Friday, January 04, 2008 Serna: Panalangin: exhilarating, moving By Roger Serna Sounds and images
HAPPY New Year, everyone! The year 2008 is said to be the Year of the Earth Rat according to oriental calendar. Though the calendar still has to officially start on Feb. 7, some folks out there already celebrated it at the start of January.
Whatever! Let me greet you again a happy and prosperous new year.
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Though we look forward with hope and optimism to the prospects of the new year, it is but also proper to look back at the year that has just passed and see where we went wrong so we can, at least, avoid repeating the same mistakes.
We can also point out where we made it right, see the highlights and probably capitalize on them. For me, 2007 was very generous. For one, I acquired some technological gadgets which I aspired for, but would have taken me sometime to acquire if not for the luck that 2007 gave me.
For the first time, I won three new cell phones (no, not in rapid succession).
The first was in January. The second was in August, and the third was in December.
The first was in an event where good friend Judith B. Eugenio was part of the organizing group. The remaining two events had another friend Jonji Gonzales’ hands full of things to do as the man behind the details of the activities.
The past year was also rewarding as far as my personally perceived talent as an artist (he-he, don’t argue please!) is concerned. I won a Sony Ericsson cybershot phone in a photo contest whose concept was that of the subject himself (my Sun.Star Superbalita features editor Dodong Morallo). But since I was the one holding the camera, the prize went to me (thanks for the generosity, sir Dodong).
In the judging of the Capitol sponsored photo contest, dubbed as “Catch Her If You Can” with Gov. Gwen Garcia as the subject in various aspects of public governance, I was the last minute replacement of a judge who begged off.
Initially feeling insecure alongside the likes of Philippine Press Photographers prexy Revoli Cortez and Malacañang Press Corps member Julius Reyes, I managed to keep myself from being dazzled and blinded by their resumés, and faced the task head on.
It turned out that my choices figured in the top three in all categories, including the grand prize winning photo which turned out to be taken by CDN chief photographer Tony Despojo.
Needless to say, the outcome was ego boosting. Hah, what a feeling!
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One big event which I unexpectedly witnessed was the anniversary party of Tiens Philippines held at the Cebu International Convention Center on the second week of December.
It was Dolly Suzara who relayed the invitation of renowned choreographer Douglas Nierras of the equally famous Powerdance. At first, I thought it was a dance concert that we were attending when I bumped into fashion designer Jed Sevilla near the entrance. He told us his creations will be highlighted that night.
A little bit confused, we looked around and saw Tiens Philippines emblazoned onstage and after a little sleuthing, we learned it was the company’s anniversary party with Jed’s designs and the Powerdance’s performance as featured highlights.
As expected, Jed’s clothes added glamour and elegance to the wearers both young and not-so-young anymore. They paraded and showed off the company’s products in their hands.
Powerdance presented the dance revue “Panalangin” which, according to Douglas himself, was first danced by the group before the late Pope John Paul II a few years back. It had three segments and showcased the powerful medium of dance expressing another powerful tool, prayer.
The dances were very physical (read: energetic) and made even more difficult to execute especially for less trained dancers because the music was mellow. But still they performed in unison and with such passion, both in their body movements and in their facial expressions.
Exhilarating and moving! “Panalangin” is slated to come back to Cebu soon as part of a nationwide tour in preparation for a world tour. Despite having seen it, I still want to be in the queue of viewers when it comes back. That’s for sure.
