FRINGE MANILA’s Diversity

jude bautista — Sat, 14 Feb 2015 17:14:46 +0000

Daloy Dance Company’s RECONFIGURE. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Written and photographed

By Jude Bautista

The biggest multi art festival is here: FRINGE MANILA. This is brings together so many different genres and performers: Theater, dance, literature, documentary filmmaking and music. More than these are newer types of performances that don’t necessarily fall into categories that we are familiar with. For example Christopher Aronson is able to create a theatrical/music performance entitled Songs of an Electric Soul just using his i-phone and a distortion app. Curiously enough he is able to weave an interesting tale combined with live performance.

Christopher Aaronson uses his i-phone for the performance SONGS OF AN ELECTRIC SOUL. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

From new interesting performers there are also more established names. Breaking news is Radioactive Sago Project will also be involved with MANHID the superhero musical produced by Ballet Philippines.

Airdance: Dina Magat and Angela Sebastian in A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN, which is part of AIRDANCE INSTALLMENT. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

There are over 90 events, more than 200 performances by hundreds of local and foreign artists in 20 different venues. FRINGE Manila runs from February 12 to March 1, 2015. There are different venues across the city of Manila but has a high concentration on the stretch of Vito Cruz from De La Salle College of St. Benilde to the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

from left: FRINGE MANILA’s Executive Producer Brett McCallum, FRINGE Univ Prog Dir. Eric Villanueva Dela Cruz & Festival Dir. Andrei Pamintuan. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Executive Producer Brett McCallum explained how artists could join FRINGE MANILA: “We do an open call to artists during a registration period. Any artist is welcome to register with us. What our role is we sit there and ask what’s the nature of their show. What sort of venue do they need? It’s not for us to decide what work we like or what genres we like. We support all genres and all the types of work. Its more about going just tell us what you need. Do you need a studio black box? Do you need and outdoor space? What sort of tech requirements do you need? Then we sit there and negotiate with venues. We’ve got some amazing partners in De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, the CCP, who offered up their spaces that we can then put artists into. We can then look at the availability of artists to do their shows. What time are they free? We try to match that.”

Christine Crame; FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Christine Crame; FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Airdance: Mia Cabalfin (w not in photo Rhosam Prudenciado Jr) in AGAW EKSENA (Scene Stealer), which is part of AIRDANCE INSTALLMENT. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

FRINGE originally had its roots in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has now grown in over 200 cities around the world. A few of the names that have performed in FRINGE especially early in their careers include: Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean), Allan Cumming, Hugh Grant and Mike Myers. Richard Grant of Downtown Abbey described FRINGE: “To go to Edinburgh and hopefully find stuff you know nothing about that’s the great adventure and I love that.”

Opa Santos & Gino Ramirez in Black Canvas’ KYEMESTRY. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Juedai Contemporary Jazz Dance Theater with ABSOLUTE BEAUTY- TAIWAN IMAGE. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

The original target was about 20- 30 artists, “Because it’s our first year we’re just responding to the artists that have registered. When we first started talking about FRINGE we had no expectation of how many events we would have. We thought maybe if we had 20 or 30 events that would be amazing. We have 90. SO all we can do is try to work as many partners as possible to help get the word out. There are all these artists who are all taking a risk and they’re all showcasing their work alongside each other to promote their work and promote their ideas. With the right partners, we’re working with Ticketworld to make tickets as accessible as possible. So people can buy them online. They can buy them over the phone. They can buy them at National Bookstore. It’s about trying to create these opportunities that artists can focus on marketing their shows and get audiences interested. We provide an opportunity to make it easy as possible for audiences to find those tickets and shows.

