MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Dive deeply into contemporary dance with the return of Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Choreographers Series’ NeoFilipino on October 20, 21, and 22 at the Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Blackbox Theater).
The third and final tier of the CCP Choreographers’ Series, NeoFilipino is a platform for established artists to collaborate with other art forms in creating new works with distinct choreographic styles. It serves as a culminating tier of the series, following WifiBody.ph and Koryolab.
Conceptualized by founders Denisa Reyes and Myra Beltran, the CCP Choreographers’ Series aims to become the prime mover of contemporary dance expressions in Philippine society. Launched in 2015, in consultation with former CCP president Nestor Jardin, the series continues the efforts of NeoFilipino in breaking boundaries through contemporary dance since 1987, and the initiatives for independent dance by the Wifi Body Festival since 2006.
NeoFilipino 2023: In Transit will feature choreographers Christine Crame, Jose Jay Cruz, and Al Garcia, who have each built a distinct choreographic voice and style of dance.
The director for the CCP Choreographer Series since 2022, Christine received her Bachelor’s in Performing Arts, majoring in Dance at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, and finished her master’s degree in Educational Management at the Philippine Women’s University. At Ballet Philippines, she rose the ranks from company scholar to company member/soloist from 1994 to 2005. Her major roles in production include Darna, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, and Darna once again for Ding ang Bato last 2018 at the School of Design and Arts Theater. Currently a full-time faculty member of DLS-CSB, she was chair for the Academic Dance Program of the School of Design and Arts from 2010 to 2019. She serves as the head for many companies including Artistic Director for Benilde Experimental Dance, Artistic Director/Performer for Seven Contemporary Dance Company, and Co-director of Ground 1 Arts Retreat Space.
Jay is a polyfunctional contemporary artist-educator-collaborator cruising in between fields of contemporary dance, theater, cinema, TV, and recently contemporary visual art. As a solo dancer, he has performed in several international dance festivals and was a finalist in the 2006 Yokohama SoloXDuo Dance Competition in Japan. His accolades include the Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature, an Asian Cultural Council’s Josie Natori Awardee to study choreography and dance composition in New York, a two-time awardee of the Prince Claus Fund Grant – Contemporary Corporeality and HyperCorporeality, and a fellow to the UP Writers Workshop. His solo Contemporary Investigation Number One, created at the Bates Dance Festival, was invited to the 35th Les Hivernales/Winter Avignon, Korzo Theater artist-in-residence through the Ervaar Daar Hier Theater in the Hague. The same solo brought him to the academic field expanding the role of dance lecturing at the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Dance artist-choreographer-educator Al received his MFA in Dance from Nanhua University, Taiwan, and is currently a dance artist at the Tjimur Dance Theatre in Taiwan. He is an alumnus of the Philippine High School for the Arts and UP Diliman. He further developed and explored his voice as an artist through the CCP Choreographers Series in 2012. He was a Philippine delegate for Taipei Dance Elite Academy (TAIPEIDEA 2010) and Southeast Asia Choreolab 2015 in Malaysia. His choreographic work won grand prize in WifiBody, and was featured at the Yokohama Dance EX (Japan).
His choreographies integrate Philippine folk dance and contemporary dance idioms. Involved in education and community development work, he was part of the faculty and established the dance programs for Guang Ming College and Philippine High School for the Arts- Senior High. He founded Guang Ming Dance Project in 2015 and is a member of the Contemporary Dance Network Manila.
NeoFilipino 2023: In Transit is directed by dancer and choreographer Crame, with set design by Tuxqs Rutaquio, and projection mapping by Ces Valera. Its institutional supporters are De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Guang Ming College, and Myra Beltran’s DanceForum.
NeoFilipino: In Transit will run on October 20, 21, and 22, 8 pm, at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez, CCP Complex. Tickets (PHP 500) are available at the CCP Box Office and at TicketWorld. Follow CCP Choreographers Series on Facebook for more updates.
