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;
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.
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.
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?
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