"MARINDUQUE AKIN KA"

"Reunited Choir" of Boac.

"Marinduque Akin Ka"

Titik at Musika: Eli J. Obligacion

Isang paraiso sa gitna ng dagat

Ay muling nabuhay

Sa aking pangarap ngayon

Kahapo'y di mawaglit sa aking isip

Ngayo'y buhay ka't di na panaginip.

Marinduque akin ka

Puso mo'y puso ko

Awit mo'y awit ko di ba

At ngayo'y magkayakap

ang ating damdami'y iisa.

Isang paraiso'ng ilaw sa karimlan

Batis ng pag-asa

Bayan ma'y sadlak sa dusa

Kahapon mo'y may pait, luha at sakit

Ngayo'y nagising diwa'y nagupiling.

Marinduque gising na/akin ka

Puso mo'y puso ko

Awit mo'y awit ko di ba/di baga

At ngayo'y magkayakap

Ang ating damdami'y iisa.

(Repeat Koro)

Ang ating damdami'y iisa

Marinduque akin ka.

"HAPIT HIMIGAN"

"Hapit-Himigan" was a choral competition, one of many activities, held in connection with this year's "Araw ng Marinduque" celebration at the Boac Covered Court. "Marinduque Akin Ka", a song I wrote way back in 1992, as the theme song of "Mara Unduk" was chairman, Fe Corazon Recalde's choice as the contest piece.

For many years now, the said song has been sung by the Provincial Capitol Choir as part of their repertoire when performing for official guests and for out of town performances.

Participating groups were Gasan's "IFI Choral Ensemble" of the Parish of St. Joseph, "Reunited Choir" of Marinduque National High School and Boac North District, "Live Echoes Choir" of St. Mary's College of Marinduque, "Mogpog Municipal Chorale", and "TORMEA" Choir of Torrijos.

Judges were Prof. Norma Soldevilla of Gasan who also notated the contest piece, Dr. Roberto Montellano of Boac, Prof. Anacleto Mendoza of Sta. Cruz, Dindo Asuncion and myself. The "IFI Chorale Ensemble" (shown in photo), garnered the championship trophy, TORMEA choir was 1st runner-up and "Reunited Choir", 2nd runner up. Thanks to Ms. Recalde's efforts, there was a huge audience turn-out with municipal choir fans providing moral support to their entries.

OLIVER "BHONG" MACUNAT, 22

Bhong Macunat (to the right) and me.

Bhong first joined our community theater group last year (2008).He was in charge of designing and making the special hand props and in supervising the stage preparations for our performance tour in the six towns of Marinduque. For this year's "Viva" project, however, he focused on creating additional dance movements for "Moryonan".

I first spotted Bhong when he was still a member of a modern dance group that joined local contests. They performed during the Buenavista Fiesta in January 2008, and there, he simply stood out among the dancers. I offered him the "Katalona" role in "Bulong" but was not interested, preferring to join us only as a member of the production staff.

During Viva rehearsals he supervised the warm-up exercises. He had an ability to command the attention of everybody with his smile and presence.

Because of his good looks and pleasant disposition, Bhong was extremely popular especially among the girls. They had fun imitating his antics and sensual gyrations when he did the exercises. He'd often say: "Hindi ko hinihingi na maging magaling kayo! Hinihingi ko lang na sundin ninyo ang pinapagawa ko!" (I'm not asking you to do it well! I'm just asking you to follow what I ask you to do!)
.
I practically begged him, again, to do the "Katalona" role this year. Bhong didn't have to be directed. I knew he'd come up with the most unforgettable Katalona performance ever. But he didn't budge, and I could only be sad about it. He was bent, as before, on working only behind the scenes.

During the cast party at my Bahaghari house, Bhong asked for the tarpaulin streamer for "Viva Marinduque" as a souvenir, and I was only too happy to hand it over to him.

A month after the Viva project, in March, he texted to say he's back in town and had a new cellphone number. He was back to Marinduque after spending a few weeks in Manila. By this time we, the Teatro Balangaw group from Buenavista, Gasan and Boac were busy with rehearsals for "Ang Kristo: Pasyondula", passion play.

