‘Sayaw, Sabel’ dance show based on Bencab’s work

MANILA, Philippines - Davao-based choreographer Agnes Locsin presents "Sayaw, Sabel", a dance show based on an iconic work of National Artist for Visual Arts Ben Cabrera.

"Sabel" is a major subject recurring in the paintings of Cabrera, more popularly known as Bencab, inspired by a real-life scavenger he photographed and sketched in 1965. The Sabel image has become his vehicle for the transmission of intensely emotional moods.

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In "Sayaw, Sabel," Locsin will explore the Filipino psyche.

Locsin, winner of the Prince Takamado Award and the Silver Medal at the 2nd Tokyo International Choreography Competition in 1994, is the director and choreographer of the show. Her 2008 restaging of "La Revolucion Filipina" for Ballet Philippines received the Philstage Gawad Buhay for most outstanding dance production of 2008.

"Sayaw, Sabel will have seven solos on how the Filipino survives the trials, mishaps and the lighter side of a stressed life. For Bencab, Sabel is a melancholic symbol of dislocation, despair and isolation, the personification of human dignity threatened by life's vicissitudes, and the vast inequities of Philippine society," said Locsin.

"In this production, Sabel is a reinvention of Jose Rizal's Sisa, whose sad and relentless plight has come to represent an image of the country's continuous and seemingly endless struggle to survive. Sabel dances, speaks and sings to express what could have been her past life,” she said.

Music is by Louie Ocampo and Joey Ayala, who will share their unpublished works for this production. Additional sound design and music will be by Jakob Rodriguez to the selected OPM songs of Celeste Legazpi, Basil Valdez, Parokya ni Edgar, Noel Cabangon, and Aegis. National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera's poetry will also be used.

"Sayaw, Sabel" premiered at the Peta Theater Center last June 26. An invitational repeat performance will be held on July 17 at Ayala Museum, followed by a national tour to Laguna, Bacolod, Iloilo and Davao City and in various areas in Luzon on Sept. to October 2010.