Sweet faced Mara Marasigan in Egg Thater’s MANIACAL. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

from left: Bernardo Bernardo (Haring Lear), Lambert De Jesus (Kent) and Salvador Caramat (Goneril) during the rehearsals of Studio Connections’ production of HARING LEAR. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

There’s so much artistic talent in the Philippines, “We’re extremely proud of the 90 events for us that’s a huge number. The more we spoke to others the more we were referred to other artists. Suddenly you realize there’s so much creativity out here. SO many individuals start up companies as well as the established organizations. There’s so much out there THEN it’s not so surprising.”

Airdance: Christopher Chan in NGAA, which is part of AIRDANCE INSTALLMENT. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

STAR of Flow Art performing QUANTO SALTO. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Next FRINGE MANILA will have even more diverse programming, “In future years we also have a lot of work to make sure were reaching out to all the genres, all the types of work. In some ways this is like a pilot year. We tried to reach out and have as diverse a program and have all styles of work on offer. There’s still a lot more that we can do. We know the program can be even more diverse. Not necessarily bigger but more representative.”

Scenius Pro’s MAIKLING DASAL, MAHABANG GABI. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

from left: Bro Rey Mejias, FRINGE MLA Festival Dir. Andrei Pamintuan, Bro Sathiya Raj and Bro Don Roshan. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Venues according to him also influences which audiences get to watch, “In reality the venues that we have not just the CCP and the St Benilde, we got the Mabuhay Temple. Its fantastic but that brings an entirely different demographic. That’s really exciting for us. SO that’s what FRINGE actually does. It brings in different demographics. We anticipate there will be a good representation of that 18-30 market. But we know that with organizations like Mabuhay Temple, events Transitio that happen in Santiago they bring in very diverse audiences. What we want to do is try to get those audiences to look at the rest of the program and go, “Actually maybe I’ll take a risk maybe I’ve never seen this show before. I never thought of seeing this show before. I’ve enjoyed my experience at FRINGE so far lets push that boundary further.”

Gabriela Pangilinan of FRICTION: A NEW MUSICAL. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Opening art to those who don’t necessarily seek out art, “That’s where we do have quite a broad appeal and something that FRINGE festival often do, they bring in a non-arts market. People who don’t go to the arts market all year around. They don’t go to the theater 12 months a year. During FRINGE this is their opportunity to go I’ll take a risk I’ll watch that show. Hopefully that person will realize that there’s something exciting they’ve been missing out on. Maybe they’ll reengage with that company throughout the year. What we want to see is those artists supported year round. FRINGE is just one platform for one part of the year. There are artists that perform year round.”

Check schedules and venues in:

https://www.ticketworld.com.ph/fringemanila/Online/

http://www.fringemanila.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FringeMNL

WordPress:

http://judebsports.wordpress.com/ , http://judebfood.wordpress.com/ , http://judebphoto.wordpress.com/ , http://judebgallery.wordpress.com/ , /

fb fan page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Text-and-Photos-by-Jude-Bautista/146371575384135

Christine Crame; FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

Christine Crame; FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

tumblr:

http://judebautista.tumblr.com/

Check schedules and venues in:

https://www.ticketworld.com.ph/fringemanila/Online/

http://www.fringemanila.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FringeMNL

flickr:

From right: Cinemalaya Best Supporting Actor Awardee Nico Manalo, Bea Garcia, Kakki Teodoro and Nar Cabico. FRINGE multi arts festival will run from February 12–March 1, 2015 in CCP, College of St Benilde and many other venues. Photo was taken at the CSB SDA Theater by Jude Bautista.

http://judebautista.tumblr.com/

WordPress:

http://judebsports.wordpress.com/ , http://judebfood.wordpress.com/ , http://judebphoto.wordpress.com/ , http://judebgallery.wordpress.com/ , /

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Text-and-Photos-by-Jude-Bautista/146371575384135

Check schedules and venues in:

https://www.ticketworld.com.ph/fringemanila/Online/

http://www.fringemanila.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FringeMNL

Bro Rey Mejias – Text and Photos by Jude Bautista

FRINGE MANILA’s Diversity