Asked Bhong if he could please help us with the rehearsals. We only had a couple of weeks to mount it.

I never got to see him, again.

A couple of days later, he figured in a motorcycle accident in Bognuyan, Gasan where we used to hold rehearsals for "Moryonan" and "Bulong". The accident turned fatal.

Oliver 'Bhong' Macunat.

So young, so full of life and talent and promise.
Our dear Bhong said 'goodbye' at 22.

VIVA CAST 09

The VIVA MARINDUQUE 09 cast arriving in Santa Cruz town for the last performance.

BUENAVISTA COASTAL PARK

We chose the newly constructed coastal park in Buenavista as venue for our theater presentation as the stage at the town' covered court was too small to hold over a hundred performers.

This open space allowed freer movement for the performers and even for the huge audience expected to watch.

"BULONG" MURAL

Installing the "Bulong" backdrop mural painted by artist Raymond Go as his personal contribution to Teatro Balangaw.

Pls also visit http://marinduquegov.blogspot.com for current updates on Teatro Balagaw activities.

After "Viva Marinduque" Teatro Balangaw mounted "ANG KRISTO: PASYON-DULA" in the municipality of Gasan with top-caliber stage and movie actor JOHN ARCILLA portraying "Kristo". The three-hour play received a standing ovation from the critical Gasan audience.

Days before the showing flyers were distributed by not exactly unknown entities questioning the use of a professional actor! Ay sus!

The municipal government now wants "ANG KRISTO" presented annually every HOLY THURSDAY at the town's Guingona Park. It must be noted, however, that the Passion Play could not have been mounted without the participation of the former actors from Buenavista who joined the 1996 premiere presentation in said town. We had intended to make it an annual Buenavista Balangaw project but, but... I would say the play sana should be viewed in Buenavista yearly (J.E. SISON, the actor was with the original cast). We'll see.

I have started posting videos of some of our projects at http://marinduquegov.blogspot.com/ before I lose everything. At the height of "Ang Kristo" rehearsals, I lost my handycam and all the pictures of our projects from January to March mysterously disappeared from my laptop. The few photos I posted on this blog are what remains now, although the footages of the 6 performances in the municipalities of Boac, Buenavista, Gasan, Mogpog, Torrijos and Sta. Cruz remain intact on mini-VDs. It will take time to get them on the pc. Life goes on...

(Above photo: Was in Bagtingon one day in January. That's one of the few places in Marinduque which still mirrors life on this island about fifty years ago. That's Pastores hill in the background, where the only catalogued Tagalog anito was found by Frenchman Alfred Marche in 1881, in a cave there keeping watch over the pre-colonial dead. I thought finding a rainbow between me and the cave at 4:00 pm was some sign... whatever.)

"PASTORES"

Pastores is the name of the Tagalog anito found in Marinduque and featured in a "Bulong" scene.

"BULONG"

Scene from "Bulong" presented in Sta. Cruz Feb. 17, 2008.

"MORYONAN", Sta. Cruz

"MORYONAN" Final performance in Sta. Cruz after series of performances in the six Marinduque municipalities.

"MORYONAN"

"Moryonan" scene in Sta. Cruz during the last of six performances February 2008. Venue ws the Sta. Cruz Gym.

SETTING UP THE "VIVA" STAGE IN MOGPOG

BACKSTAGE

On the way to Sta. Cruz

WHAT IS "VIVA MARINDUQUE!"?

EVENT PROGRAM
“VIVA MARINDUQUE!”
(Ani ng Sining sa Marinduque:
Philippine Arts Festival 2008)


Proponent : PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF MARINDUQUE
Implementation: February 1-21, 2008
Source of Fund: NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR CULTURE & THE ARTS (NCCA); PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF MARINDUQUE; THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS OF BOAC. BUENAVISTA, GASAN, MOGPOG, TORRIJOS, STA. CRUZ & OTHER SPONSORS.

