TOP STORIES
New Work premieres in Taipei
Collaborative Work opens to international acclaim

Fookien Times features Fernandez
Fernandez is cited "Defender of Heritage" in 2004 Philippine Yearbook

IPAG presents 'Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water'
Audiences thrill to dance-music production that bridges culture and science

CCP awards 'Pilak' to IPAG director
Outstanding cultural work recognized

3rd National touring Leg on
IPAG to enthrall more audiences in this third leg of road tours from January to March 2005 in over 20 sites

'Datu Matu' joins Pilak celebrations
Acclaimed IPAG musicale celebrates CCP Outreach's 25 years in a grand production with other outstanding Mindanao artists

Fernandez defends dissertation
IPAG director is first Philippine Doctor of Fine Arts graduate

National tours wow thousands
IPAG filling in theaters and auditoriums all over country wows audiences with its enchanting productions

EVENTS SCHEDULE

before Man, came earth, wind, fire and water Feb. 11, 2005 3 pm/7:30 pm MSU-IIT gym, Iligan City
Tales From Mindanao national tours Tatlo Sa Isa national tours	Leg 3 Road Tours (nationwide) January 22 - Naga City, Camarines Sur 24 - Urdaneta, Pangasinan 25 - San Fernando, La Union 26 - Agoo, La Union 31 - Bulacan February 1 - Miriam College, Quezon City 3-4 -Philam, UN Ave. 7 - CIT, Cebu City March 3 - HNU, Tagbilaran Bohol (check CALENDAR for show schedules)
Dance, Music, and Drama Workshop	Paglaum Center, for indigent kids
Auditions and training	on-going, January-March 2005

CHECK January-March 2005 Shows Calendar




recent news

New Work premieres in Taipei
The IPAG with Sovanna Phum Theater of Cambodia, Waterfield aboriginal Theater of Taiwan, and theater and dance artists from Hongkong, Japan, and Taipei premiered the collaborative "Reviving Subalternity" at the Hua Shan Art District in Taipei City last December 29 (7:30 p.m.). Theme of this modern theater produced by Asia Meets Asia is: Resisting Assimilation and the Destruction of Civilization." The premiere kicks off this production's Asian tour which will be next seen in October 21-23 in Tokyo, Japan. Indigenous movements and cultural expressions are given new meanings as these are reinvented to express the growing global concerns on genocide and the destructions of regional cultures. 

Co-directing the production is Steven Patrick C. Fernandez with Sovanna Phum Artistic Director Mann Kosal. Dramaturgy is by King C. Lok, and produced by Watan Wuman of Waterfield Theater. Melvin Pascubillo of IPAG facilitates the choreography. Performing are Leilani Monterola, Wenna Balaido, Sam Pysak, Chumvan Sodhachivy, Pascubillo, Fernandez, Kosal, Lok, and various other performing artists from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

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"Earth, Wind, Fire and Water" thrills audiences
Two full-house audiences thrilled to IPAG's Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water at the MSU-IIT gym last February 11. Bridging Culture and Science. the IPAG show links the objective world with the evocative. The production traces Man’s place in his physical world. Produced by the Samahang Pisika ng Visayas at Mindanao (SPVM), Southern Philippines’ lead Physics organization headed by TOYM awardee Dr. Angelina Bacala, Earth, Wind focuses on the metaphors of our world and suggests that Science invariably relates to culture. Dances, stories, music, and the visual arts are the cultural expressions in the production that represent these “elements” of life. Metaphorically, the respect to these elements means the survival in life.

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Fookien Times features Fernandez
The internationally-prestigious Philippine yearbook has honored IPAG Founder-Director Steven Patrick C. Fernandez with the epithet “Defenders of our Heritage,” theme of its 2004 issue. Fernandez joins 73 other cultural giants including our national artists and other cultural heroes “whose burning sense of mission to protect and even resuscitate aspects of our culture has occupied much of their life and scorched the whole world’s imagination for the better.” Publisher Vernon Go declares: “The profiles (in this Yearbook) represent our arbitrary view of some of the outstanding individuals that are currently working to preserve and protect and nourish some aspect of our country’s rich and vibrant heritage. We chose to honor these individuals not as posthumous footnotes, but as living testaments.” Published by the Fookien Times since 1936, the Philippines Yearbook has always been regarded as the country’s chronicler of economic and social progress.

