THE COMPANY OF ACTS MANILA together with the advanced classes from ICA and VCIS:

(Music : Vivaldi/ Violin Concerto In G Minor, Op. 8/2, RV 315, “The Four Seasons (Summer)” – 3. Presto)

These are shots I took during the Technical Dress Rehearsal and the actual show of “Noah’s Ark and other ballets” held at the CCP Little Theatre last May 2009. I turned them into my first youtube video.

Special thanks to : Ms. Chelo B. Gemina, Artistic Director of The Company of Acts Manila. (accepting corporate dance engagements and collaborative artistic projects)

Comments are welcome.

TFL!

Pagkaraan na naman ng mahabang pagkawala, ako’y nagbabalik muli sa lingguhang pagbabahagi ng mga piling larawan sa LP. Parang angkop na angkop ang aking pakiramdam na tila ako’y nagsisimula sa simula kasi ang dami kong absent lagi. Ito’y dahil sa mga di maiiwasang kaganapan sa buhay na kailangang harapin. Mabuti na lang mahaba ang pasensya ng aking mga ka-litratista.

Sa linggong ito nais kong ibahagi ang isa sa mga pinagkaabalahan ko kung bakit ako’y parang kabuteng lulubog-lilitaw sa aking blog.

Ito ay mga larawang kuha ko sa PASINAYA sa CCP noong buwan ng Pebrero. Ang PASINAYA ay isang taunang selebrasyon na ginaganap sa Cultural Center of the Philippines na naghuhudyat ng pagsisimula ng isang buong taong pagtatanghal ng iba’t ibang sining. Ito ay isang araw ng pagdiriwang na kinabibilangan ng mga piling pagtatanghal sa larangan ng pag-awit, pag-sayaw, tugtog at lahat na ng klaseng sining para magkaroon ng sapat na kaalaman at kamalayan ang ating mga kababayan sa natatanging yaman ng ating kultura.

(Philippine Madrigal Singers)

(Ballet Manila Dance Company)

(CCP Open House Pasinaya Banner – Star Theatre)

Salamat sa pagbisita. Ating itaguyod ang ating kultura. Katulad ng nasa awitin ni Manny Pacquiao isang karangalan ang maging isang Filipino “…Sa lupa kong sinilangan. Pilipino, Pilipino, Pilipino. Ang lahi ko! ”

Maligayang LP sa lahat!

Well, for good reason actually so I’m not going to hang myself for it. So what’s the good reason? Real life gets in the way of virtual reality – hahaha.

First, it was exam week last week for my homeschooled son – he had an assessment exam for his grade level at the DECS accredited school where we enrolled him. Since we use a homeschool curriculum different from DECS, I had to drill him and review him on the topics that were part of the exam but not necessarily part of our curriculum. (I’ll probably write a post about what your child needs to know at a certain grade level in the future.) So that took up most of my week – I had to make sure that “papasa sya, este, kakasa sya sa Grade Three”. LOL 

Trivia: Did you know that the DECS scope and sequence covers only 4 subjects for Grade Three?        What are these subjects?  English, Math, Science and Filipino

Next, since my kids started doing ballet twice a week, my schedule has become topsy- turvy. Why? because I lose two “virtual” days a week since I have to go with them to ballet school. Of course, ballet always wins hands down as far as I’m concerned. No contest! I will go with them wherever and whenever necessary! I am a self-confessed ballet addict! I wonder what will happen to my bloggie when they start doing everyday class in the summer? hmmmm…. aargh! I need a MBPro ASAP! Or maybe an Audemars Piguet designer watch on my wrist will do so I can I watch time slowly tick away while waiting for them in the hallway. Either way, I need to blog more so I can buy any of those two. LOL

Of course, I do all that aside from my own “rakets” online and IRL. The future is bright but it’s getting tighter and tighter as far as time constraints go.  So much to do, so little time. I know, I know (sheepish grin ), I can hear it coming. It’s all about time management. I haven’t come to that place yet where my everyday life is like going to the office – you time in and you time out. Same thing, day in and day out. Life is more volatile with kids, you know – the sneezies, the dirty tights and leotards, the unpredictables and all that jazz. I’m trying though. I have a dream… (I’m not MLK, but I have a dream, too, you know).

Anyhoo, sa mga ka-LP ko, babawi na lang ako neks wik pag maliwanag na ang panahon. So that’s it, pansit! I might be able to squeeze a few more posts within the week and not be a “baaaad blogger”.

Adios, amigos! Hasta maniana! (spelled as pronounced – can’t find the enye right now hahaha)

I’m in a blogging mood this morning so I think I’ll update my blog a bit and then some. I’ve been out the past few days coz my in-laws were here for a visit and I had a few layout jobs to finish for TDS (The Daily Scrapper) and some friends as well. I was also invited by a friend to photoshoot for her at the CCP’s Pasinaya last Sunday. We met at Festival Mall Alabang right after our Sunday Service here in Sta. Rosa and me and my family  rushed to Alabang to meet her at Starbucks Festi. Thank God for convenient coffee franchises! It makes meet ups so much easier.