Background: THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF MARINDUQUE IN COOPERATION WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY THEATER GROUP, TEATRO BALANGAW HAS JUST SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED A PROVINCIAL TOUR OF THE CULTURAL SHOWCASE "VIVA MARINDUQUE!", WHICH WAS PRESENTED IN MOGPOG FEB. 12, STA. CRUZ FEB. 17, BOAC, FEB. 21, BUENVISTA FEB. 22, TORRIJOS FEB. 24 AND GASAN FEB. 26.
Project Coordinator:
ELI J. OBLIGACION, Consultant for Cultural Affairs & Tourism Development, PGM; Founder and Artistic Director - Teatro Balangaw.

Description:
A performance and production showcase featuring Marinduque culture through dances, music, songs, theatre, film, architecture, visual arts and providing a venue for broader participation. It is a venue for the development of a truly Filipino artistic production and the promotion of artistic excellence.

Mechanics:
The program is expected to be interactive; collaborative; slated in public places within the date of implementation. Performing group is given flexibility to carry out activities beyond traditional arts expressions, so long as program is based on indigenous strengths, talents, skills and resources of the province.
Guidelines in the implementation, liquidation, documentation and terminal report preparation of the NCCA grant has been provided by the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Division (PMED).

EVENT PROGRAM:

The Marinduque program, through a multi-media production and information campaign, aimed to establish the island-province's influences and significance in the development of the national culture in general, and Tagalog culture in particular.

Cultural and historical researches are major components of this project which goes beyond the traditional arts expressions for which Marinduque has been known for, such as moryonan and putong which remain important features.

The whole production encompasses Marinduque’s pre-colonial beliefs and practices, language, mysticism, native dances, recently discovered old Marinduque songs and music, contemporary songs, revolutionary struggle, the Battle of Pulang Lupa, and other artistic expressions (festivities, theatre, traditional crafts, masks, and live butterflies).

Specifically, the project featured the following:
1. “Moryonan” – a dance-drama on Marinduque’s famous Lenten tradition (12 min.)
2. Native Dances, plays or songs (from Mogpog (“Battle of Camarin”,) Boac, Gasan, Torrijos and Buenavista presented local dances; Sta. Cruz presented 'Harana' and a choral rendition of the municipal hymn. For the presentations in Torrijos and Gasan, the Viva Marinduque cast was joined in by a dance group from Buenavista National High School with a dance from Libas, Buenavista.
3. “Bulong” (pronounced Boo’-long) – a dance-drama on teleportation, a belief that old folks and the young in far-flung areas still cling to. The travel in time and space is used as a tool to present different folk beliefs and episodes in Marinduque’s cultural evolution. (35 min)
4. “Labanan sa Pulang Lupa” – a dance-drama with original song on the battle of Pulang Lupa, where Filipinos staged a major victory over the Americans. (8 min)
5. A mini-feature on one of the U.N. Millenium Development Goals, "Poverty Alleviation" was created by the Teatro Balangaw Ensemble and presented in Boac.
5. “Kalutang Music” – (8 min)
6. “Harana” – featuring local songs of courtship. (12 min)
7. “Putong” - (Finale) (15 min)
8. Art (as stage backdrop) (Done by artist Raymond C. Go).

Teatro Balangaw undertook the work in cooperation with the Department of Education, Municipal Governments, Kalutang Band, Marinduque Capitol Choir, Bangbang National High School, Marinduque Midwest College, artists and youth groups.

This project, hopefully, shall be further developed as Marinduque’s official cultural showcase for presentation in festivals outside the province to help generate interest on the island, promote culture, arts, tourism and economic development in the locality. (As of today, NCCA, through representatives who have monitored the Marinduque project is already considering "Bulong" to be presented in Manila by end of March in connection with the World Theater Week festival.)

VIVA MARINDUQUE!

BALANGAW CAST PHOTOS

FOUR ELEMENTS

Facilitators during the workshop in January '08. From left: Eli, Frank Rivera, Joseph Ogalinola. Ian Sotto

VIVA CAST 2008

Souvenir photo at the Gasan Kiosko.