Fringe Manila
The multi-arts festival, Fringe Manila, is back for a third year from February 8-26, showcasing fresh and groundbreaking work by emerging and established artists from the Philippines, as well as, international participants in theater, literature, music, dance, visual art, film, cabaret, performance art, spoken word and every other artistic genre in between.
This year, festivalgoers can expect the comeback of Fringe favorites the Daloy Dance Company, Deus Sex Machina, ADHD Productions, FEU Theater Guild, Airdance, and Egg Theater Company.
It will also showcase its first-ever festival-produced show, “The Virtual Womb” by Toronto-based Filipino-Canadian artist Maylee Todd, to be staged at Pineapple Lab. “The Virtual Womb” is described as "a new breed of multimedia performance where audiences are welcomed into a larger than life vagina to experience a one-of- a-kind act that involves sound, music, and projection mapping."
Fringe is also welcoming HATAW, a performance collective from Toronto in collaboration with the newly formed Burlesque PH, who will be performing at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Another Fringe-produced program is the first-ever Art Battle in cooperation with Fully Booked, where contemporary painters will be battling out with their paints and brushes as the audience votes for the ultimate winner.
Pasinaya
The CCP's annual open-house festival offers an exciting and diverse menu of workshops and performances this weekend.
On February 4 from 9:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., there will be short workshops designed as "samplers" or "patikim" of the long and more intensive workshops offered yearly by the resident companies and other groups.
These workshops will cover hiphop, ballroom and folk dance, ballet for babies and adults, modern ballet and creative movement for teachers; musical theater and children’s, teens, and adult theater; and music workshops for classical guitar, rondalla, Philippine musical instruments, percussion, chamber music, solo singing, children and youth choir singing, handbell ringing and ukulele.
For a suggested donation of only P50, participants may go in and out of the different CCP venues to attend 30-minute workshops that will be held throughout the day.
On Sunday, audiences may take a peek of the 2017 CCP performance season from the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Santo Tomas Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theater, Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company, National Music Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA), Philippine Madrigal Singers and Tanghalang Pilipino. Pasinaya Palabas starts with a pre-show at 7:30 a.m. and ends with a People’s Gala at 6 p.m.
Tanghalang Pilipino's 'Eurydice'
Tanghalang Pilipino closes its 30th theater season with "Eurydice," a Filipino adaptation by Guelan Luarca of Sarah Ruhl’s play of the same title, based on the Greek myth of the love between Orpheus and Euridice.
The cast features Lhorvie Nuevo in the title role and Marco Viaña as Orfeo, with guest actors Audie Gemora and Juliene Mendoza alternating as the Father, and Alfritz Blanche as the Big Stone.
Loy Arcenas directs and designs the set, which includes a thrust stage that extends into the audience on three sides to provide greater intimacy between performers and the audience.
"Eurydice" will run at the CCP Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino from February 17 until March 5.
PETA's 'Care Divas'
PETA's hit musical "Care Divas" is back to open its 50th anniversary with a whopping 50 shows starting Friday, February 3, until March 19 at The PETA Theater Center.
The original musical is about five transgender overseas Filipino workers in Israel who work as care givers but transform into glamorous drag queen performers at night. It dominated the 2011 Philstage Gawad Buhay! Awards, bagging seven trophies including Outstanding Musical Production.
Members of the original cast led by Melvin Lee, Vince De Jesus and Ricci Chan are back, along with a new set of "divas" that includes Red Concepcion, Gio Gahol and Thou Reyes.
Art Fair Philippines
Art Fair Philippines, which started only in 2013, has become the prime venue to exhibit and sell modern and contemporary visual art. This year's edition, which will run from February 16-19 at The Link carpark in Makati, will showcase art pieces from 34 local and 12 international galleries.
To complement the fair, Art Fair Philippines will hold "10 Days of Art" from February 9-19, featuring a series of events around Makati, special exhibits and tours across museums in the metro, with exclusive Art Fair menus and after parties in establishments as the Museum Cafe, Pappy Bistro, Pablo, Cartel Deli, The Belle and Dragon, 20:20, Finder Keepers, Black Market, XX XX, Bar Mathilde, Bucky’s, Pura Vida, and Z Hostel.
