Integrated Performing Arts Guild

The IPAG 46th Season marked milestones in international and national performances, most notably as Philippine representative in the ASEAN Panji Festival where IPAG drew raves and in the national Haraya Festival. Besides these, IPAG has had a string of milestone performances and programs collaborating with the prestigious Fulbright-Hayes Program midyear during the season.

Add to this the 46 Seasons that have marked IPAG as the most-traveled repertory company with multiple awards including the CCP Gawad, the highest distinction for a cultural company.

Our 47th Season begins in August while IPAG completes more road shows including our representation of the country in Europe’s biggest Festival, the Du Sud.

Join integrity and distinction and the chance to nurture your creative skills in one of the country’s most significant performing companies. JOIN IPAG!

(DIRECTOR’S NOTES: Other organizations are recruiting claiming to be IPAG; questions you should ask: Who is the Artistic Director? Who are its artists? What is its track record, if any? Or a better evidence: Are its organizers members of IPAG? There is only ONE IPAG nurtured by the hundreds who have contributed to what IPAG is now. These respected persons are in their places respected by their communities. The world knows all about this.)

STEVEN PATRICK C. FERNANDEZ, DFA
Artistic Director

#inspiringIPAG #inspiring46 #ipag

The 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐆𝐔𝐈𝐋𝐃 (IPAG) celebrates 2024 FEBRUARY ARTS MONTH with performances in Iligan and a roadshow of Metro Manila schools.

IPAG opens with two transcreated poems in SugaTula (Crossing Poetry) as special features in the Performance Art presentation of Japanese snare drummer 𝐑𝐘𝐎𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐊𝐈𝐘𝐀𝐒𝐔. Kiyasu has performed worldwide and makes his first visit to Iligan City through his collaboration with HULMA CREATIVES COLLECTIVE.)

IPAG, affiliated with HULMA, transcreates the poems of laureates German V. Gervacio (“Paano Maging Makata”) and Marge Evasco (“Origami”)

The company then travels to Meriam College in Quezon City and De La Salle Santiago Zobel in Alabang for 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐨, the world-acclaimed production that has captivated thousands in over 100 cities worldwide as it continues to captivate national audiences.

In their opening salvo for the Arts Month, IPAG artists joined the HULMA-produced concert of music and poetry Enchanting Voices last Feb. 10 and 11 at the Iliganon Café and Bar.

ARTS MONTH Performance Schedule:

Feb. 20 | 6 pm., Iligan City Ethnic Center (Buhanginan Hills)

Feb 22, 2024 | 1:30 pm., Miriam College Auditorium, Quezon City

Feb 23, 2024 | 10:00 am., De La Salle Santiago Zobel Sports Pavilion
Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa

Year of the Niaga (Dragon). Our Year

A few more steps and we’re there, Godwilling — a Professional Performing Arts Company

We took tortuous paths to reach Our Vision. It’s like walking through a long dark tunnel of obstacles, moving through dead ends, impediments, where shadows thrown on the cave walls turn out to be false images, deceits (Plato’s cave). But we sight the proverbial light, now glowing closer, bigger. More freedom!

We keep our commitments as only true artists should! As mirrors of our Humanity, we act so that freedom, human rights, social equity, and our dreams are protected. We cannot be conventional. The stage is our means to re-order.

IPAG welcomes the NIAGA (DRAGON) INSPIRED NEW YEAR. Breathing fire, burning our inspirations all over!

#inspiring46#inspiringIPAG#ipag#integratedperformingartsguild

FUSION OF CREATIVITY UNLEASHED

The INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) exploded a startling flash of creativity in 2023 surpassing successes in the post-pandemic transition of 2022 (which included the highest award for a Philippine performing company―the Gawad CCP).

Beyond displaying its signature form, IPAG soared higher as an institution of the arts-and-culture. From 5-star hotel ballrooms, to jampacked amphitheaters, to traditional enthronements and intimate audiences, to communal spaces, IPAG’s presence has become more conspicuous.

Reaching an estimated 50,000 audiences in 2023, IPAG marked three major accomplishments: the ASEAN PANJI performances, the organizing of HULMA Creatives, and the establishment of the IPAG-Studies Academy.

IPAG returned from acclaimed performances in five Indonesian Cities representing the country joining 8 other national troupes in the milestone ASEAN Panji Festival. Celebrating UNESCO’s Memory of the World Heritage, the Panji Festival wove our ASEAN kinships threaded by a shared narrative. The festival will soon be an annual event with each ASEAN nation taking turns hosting.

