Sa Itim, Sa Puti

This is Yasnina Jumalon and Gianella Reyes' upcoming graduation recital, as part of their requirements for a Diploma in Creative, Performing and Musical Arts. It's a deconstruction of Swan Lake, which I heartily applaud because Swan Lake has been deconstructed many times before, the most infamous being Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, with topless male swans in feathered pants. I didn't think of their current take on it, and I must say I'm excited to see it, given that the slant is very very Filipino.

I actually wish that UP Dance Majors would stop reconstructing ballets as their gradation recitals. The tradition began with myself and former classmate Angel Lawenko, who is now Angel Baguilat and part of UP's faculty. We put on a deconstruction of Cinderella as a japayuki (Filipina "cultural" entertainer in Japan) to the Prokofiev score. Since then, there have been Filipinized deconstructions of Nutcracker, Giselle, Petrouchka, Alice in Wonderland, and now Swan Lake. I'm pretty sure each recital had their own merits, I just wish the students would be more assertive about their original ideas come recital time. But that's just me.

Given all that, I think Sa Itim, Sa Puti will be great. Yasnina and Gianella are really promising contemporary choreographers, and I'm just waiting for the big surprise.

Sa Itim, Sa Puti

7 pm, Friday, March 26, 2010

Abelardo Hall Auditorium, UP College of Music, Diliman, Quezon City