Tales Of Manuvu

Franchezca C. Enriquez 1 – CLM

Professor Jmes Loreto Piscos

Tales of The Manuvu March 23, 2019 was the day the Legal Management section of 1 – CLM was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch Tales of The Manuvu which centered on the skill of Ballet Philippine dancers. It took place on the Cultural Center of the Philippines, 7:00 p.m. where I was seated at Lower Box, seat 7. The presentation was both choreographed and directed by the one and only National Artist for Dance and Ballet Philippines Alice Reyes. It is inspired by the creation story of the Manobo Tribes of Mindanao. It is considered a rock – opera ballet because of the different instruments involved during the play and as well as the 70’s rock song that were wonderfully performed. The music by Dero Pedero which he worked with the rock band Afterbirth confessed that most of them “played by ear”. The itinerary of talented rock bands performing included Radioactive Sago Project. One band member is a four – time palanca award – winning writer and two – time Gawad Urian awardee for best music who is Lourd De Veyra. Francis De Veyra was in – charge of bass and was the musical director, together with alumni from UP College of Music Jay Gapasin who is in – charge of drums. Instrument experts like: Juni Lema on guitars, Pards Tupas on trombone, Arwin Nava on percussion, and Wowie Ansano on trumpet also contributed to the sounds that made the night. Special additions to the band were made for Tales of The Manuvu, and these were: Nikki Cabardo, TJ Ramos, Joseph Cabanero, Malou Matute, and Grace Bugayong. This rock ballet was a change for National Artist Alice Reyes because her works centered on heavy drama and feminism, this time she decided to do something light but with local characters that show relevance and fun. There was a prologue before the creation story started, it was a traditional prologue called Tabbayanon in which the content and the method of the presentation are explained. The prologue consists of works like Sun Down, The Weight in our Toes, Mama, and Chichester Psalms. The performance that gained my attention the most in the prologue was the MAMA, not only did I understand fully what the choreographer and dancers were trying to portray but they made me grateful to my mother and to all the women that carry the burden of putting others before themselves. This story is quite relevant to me, when my best friend’s mother died she told me she knew despair like nothing else she ever felt before. The person who was attached to her from birth was gone, the person who knew and loved her most from conception was gone, and like the choreography that shows gratefulness, despair, and love I was moved. How the straw hat and balloon of an outfit meant hard - work and how she carried her children is an amazing part of a mother. She passed on the straw hat to all her children knowing that she raised them right and it was time to say goodbye to “nanay”, and I shed a tear. There was a 15-minute interval afterwards and that was when the Tales of The Manuvu started. The Part 1 explained the beginning of things, in which it presented that Manuvus had a God of Evil and a God of goodness which were both powerful in their own realms. Manama is the God of good, he had diwatas and anitu’s on his side. His characteristics included: confidence, omnipotence, and self – satisfaction. Ogassi on the other hand is assisted by Busaw, he loathes Manama. The God of evil had a realm filled with lush vegetation and fruitful land due to the bees,

on the other hand Manama had a barren land which only had one tree growing in it. Manama entered the realm of Ogassi and there he was able to secure topsoil and seedlings, thus the feud of good and evil began. The second part consists of the first man and the first woman, Manama is a man of sleep but he wakes up just in time to finish his divine duties, and then he had a thought in which he described as a worm in his head by thinking of making man. The whole sky world knew and were in action to make his realization into reality. Ogassi interfered with his plan and that is why man is not able to have eternal life. When man came to life, he was thankful that he was able to see and experience this world in full awe and wonder. Then Ogassi wanted to disrupt man’s content by making him realize his loneliness. That is why Manama made women, to gain victory over Ogassi. Man found his counterpart but not long, women were longing for a purpose, that was when Manama decided to give them the knowledge of sex. In the play, the eccentric choreography and presentation that man and women were having sex gave the audience a clearer prediction. The third part focused on the disparity of heaven and earth. Nature has been less kind and good nature of people have disappeared. The people did it now, they disrupted the peaceful sleep of Manama by the pounding of their pestles that jolt the floor of the sky world. That was when Manama decided to bring the sky world higher in a height that neither man nor their noises could disrupt his sleep. Ogassi now sees this as an opportunity to cause harm and commotion among men. He created a monster called Makarallig that drives people out of their land and spreads death and destruction. This was the time when men and women were enlightened and started to rely on themselves and their strength. They fought off the creature and drove Ogassi away. The message of the story was not how to disturb God but on how humans make their own faith. “Tayo ang Gumuhit ng ating kapalaran” this is what I learned from the finishing song of the performance. Their resourcefulness and unity made them successful and that is what this country needs. The tradition of our ancestors are not only practical but also showed their culture wherein they are not bound by the ideals of foreign invaders. The script was based on Bienvenido Lumbera on E. Arsenio Manuel’s retelling on certain origin myths of the Manuvu. On the quote below, I can say that I have seen an abundance of momentarily sculptures that were both breath taking and beautiful. Artists like: Lorenz Martinez and Popert Barnadas made the scene surreal. Ballet is not only for foreigners, Alice Reyes had shown a Mindanao Traditional Story that recognized the intelligence, culture, and beliefs of th early Filipinos that make an impact to millenials, like me, today. “Dancing is creating a sculpture that is visible only for a moment.” ― Erol Ozan

References/Sources: Leon, P. L. (2019, March 24). Legends rock the stage in 'Tales of the Manuvu'. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/arts-and-culture/2019/03/25/1904152/legends-rock-stagetales-manuvu