Saturday, December 22, 2007 CPDRC inmates’ Thriller dance makes it to 5th place in Time Magazine’s top 10 web videos
THE dancing inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) may end up performing as guests of the Sinulog parade in 2008.
The prisoners are ready to take on the challenge, just as they’ve learned two new dances.
Capitol consultant on security Byron Garcia revealed his plans of taking the inmates outside the jail for the Sinulog parade, albeit he has yet to get the necessary documents in order.
He will need a court order and the approval of the Sinulog Foundation.
Garcia talked about his plans after Time magazine listed the “Thriller” dance video of the CPDRC inmates in its “Best of the Year” issue.
In the list for the top 10 web videos, the CPDRC dance— which the magazine dubbed as “Thrilla in Manila”—ranked fifth.
It read, “Orange-jumpsuited convicts dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller in a Philippine prison.”
Cebu was not mentioned at all.
Exposure in Sinulog, an annual festival that draws an international crowd and media, may change that.
“We will showcase the pride of Cebu through the Sinulog dance,” Garcia said.
Choreographer Gwen Lador will start practicing the Sinulog dance steps on Monday.
For now, the prisoners are busy dancing to “Jump” by the Pointer Sisters and “Footloose” by Kenny Loggins.
Garcia showed Sun.Star Cebu the videos of the new dances yesterday. He said they learned the steps in just five days.
This means that they can learn the Sinulog dance in five days and polish it in two weeks, in time for the festival.
“There should be a progression. Dancing inmates na gyud ni sila ron. Masuko na gani sila’g wala’y practice (They get annoyed when they can’t practice),” Garcia said.
Lador said their Sinulog dance will fall under the free interpretation category, perhaps showing the lives of the inmates behind bars.
Meanwhile, Garcia revealed that the inmates were nonchalant about the recognition of their Thriller video by Time magazine.
Discipline
“Mura ganing wala sila kaila anang (It seemed they weren’t familiar with) Time magazine,” said Garcia.
He said he earlier received a message on his website about the Time magazine issue but he did not take it to heart, thinking it was just any other newspaper.
When he realized which publication was involved, however, Garcia said, “I was very happy for Cebu and for the inmates that finally, they get an audience apart from Internet viewers or newspaper readers in the United States. They are now in a magazine with worldwide circulation, a prestigious magazine at that.”
With that kind of attention, he hopes that the fun part of the video is not the only thing recognized, but the “complete turnaround” in the inmates’ behavior as well. The same recognition could lead other penology institutions to follow what CPDRC is becoming known for, a “culture of discipline,” the consultant said.
He also revealed that some institutions have already replicated the project, among them Quezon Province, Muntin-lupa and Ormoc City.
But what he was really proud of was that the City Government of Bacolod obtained copies of the CPDRC dances for their departments to emulate.
“The plan is to keep on dancing,” Garcia said of the inmates. “It has been a part of their lives for almost two years now.” (JGA)