Meanwhile, on February 18, the Ayala Triangle Gardens will host Silent Disco, with 6 DJs competing for a chance to battle it out against 9 local DJs and 9 foreign DJs from Japan, Sweden and Hong Kong during the Silent Disco at the Malasimbo Music Festival.
Art will also be found in various walkways: the Humans of Makati photographs by Xyza Cruz Bacani will deck the length of the Dela Rosa elevated walkway; while light installations from repurposed Christmas decors created by Derek Tumala will be installed at the elevated walkway leading to Glorietta’s Landmark.
Ballet Philippines' 'Swan Lake'
As a fitting finale to its 47th season entitled “Wings,” Ballet Philippines presents a new staging of the legendary ballet “Swan Lake,” which will be celebrating the 140th anniversary of its premiere on March 4.
“Swan Lake” is set to open on February 24 at the CCP Main Theater with other performance scheduled on February 25-26 and March 3-5.
This year’s “Swan Lake” boasts three extraordinary pairings for Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried: guest artists Candice Adea (formerly of Hong Kong Ballet and BalletMet) and Joseph Phillips of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre; BP principal dancer Denise Parungao and company member Garry Corpuz; and soloists Jemima Reyes and Victor Maguad in their first lead roles in a classical ballet.
Set to Tchaikovsky's beautiful score, the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Yoshikazu Fukumura are set to perform the music live during the gala nights on February 24, February 25, and March 3.
Ballet Manila's 'Don Quixote'
Ballet Manila closes its 21st performance season by bringing back one of its most beloved full-length productions, "Don Quixote."
A staple Ballet Manila’s classical repertoire, the lead characters of Kitri and Basilio in Don Quixote were considered the trademark roles of its founding principals Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and Osias Barroso.
Now Macuja-Elizalde has been busy preparing three new Kitris who are poised to take centerstage – principals Katherine Barkman and Dawna Reign Mangahas, and soloist Pia Dames.
Joining them are their seasoned Basilios: principals Rudy de Dios and Gerardo Francisco, soloist Rudolph Capongcol, and guest principal Mikhail Martynyuk of Moscow’s Kremlin Ballet.
"Don Quixote" will have performances on February 24-26 at Aliw Theater.
'Si Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon'
Tanghalang Ateneo continues its 38th season with a production of the award-winning young adult bestseller “Si Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon” by Palanca awardee Edgar Calabia Samar.
The play will be the first live action adaptation of the book. Award-winning playwright Guelan Varela-Luarca adapted Samar’s work, while Tanghalang Ateneo alumnus Charles Yee directs.
The play tells the story of a teen whose world is turned upside down when characters from his favorite computer game and comic books appear and disrupt his personal life.
It runs until February 25 at the Rizal Mini-Theater of Ateneo de Manila University.
Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra
Former Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra music director Olivier Ochanine conducts the PPO on February 17 at the CCP Main Theater with a program featuring P.I. Tchaikovsky’s “March Slave”, J. Haydn’s “Symphony No. 88 in G” and D. Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 10.”
Ochanine’s term with the PPO started with the 2010-2011 performance season. Under his leadership, the orchestra has performed numerous Philippine premieres.
Dulaang UP's ' Faust'
Dulaang UP stages Rody Vera’s adaptation of Wolfgang von Goethe’s romantic tragic masterpiece "Faust."
Neil Sese and Jack Yabut alternate in the title role, with Paolo O’Hara and Mailes Kanapi as Mephisto, a cynical servant from hell who wagers with God that he can corrupt his most virtuous servant Faust. It is directed by José Estrella.
"Faust" is Dulaang UP’s contribution to the UP Diliman Month, as well as the National Arts Month. It opens on February 15 and runs until March 4 at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theatre, Palma Hall, UP Diliman.