Fernandez has been in the forefront of this country’s theater development. The IPAG director was also recently awarded a Pilak by the Cultural Center of the Philippines for his outstanding cultural work. (see related article)

related site:
The IPAG Director

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CCP awards 'Pilak Parangal' to IPAG Director
The Cultural Center of the Philippines celebrated its Outreach's 25 years with awards to outstanding cultural workers, among these Steven P.C. Fernandez, IPAG Founder and Artistic Director. Fernandez received the PilaK (silver) Parangal which cited his contributions to regional and national culture. Fernandez joins National Artists Andrea Veneracion and Napoleon Abueva and scores of other artists and institutions who were feted in ceremonies at the CCP last Sept. 21.

IPAG also highlighted the formal ceremonies and performed with some of the country's leading groups: Philippine Madrigal Singers, Ballet Philippines, and Tanghalang Pilipino.

related sites:
CCP Pilak
Steven Fernandez' site

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IPAG 3rd national touring leg on
After more kudos in it national tours now gathering over 60,000 audiences in the first and second legs, IPAG embarks on it ^3rd leg. IPAG continues to highlight its acclaimed “Tales From Mindanao” and its sequel “Tatlo Sa Isa” (Three People in One Island) which will hit the cities of Manila, Baguio City, Naga, Tarlac, Laguna, and Catarman. IPAG will perform over sixty performances from North to South of the country of these dance-stories in a road tour that started in July 2004.  Please see the schedule for the 3^rd leg in the calendar of shows.

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'Datu Matu' joins 'Pilak' celebrations
The CCP Outreach's grand production for Mindanao to celebrate its silver year featured the acclaimed musicale 'Datu Matu.' The play written by MSU-IIT faculty Bebot Rodil about the American occupation of Moroland performed with other outstanding Mindanao-based groups that through the years have been significant contributors to the national cultural movement.

The Mindanao portion of CCP's celebrations was held at the Capitol University in Cagayan de Oro City last October 8 and 9. Directed by Steven Fernandez, 'Datu Matu' is the only full-length play in its genre that narrates events about the U.S.-Moro wars. It premiered to critical acclaim in the 1996 National Theater Festival.
related sites:
Datu Matu
CCP Pilak

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Fernandez defends dissertation
Steven Patrick C. Fernandez is the first Philippine graduate awarded a doctorate degree in the Fine Arts from a Philippine university. Fernandez successfully defended his dissertation entitled "Sanib at Samuk: Mindanao sa Tatlong Dula," a trilogy of his original full-length plays, in the De La Salle University, Manila. Composing his panel are some of the biggest names in Philippine Literature and Theater: Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, poet laureate Dr. Cirilo Bautista, cultural historian Dr. Nicanor Tiongson, international playwright Dr. Elynia Ruth Mabanglo, and Palanca Hall of Famer Jose 'Butch' Dalisay. Adviser to Fernandez is another Palanca Hall of Famer and renown writer Dr. Isagani Cruz.

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National tours enthrall thousands
 Currently performing are three major productions: Tales From Mindanao, Tatlo sa Isa, and Ming Ming.

On its first leg of an extensive road tour, IPAG has delighted over 40,000 audiences in over 40 performances since its 27th season opened last June. In Cebu City, IPAG danced to two full-houses in the large Cebu Coliseum. Also delighted were audiences in Laguna, Batangas, Tarlac, Nueva Vizcaya, Olongapo, Iloilo, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Manila.

The 2nd leg of this road tour starts in the second week of November to December before IPAG leave for Taiwan to collaborate with Asean artists for shows in Taipei and Tokyo.

IPAG has been on continuing tours in the last five seasons. Besides wowing audiences, it advocates its "Bridging Cultures for Peace" programs incorporated in the productions.



check complete schedule | July-September Calendar of shows | October -December Calendar of shows | January - March 2005 Calendar of shows

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photo credits: Saki Binudin/IPAG/Robert Booc/IOV Taiwan/Ronald Salazar/Arvin Solis