We arrived at the CCP early for rehearsals and blocking. Fortunately, I had the chance to practice my shots and test my camera’s settings before my friend’s ballet company came on. I’m not done with all the editing, but I am quite happy with the shots I took this time. The photography class I took last year has helped me a lot and I’m slowly taking ownership of my little Oly. Here are a few of the shots I took during the event. Most of them taken with these settings (except the outdoor shots) with my Olympus E410 :

Shutter priority 1/100,ISO 1600, F4, no flash

The colors of PASINAYA at the Star Theatre backstage entrance

A Ballet Philippines poster on the sidewalk

A few shots from Ballet Manila’s version of High School Musical

(i like how the basketballs are suspended in mid-air in this shot)

here’s another one:

and here’s one of my faves, i love how the hair and the skirt swirl was captured :

this is the last one I’ve post-processed, the Madrigal Singers, the Philharmonic Orchestra and one of the company members of Ballet Philippines in mid-air:

Hopefully, I can work on more of the shots I took this weekend. So that’s it, pansit! Catch y’all later!

Yup, the first TDS issue for the year 2009 is out and now I can finally post the layout I did for TDS here in my little bloggie. I sorta have a project 365 of my own but it’s not about photos for me. I’m going to attempt to make 365 layouts this year. Take note: not one layout a day but 365 layouts altogether for the whole year. Hmmm, 365 divided by 20 pages in each photobook would yield around 18 photobooks, right? Is my math correct? Anyway, I’ve already done two so that leaves me with 363 more to go. LOL

Without much ado here they are:

1/365 – Look Up (as featured in TDS 01/16/09)

(credits can be found a few posts below)

and here’s the second one:

2/365 – First Ballet Class (image is linked to credits)

Oh yeah, that feels good. So now that you’ve seen my layouts, grab a cuppa joe and hop on over to TDS and check out the new look. For a good news read about scrapping and a lot more make TDS your regular habit. Scoot peeps!

Ciao y’all!

Ballet is one of my all-time loves. I’m no longer in it as a dancer but it still is very much a part of what I do and who I am and I think I might have imparted this ‘addiction’ to my little girl. Of course like most little girls who love pink and purple, she loves anything and everything ballet. Hopefully, when the time is right we can be able to send her to a ballet school one of these days. Earlier this year, a friend of mine who owns her own ballet school and teaches in several schools as well had a despedida for one of her dancers – Sarah J. Lee. We sent her off to New York to audition for the top ballet schools in the Big Apple. She auditioned for NYCB, ABT and Joffrey Ballet and she passed them all but she settled for Joffrey Ballet School in the end because she was granted a full scholarship with them. We are so proud of her achievements.  

Hopefully, when my little girl reaches Sarah’s age and she is still determined to pursue this path, dh and I would be able to uproot ourselves from wherever we are, transplant our whole family and get those New York movers to help us settle us somewhere in the City that doesn’t sleep for the sake of a little girl’s dream. 

Sarah’s (kneeling, bottom row, right) piece for the NAMCYA competition last year was as Odette from Swan Lake.

I remember many pounds ago when I did a little ballet, we attended a summer dance workshop held in Baguio and one of the classes that was taught was basic Pilates. Did you know that one of the forms of therapy for injured dancers is to do Pilates? 

Pilates trainer Sarah Aimsworth, a Pilates instructor at the Joffrey Ballet School, has tried various therapeutic systems and concluded that Pilates, with its stress on minimal repetitions, is right for her dancers, and not just physically. Pilates, she believes, is designed to keep the mind active while activating muscles without injuring them.

“You do something three times and you do it right. Repetition is mindless and goes against ballet, which is so mindful.” She also says that she finds that Pilates irons out her dancers’ physical problems.

Now, I’m no longer in dancing form, mind you, but I’m slowly trying to make up for lost time ( I wish it were pounds ) not really to dance again but for the long haul. I want to enjoy my kids for as long as I can and still have the endurance that Joseph Pilates had even when he was already in his eighties. Having said that I need to stretch my “pakpak” again. 

So here are some pics I shot at the ballet show. I edited them in PS because they were shot in extremely low light and very difficult to take because I had no flash (not allowed in the theatre) and very high ISO settings. The images were actually almost black but thanks to the magic of Photoshop (whew!) the shots were not wasted. I have a lot more (almost 2g of photos) but I only get to edit in between chores so I’ll post them as I go along. For now, I hope you enjoy these. TFL!

… today. We just got home from the ballet and we are so exhausted. The kids had fallen asleep in the car and my feet are killing me but it was definitely a good show and worth all the stress and hard work that was put into it. We got backstage passes and I got the chance to practice my photography skills on the dancers. I loved it so much I want to do it again!  But noow I’m so ready to fall asleep (yawn….) all I need to do is turn on the bathroom faucets, clean up, get ready for bed and hit the sack… will try to share some pics when I wake up … (zzzzzzz)