The 2016 performance season of the Cultural Center of the Philippines will mark its 47th anniversary next year. Among the highlights of 2016 are the staging of new arts festivals, exciting collaborations in theater, dance and music, the launch of a major encyclopedia of Philippine arts, and a focus on arts programming for children, youth and families.
Dance.MNL: The Philippine International Dance Festival, a convergence of professional ballet, modern and contemporary dance companies launches in June 2016. The Pasinaya Festival, considered the largest multi-arts festival in the country, continues its partnership with the City of Manila, the Intramuros Administration and the Department of Tourism, transforming Manila and the art and culture mile between the CCP complex and Intramuros into the most creative place on earth. CCP’s other most popular festivals slated in 2016 include the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition and the Virgin Labfest (a festival of untried, untested and unstaged plays). Music enthusiasts can look forward to see the International Woodwind Festival and the Orchestra and Symphonic Band Festival as well.
CCP celebrates its 47th anniversary with events including the staging of the musical revue Musical! that celebrates the best of original Philippine musicals in the last two years. Likewise, art enthusiasts can watch out for world premieres from the CCP resident companies: Ballet Philippines’ Opera: A Rebirth in Arabesque and Simoun, and Tanghalang Pilipino’s Balangiga.
As in the previous series of successful concerts entitled Triple Threats, the next year features artists in their best elements entitled Triple Threats: The Ensembles. International touring productions slated next year include the broadway production of Sister Act (based on the 1992 film of the same name), and a live Argentine tango showcase billed as Tangoblitz.
The opera season features some of the leading companies including the production of opera events. Lovers of the Metropolitan Opera productions can look forward to seeing the screenings of Tosca, Iolanta/Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle, Carmen, The Merry Widow and Macbeth in High Definition at the Ayala Greenbelt Cinema.
The visual arts scene at CCP will feature the Transnational Narrations: Paperworks (a gathering of works by artists from the Philippines, Thailand, United States, Switzerland and Australia), the Antonio Austria Retrospective, the Danilo Dalena Retrospective Exhibit, and an exhibit of graphic design curated by renowned graphic artist Lucille Tenazas entitled CCP in Design.
Digital and print versions of the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Arts, the most authoritative and comprehensive source of information on Philippine art covering the peoples of the Philippines, architecture, visual arts, dance, music, theater, film, broadcast arts and literature will be launched in 2016.
For aspiring theater artists, a Workshop on Vocal Production and Interpretation for Live Stage will be conducted by New York-based Filipina Carmela Cinco. The CCP also collaborates with the SLIMS School of Fashion and Arts for an Intensive Workshop on Theatrical Costume Design.
For more information, call CCP at (+632) 832-1125, or visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
