"METANOIA" A new high in Music and Dance

When he graduated from the UP Conservatory of Music as a Composition Major, Ryan Cayabyab needed to present a new original work for his recital. A symphony or an opera would have cost a lot to mount, so to save on expenses he decided to create a new setting for the Mass and made sure it could be presented with a few singers. It had a small production budget but Ryan's simple Misa still turned out to be devout and ingenious and another one of his important works.

A few months ago Ryan got another opportunity to write a mass. His old friend Douglas Nierras, the award-winning choreographer and moving force behind Powerdance, had received an invitation to join the 1st Onassis International Prizes for dance in Greece. This was a competition for the arts set up by the famous Aristotle to honor the memory of his son Alexander who died in a plane crash. There have been prizes for lite-rature and painting and other art forms over the years but this would be the first time that dance and dance music would be honored.

To join, it was required that an original composition for dance and an original choreography for a full-length suite be submitted. Preferably these should have universal themes that international audiences could appreciate. One hint of ethnicity would disqualify an entry. To join, those interested are required to send an unedited videotape of the work. Deadline was Dec. 31, 1999. The winners will be announced in Athens in 2001.

Douglas went to Ryan to ask him to write the music for which he would create a new suite for the contest. After a short talk they both agreed that nothing compares to the Mass as far as having international flavor was concerned. And needless to say, those prayers ran the entire gamut of what man experiences during an entire lifetime. They will use the traditional Latin text but to fully exploit Douglas' mastery of contemporary dance, the music will have a World Music flavor.

Douglas went off on tour in North America with Powerdance after that meeting and returned home late in October. A few days later, Ryan was ready to record his MISA 2000. And what a mass, it turned out to be. Perhaps to sort of make up for his sparse production of Misa some years before, Ryan came up with a work that required an 88-voice chorus, an 80 piece orchestra and an ethnic instrument section. Just as the expense escalated, which incidentally was coming from their own pockets, inspiration went into overdrive and he came up with a taut exploration of emotions that pounded, soared and then erupted in heavenly triumph.

Douglas then set out to match Ryan's accomplishment using the "wages of sin" as his theme. He called it Metanoia, which means spiritual conversion and then turned 11 of his dancers into fetuses descending on earth, experiencing an orgy of pleasures, undergoing repentance and in the end returning to their Creators as purified souls. It is a difficult piece requiring complete physical and artistic control but Douglas' reputation as a hard driving taskmaster had prepared Powerdance for the dazzling Metanoia.

Two weeks ago, word was received that Metanoia has been accepted as official entry to the Onassis competition. Ryan and Doulgas can now do other things and forget about it although I will not blame them if they start twiddling their thumbs while waiting for the results that will be announced next year.

And what are Metanoia's chances in the Onassis competition? We do not know. I want to hope for the grand prize. I want to think of a recording of Ryan's music in the World Music and classical music charts. I want to think of pages of exposure in Dance Magazine for Douglas, for Powerdance. I want to think of many performances in other parts of the world. I want to see Metanoia performed with a live orchestra and chorus. Then maybe as Douglas dreams about Metanoia, can indeed make of Powerdance an internationally famous company, which happens to be Filipino.

For a chance to see for yourself, Douglas Nierras' Powerdance will perform Metanoia at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. The company will also do Sayaw ng Puso at Kaluluwa, which won the Grand Prix at the 10th Saitama International Dance Concourse in Modern Dance in Japan and is the Philippines' first international grand prize winner in the field of modern dance choreography plus other gems in the Powerdance repertoire.