Binding artists of our communities into one strong collective is the center point of HULMA, a direction in establishing Iligan City as a UNESCO Creative City in the Performing Arts.

Spreading out the IPAG Pedagogy and its Creative Methods, the Guild further enhanced the talents of our artists to create, perform, and innovate. The Institute of Performance and Art Genre Studies (IPAG S) set the Vision of the pioneering performance arts academy in our parts.

Besides new productions (Hapoy daw Waig) and the continuing road shows of the country’s most-travelled Tales From Mindanao, apprenticing directors and playwrights mounted new productions­―these through the tranSCRIPT Program and the institutionalized Basic Workshop in the Performing Arts.

The Tales repertoire reached over 20,000 audiences in national tours including its featured presence in the Fulbright-Hayes Dunong at Kalinangan hosted by the University of Hawaii at the De La Salle Dasmarinas campus.

Artist-leaders have been trained through our Hulmahan Program, a number garnering recognition in major awards. The most recent was the prestigious NCCA Writers Prize for Playwriting awarded to our Executive Director Neil Arkhe Azcuna adding up to his growing list of recognitions including writing fellowships, awards, and last year’s Best Film Award for Pelikulove.

Our collaborations have become more active. Besides the distinguished Asia Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools (APB), IPAG continues to work with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Cultural Center of the Philippines and its Kaisa sa Sining network, the Dept. of Trade and Industry, Dept. Of Foreign Affairs, Iligan City Government, and various public and private initiatives.

IPAG acknowledges their invaluable support.

We distinguish the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) that for 46 years has been our womb, host, and Mother providing us the nurturing spaces where our craft and knowledge grew, developing the IPAG to be a major force in Philippine Performing Arts and Studies. Even as we expand our reach further, we acknowledge our roots from where lies our anchored origins.

2024 opens with IPAG setting its sights to continue showcasing Philippine Culture in Europe’s biggest festival, the Festival du Sud.

ArtisticDirector.STEVEN PATRICK C. FERNANDEZ | ExecutiveDirector.NEIL ARKHE AZCUNA | AssociateArtisticDirectors.ARCHIBALD PACANA   LEILANI FERNANDEZ   |   Marketing&Sales.ARLEM M. ABANES   |   Finance.HERNENIGILDO DICO     |   HumanResources.LAURO VILLANUEVA   |   Technicals.ANDREW SALAZAR     |   Costumes.LEILANI FERNANDEZ   |   Music.VICTOR ARLAN   |    Properties.MARTIN SALVADOSA   PAUL FRUTA   |   Secretariat.JEANNIE DARANTINAO   JANE ALLYSON DANTES

“𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐨 𝐬𝐚 𝐈𝐬𝐚” (𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝)
Dept. of Trade and Industry, FIESTA HARAYA, One Ayala Mall, Makati
December 13, 2023

𝒟𝒯𝐼 𝟣𝟢 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐻𝒰𝐿𝑀𝒜 𝐼𝐿𝐼𝒢𝒜𝒩 𝒞𝑅𝐸𝒜𝒯𝐼𝒱𝐸 𝒞𝒪𝐿𝐿𝐸𝒞𝒯𝐼𝒱𝐸
𝐼𝒩𝒯𝐸𝒢𝑅𝒜𝒯𝐸𝒟 𝒫𝐸𝑅𝐹𝒪𝑅𝑀𝐼𝒩𝒢 𝒜𝑅𝒯𝒮 𝒢𝒰𝐼𝐿𝒟 (𝐼𝒫𝒜𝒢), 𝒫𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑒𝓈
STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ, Artistic Director

The protagonists clash, jump, roll in duel, their “kampilans” clanging. War screams, then silence. (A Moment.) All eyes are glued front as only the loud cracks of clicking bamboo poles break the silence. M’ranao heroes Bantugan and Salindagaw battle for Arkat-a-Lawanen who positions herself between them.

Then one slash of the kampilan tears the other. Enthusiastic applause breaks the silence. Curtains.

Another IPAG performance throws off the audiences from their present moments. The aura embraces empathy and a communal feel of victory.

Script&Direction.STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ | Choreography.NOLLY CEBALLOS and the IPAG CREATIVE COLLECTIVE

MALIGAYANG PASKO!

