The IMUTHIS Project, an Online Creative Triptych
Available online from May 6, 2022, The IMUTHIS Project features three unique digital projects inspired by our liminal times, as brought on by the global pandemic and our eminent national elections. Paul Alexander Morales, a MA Theatre Arts student and former artistic director of Airdance, Dulaang Talyer and Ballet Philippines, presents his experiments in performance forms and processes. The trilogy includes Corazon Negro, an original Filipino Opera, Salami(n)sim a personal digital archive, and Bayani/Mesiyas, a collaborative dance film. The works can be accessed from May 6 at the project website www.theimuthisproject.com or through its fb page www.facebook.com/TheImuthisProject .
Corazon Negro, is a rare original Filipino chamber opera that originally premiered in 2016. Set in the colonial times the opera is a cautionary tale on the wickedness of dark love. This new version features additional songs and a powerhouse cast lead by Camille Lopez Molina, soprano, with Noel Azcona, baritone, Iona Ventocilla Borja, soprano, and Ervin Lumauag, tenor. Filmed as a LIVE soundtrack recording, the presentation harkens back to radio and stresses the musical execution of the compositions of Jed Balsamo as well as the poetics of the libretto by playwright Layeta Bucoy. Tickets are free, register at eventbrite.com for any of the scheduled presentations: May 6 at 8:30 pm, May 7 at 8 pm, May 14 at 8 pm and May 21 also at 8 pm.
In Salami(n)sim, Morales looks back at his prolific career, with dance, theatre and film works and documentaries found and re-collected during the lockdowns. His two feature films, Karga Mano (2001), adapted from the play by Nicolas Pichay, and Concerto (2008), based on his family’s history, will be publicly available for the first time as part of the initiative.
Capping the triptych is the collaborative dance film Bayani/Mesiyas. Joining Paul as collaborating choreographers/performers are Sarah Samaniego, Nina Hayuma Gelladuga, and Jean Marc Cordero. Jed Balsamo composes the new songs of Mesiyas from the Filipino translation by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera, performed by Bayang Barrios. A crowd-sourced dance initiative, with UP theatre actors Janno Castillo, BJ Jose, and CJ Correa, widens the scope of the final work, featuring Apocalyptic Alleluia, also composed by Mr. Balsamo and performed by the Philippine Madrigal Singers.
Inspired by Rizal’s magical sphinx from El Filibusterismo, the project navigates the intertextualities of dance, theatre, and film and their transformations in now ubiquitous digital theater of the internet. With themes of identity and illumination the project proposes a vanguard role for the artist, as documentarist, magician, and advocate.
The IMUTHIS Project is presented by the UP Dulaang Laboratoryo. It is supported by the UP Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (OICA). This capstone work is under the supervision of Prof. Sir Anril Tiatco, PhD, with Prof. Amihan Bonifacio Ramolete, and Professor Emeritus Steve Villaruz.
Team
Production Management ALLIE EGUIA
Executive Director JENNIFER LEE BONTO (AWPI)
Rizal
And The Artists
COLLABORATORS
Morales and Balsamo met at the Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) production of the Lumbrera-Cayabyab Noli Me Tangere, in 2004, with Paul directing and Jed as musical director. They would later, for Ballet Philippines (BP), collaborate on dance adaptations of Rizal’s novels, presenting, from Noli, Crisostomo Ibarra in 2010, and from Fili, Simoun in 2016. Morales wrote the librettos and choreographed the ballets, while Balsamo undertook the musical composition. Crisostomo Ibarra was awarded Philstage’s Gawad Buhay! Award for Outstanding Dance Production, in 2010.
Jed Balsamo - Composer
Jed Balsamo holds a Bachelor of Music degree with majors in composition (Cum Laude, with distinction) and piano (Cum Laude) from St. Scholastica's College, and Master of Arts in Music (Piano Performance) from University of Santo Tomas. His original theatre works, for TP, includes Aurelio Sedisyoso, A Rock Sarswela (2017), Sandosenang Sapatos (2013) and his award-winning steampunk musical Mabining Mandirigma (2016). He also composed the music for Kanser the musical (2015), another adaptation of Noli, from Gantimpala Theatre Foundation. He was resident music director for Ballet Philippines and is currently a faculty member at the Centro Escolar University Conservatory of Music.
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Paul Alexander Morales - Artistic Director/Dancer/Filmmaker
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Paul is a graduate of the University of the Philippines, Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts, and was a scholar at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance in London, where he received a Diploma in Dance Theatre. He is a dancer, choreographer, theatre director and independent filmmaker. He has served as artistic director of Dulaang Talyer, Airdance, Ballet Philippines, and Guang Ming College. His past works in the theatre include, Alakdan: Ang Lohika ng Tulaw (1992), and Bayan Isang Paa na Lamang (2002), for Dulaang Talyer, Ang Paulit-ulit na Pagguhit ng Bilog (1995/ 2000/ 2003), Candido (1998), and Speaking in Tongues (2001), for the Philippine Educational Theatre Association, Ang Henerala (1995), and, Ang Arkero at si Rizal (1996/1997), for BP, Manhid (2014), and, Awitin Mo at Isasayaw Ko (2016), and for Fo Guang Shan Philippines, Siddhartha the Musical (2018/2020). His award-winning films include the features Karga Mano (2000) and Concerto (2008).
Partners
Viva Voce Voice Lab
Digibox Audiovisual Productions
Artists Welfare Project Inc.
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Patrons
Dr. Manny and Susan Barias
Maria Virginia Morales
Ms. Margie Moran Floirendo
UP Diliman Office for Initiatives for Culture and the Arts (OICA)
Viva Voce Voice Lab
Digibox Audiovisual Productions
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