MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The CCP Choreographers Series aims to become the prime mover of contemporary dance expressions in Philippine society. Koryolab is the second tier of the CCP Choreographers’ Series, a three-part platform in support of the Filipino choreographer. It is a laboratory and research platform for the development of mid-career choreographers. In this edition, the learning goes virtual. Presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the virtual residency program is where artists exchange ideas with mentors in ways that help them relate their practice to other disciplines. In doing so, they can start to articulate the values that Filipino choreographers embody to bring them forward in their careers.
Koryolab 2021 Virtual residency program took in ten artist-choreographers, namely Al Garcia (Taipei), Buboy Raquitico (NCR), Dingdong Selga (Eastern Visayas), Gerard Hechanova (Caraga), Gia Gequinto (NCR), Jared Luna (NCR), Nicole Primero (Western Visayas), Niño Horario (Western Visayas), Sasa Cabalquinto (NCR), and Sherwin Santiago (CAR).
The virtual residency will have four episodes featuring eminent Filipino artists from various fields. The episodes will show the highlights of their learnings throughout the residency program. It will likewise reveal how these artists received and processed the different concepts and applied them to their own practice of defining and deconstructing contemporary dance.
Episode 1 will be rolled out on September 16, at 2pm, with filmmaker Ed Cabagnot taking the participants on a brief tour of Philippine cinema. Dubbed “Discovery: The Pinoy Experience in Cinema,” the first episode tackles how Philippine cinema has captured the Pinoy Experience in its recurrent themes and characters, as well as in its unique brand of storytelling and cinematic style.
Verne de la Peña provides insights on soundscapes in Episode 2, titled “Sounding Time and Space: Jose Maceda et al,” on September 16, 7PM. In this episode, the audience gets a glimpse of the musical ingenuity of National Artist Jose Maceda.
Maceda transformed Philippine music by opening a path to alternative materials and processes of composition rooted in the philosophies of our indigenous cultures and yet, combining them with avantgarde practices, to give us “Philippine New Music.” The shape of space is transformed by sound in this, and subsequent works influenced by Maceda.
In Episode 3: “Dancing with the Alien: Bodies versus Machines,” on September 17 at 2pm, Tad Ermitaño explores the irreversible correlation of dance and technology, a phenomenon prevalent during the pandemic.
The mentor takes the audiences behind the “Twinning Machine,” an interactive installation wherein the video captures the viewer and projects the image onto a screen. The effect of the audience seeing themselves ‘live’ and life-sized, simulates the effect of looking into the mirror, and yet, it is an “anti-mirror” since it plays upon and subverts the expectations of the mind as it relates to viewing the body’s position and movement. “Twinning Machine” has had multiple iterations with various dance artists.
Jay Cruz shares his process and ideologies as a choreographer in Episode 4 on September 17, 7pm. Dubbed “Choreography as a Critical Practice,” this episode looks at how contemporary dance choreographers define their practice as a critical one, engaging theory in their practice, and asking important questions not only about one’s work but also about the very process of creating.
Koryolab 2021 Virtual Residency Program episodes will be premiering on September 16 and 17, 2021 and will be streamed at the CCP, CCP Choreographers Series, and CCP Arts Education FB Pages.