The Philippines and Mindanao in the Integrated Performing Arts Guild, captivating Europe, soaring higher in 2024!

TALES FROM MINDANAO, the country’s most-traveled dance-music production, continues on its wide road shows. “Tales” will enthrall audiences in these cities:

Santa Rosa Sports Complex, Laguna, November 26-27, 2023
St. Scholastica College, Manila, November 28, 2 pm. / 6 pm.

TICKETS: https://ticket2me.net/e/38959

IPAG PHILIPPINES in the forefront of the ASEAN Panji collaboration. International recognitions continue to swell in as IPAG reboots its presence in the post-COVID era.

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Shared narratives unite nations

Diplomacy, Connectivity, Unity
EXHILARATING 21 DAYS OF CULTURAL KINSHIPS

Rebooting our flight wings after COVID, the INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) set forth an itinerary of international performances opening with an auspicious collaboration with ASEAN states. IPAG represented the country anew this time in the 2023 Panji Festival, performing with other ASEAN states in Yogyakarta, Kediri, Malang, Surabaya, and Surakarta (Solo) cities.

The Festival hosted by Indonesia composed the elaborate threads of a shared heritage­—the Panji narratives– that has strengthened the binds of our cultural kinships.

Taking one cycle of the heritage narrative rooted in the Majapahit Java heritage, each of the 9-member ASEAN performed an assigned episode. The Philippines’ IPAG performed Episode 8, Panji Semirang in the forest transforming into a Gambuh dancer.

Taking from its own signature performance form, IPAG displayed its part in the tapestry of this shared heritage. Clearly were expressions of understanding, values, relationships, and beliefs, the nations share of strikingly similar performance expressions. In unity, the countries wove a tapestry stamping our identical marks.

The Philippine episode narrated of heroine Semirang, disguised as a male warrior confronting hero Panji Inao, unaware that this enemy was her lost lover. Semirang wandering in the forest in despair meets hermitess Dewi Kilisuci. Dewi transforms her into a Gambuh dancer to immediately head for the Gagelang Kingdom where she reunites with Inao.

The narratives were woven by a distinguished Indonesian creative team led by the project’s Artistic Director Dr. Bambang Pudjasworo, dance and Cultural Studies specialist of the ISI (Arts Institute of Indonesia). Local performing groups from the five cities provided the transitions threading one nation’s story with the next.

In the cities where thousands watched the performances in large venues, different styles of dances, the classical forms of each nation (IPAG’s being the pangalay derivatives) merged to complete the Panji epic.

The process produced not only a complete narrative but relationships beyond the epic’s plots. Friendships grew. Having bonded feelings, the artists at the end of three weeks of collaboration parted with heavy hearts baring the rekindled bonds of the ASEAN kinship.

A collage of images composing one immense tapestry contributed much significance to the Philippines which, in the fringes of the ASEAN mainstream, retrieves its own position to claim its shared cultural identity.

Plans have been set to institutionalize this collaboration. ASEAN nations will take turns hosting the Panji festival annually. With the support of our governments, such bonding ensures the powers that the ASEAN deserves to claim a dominant spot among the world’s greatest stories.

The UNESCO proclaimed the Panji tales a Memory of the World Heritage in 2017.

Scenario, Mise en Scene, and Music (adapted from “Sita: The Ramayana Revisited”). STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ, Artistic Director | Choreography. LEILANI M. FERNANDEZ, and derived segments from the choreography of NOLLY CEBALLOS

Cast and Music Pool. JEANNIE M. DARANTINAO (Performer/Stage Manager) | ARLEM M. ABANES (Liaison) | JACOB TOGONON (Performer/Musician/Cargo Manager) | RESTINIL KIM INDINO (Performer) | SASHA BLANCHE ASUNCION (Performer/Production Manager) | PRESCIOUS GIFT C. EDNALGAN (Performer)

#inspiringIPAG #inspiring46 #ipag #panjifestival

[The invitation was extended to IPAG through Chinggay Bernardo of the CCP Cultural Exchange Division. Logistics were processed through CCP liaison Violeta Mero, with the support of Former CCP President Margarita Moran-Floirendo, Artistic Director Dennis N. Marasigan, and the NCCA (Exec. Director Oscar Casaysay and Head of the International Cultural Affairs Office Ms. Mariel Jasmine A. Nini.

IPAG is the Resident Company of the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology.]