never got to finish that journal entry. I am not sure if I got more busy or maybe more lazy that journaling has been eased out of my not-so-busy but too-many-things-to-do life.

                                                              THE CUPCAKES (above and below), courtesy of 

                                                                 the cupcake architect, with those

                                                                   touching messages from my daughters, 

                                                            my  siblings,  my cousin Luis, and my friend Milen.  

                          

          Actually, that unfinished birthday journal entry signaled the end of volumes of handwritten notebooks, planners and other paper materials from where I have poured my thoughts and feelings and chronicled my life.  I seem to have finally – and quite belatedly but gratefully – embraced the digital world and typing keys on my gadgets for my thoughts and whatever else that needs recording is a breeze. Plus there's this blog ...

          But back to the birthday cupcakes I got on that day; and, more importantly, to the many beautiful and delectable cakes Pee Ann now bakes together with boyfriend Alex.

          While talking about that latest birthday, Pee Ann said that if she was here, she would have been the one to make those cupcakes for me.

          I don't know exactly where she got the talent or even the interest or inclination to bake. Everybody knows I am not a natural in the kitchen and the only thing going for me is the fact that I can read recipes and I have people from my family – my mom, (may she rest in peace) and my sister Pat – who are culinary experts and all I have to do is ask how a particular dish is prepared. But, of course, it’s not always as perfect.

          One thing remains vivid in my memory though. Way back in grade school, she decided to bake cookies, specifically crinkles, as part of a homework wherein they

are supposed to display a particular talent. I remember Ghiselle telling her, “bakit hindi ka na lang magsayaw?”

          But thinking back to that time gives me a smile because we had fun – the three of us – collaborating to come up with crinkles from a ready-to-bake packet. Take note, we were using an old almost rusty oven toaster, a gift from the company I was working at (F. Jacinto Group, Inc.) for some years of service.  

          During her college years (B.S. Hotel & Restaurant Management, Batch 2004, St. Paul University, Quezon City), she learned to make blueberry cheesecake and some cupcakes from somewhere. After college, she was doing more of these as well as volunteering to make sandwiches for Ghiselle's baon and we discovered how delicious her pasta was.

          During that time, I would sell those cupcakes and blueberry cheesecake to officemates, who until now when the topic is about my daughters, they would tell me they miss Pee Ann’s sweet concoctions, and, yes, her pasta, which they tasted when I celebrated an earlier birthday several years ago.

          Now let me tell you with pride about Frosted Crumbs (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003211531133), the bakeshop Pee Ann has set up with Alex. She has definitely graduated from making plain cupcakes and blueberry cheesecake and is now baking cakes and cupcakes big time.

          What’s interesting is they don’t just come up with the usual icing and sugar flowers to decorate their cakes but they create fantasy and fairy tales and real drama even to make these cakes truly delicious and appealing to the eyes .

          And the story of Frosted Crumbs is a fairy tale come true for Alex and Pee Ann. While here in Manila, they likewise partnered with friends to set up a small coffee kiosk called Seven Circles at the UST school compound. Aside from coffee, they were making cupcakes, brownies and some other baked stuff.

Daughter Pee Ann works at the Frosted Crumbs
cake shop. These cupcakes were
were donated to Santa Anonymous last Christmas.

          Frosted Crumbs started when a friend held a bridal shower and they decided to bake a cake as their gift. I said bridal shower so you probably know what shape or figure the cake was – which I feel is too adult to print in my blog. Oh that cake was in pink icing!

          Because that first one was a success, cakes became their signature gifts to friends. When they got their residency, Alex and Pee Ann applied for a business permit and eventually set up their own cake shop.  In a short while, friends and friends of friends started ordering cakes from them – in all shapes and shades and colors, making sure customers’ specifications are satisfied.

                                                                  (Above photos) CUPCAKES and cakes

                                                                   Frosted Crumbs make.

                                                                  The cupcakes were made for birthday boys,

                                                                   while the cake above was for a debutante.Below

                                                                   is another birthday cake for a little girl named

                                                                   Moka and lower photo shows a letter of

                                                                   appreciation sent by her mom.

          Despite their success, they continued to be generous and made cakes for free for friends’ kids. This paid off because others who would see their cake gifts would also want one for their kids or any member of the family. Until they were baking cakes for almost everyone in their community in Banff.

          Now this post won’t be complete without writing about another cake maker. She is Bea Mateo de Silos, the creative one who did the cupcakes during my birthday. You already know that the entire celebration was memorable but those personalized cupcakes were the icing on the cake, so to speak.

          At the risk of hurting Bea’s feelings, I only knew her as Ghiselle’s schoolmate (UST College of [then] Architecture & Fine Arts) who eventually became her close friend because they were teammates in basketball. As far as I was concerned, her claim to fame was just that – like my daughter, she plays good basketball – and I didn’t know she can bake.

          My daughter tells me now that Bea has been doing some baking since college. She has a day job as an architect (http://mayamangkarpintero.blogspot.com/). In fact, she is Smart Parenting magazine's Nursery Makeover design consultant, with her latest work featured in its March 2012 issue. She and husband and fellow architect, Arnel, have set up the ABDS Builders and the duo builds dreams into reality.

          When she gave birth to her son Pablo, she decided to be a WAHM (work-at-home-mom) and in between breastfeeding, she whips up cupcakes. Thus, the cupcake architect (http://cupcakearchitect.blogspot.com/) was born. Check her out and get ideas on how to make a loved one’s birthday or any occasion memorable.

THAT’S BEA putting on the final touches on

her cupcakes. Looking on are

husband Arnel and son Pablo. And below

are some of her bestsellers.

          So there you go. Looks like baking cakes as a business seems like fun. How I wish I could whip them up myself. But it’s definitely no piece of cake for me.

          I am happy that Pee Ann makes a living out of celebrations. And so with Bea. There’s a slice of life in every cake they bake – as a kid or grown-up has another birthday, or somebody marks a milestone, or some person simply wants to celebrate happiness.

          Even in her day job (chef, Banff Park Lodge Hotel), Pee Ann gets to come up with sweet stuff for their customers … as a fitting ending to a sumptuous meal.  

          Let me end this post with a few lines from a classic Eraserheads song … for whatever it may convey –

Take a bite, it’s alright,

life is a piece of cake.