The HudHud, Ullalim chants, ritual dances and ballet / Flamenco dance programs

The Filipino Heritage Festival, headed by Mita Rufino as president and Bambi Harper as director, should be highly commended for its consistent and unwavering aim to preserve and disseminate our culture and traditions in their widest range.

Last week, at the CCP main theater, a sophisticated audience heard the chanting of the Kalinga Ullalim and the Ifugao HudHud, and saw the rituals associated with them in the two-hour “Chartered Journeys: Discovering the Oral Traditions of the Cordillera”.

Floy Quintos conceptualized and directed the program; Jesse Lucas composed the music for orchestra, chorale and dance ensemble; original choreography was by Gener Caringal.

There was a fusion of the traditional/authentic and the original/interpretative. The chants were traditional and authentic; Lucas’ compositions, inspired by the traditional/authentic, were enchanting; the songs were engagingly rendered by various choral ensembles accompanied by the UST Symphony Orchestra under the authoritative direction of Lucas.

The program opened with the authentic Ullalim chants and dances against an imaginatively exquisite set design by Ricardo Cruz enhanced by the lighting effects of Monino Duque. The chanting was done by singers who stayed seated for an interminably long while, a stance that gave the impression of a very static episode which, with the rather repetitive dances almost bordered on tedium.

The production, to some extent, was unavoidably modified — stylized, if you will — I thought I even saw an arabesque in an authentic sequence! — because transferring the dances to a public venue would necessarily need some “touching up”. Otherwise, audiences might just as well trek to the Cordillera Mountain to see for themselves the dancing, the wedding and burial rituals, and listen to the chants.

The performance of the Philippine Ballet Theater was obviously for the delectation of sophisticated viewers. At first sight, wonderful as the ballet sequence was, per se, — featuring Peter San Juan, Lobreza Pimentel and a corps — it made the entire presentation incongruous. On the other hand, the persons behind the program may have wished to complete “Chartered Journeys” by contrasting the “authentic” or the “original” — which, by definition, is not art — with choreography representing an art form that has undergone layer upon layer of refined development, cultivation and modification through the centuries. Mezzo-soprano Clarissa rendered classic songs.

The ethnic experience, in any case, was the primary eye-opener for the culturati.

Before the curtains closed, the participants — there must have been at least a hundred of them — gathered onstage, with each executing his/her own farewell gesture, thus creating a riotous and tumultuous scene.

After the program, the British Jennifer Wallum, MBE, founder/president of the Entrepreneur Volunteer Assistance, which extends help to ethnic tribes like the Aetas, whispered to me as she was leaving, “Brilliant!” Two days later, she sent me this note: “Chartered Journeys was quite breath-taking in all its aspects of the arts and heritage. How I wish all those empty seats could have been filled to overflowing (for free) by children — from street children’s homes to even the Igorot children of Sional Village. Next time perhaps.”

Jenny’s note has a significant message for us Filipinos: We should demonstrate greater interest in the culture and traditions of our indigenous people.

Printed messages came from President GMA, Mita Rufino, NCCA chairperson Vilma Labrador, Secretary of Tourism Ace Durano and CCP President Isabel Caro Wilson.

To sustain the tribal atmosphere, the sound of gongs filled the theater lobby as people exited.

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On May 30 at 7 p.m., the students and scholars of the Clara Ramona Centro de Danza Flamenca summer workshop will perform with Clara Ramona dancers at 5062 P. Burgos St. corner Guerrero, Makati.

Every other Wednesday night, Clara’s Tablao Flamenco, Noches de Sevillanas, will be held June 2, 16 and 30 at 8 p.m., and on June 9 and 23, a dinner show at 8 p.m. For reservations, call tel. 899-1346 or tel./fax 890-8030. Tickets are at P700.