U is for Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, A-Z of Filipino Cultural Exports
1929 – 1999 / ‘Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, choreographer, dance educator and researcher, spent almost four decades in the discovery and study of Philippine folk and ethnic dances. She applied her findings to project a new example of an ethnic dance culture that goes beyond simple preservation and into creative growth. Over a period of thirty years, she had choreographed suites of mountain dances, Spanish-influenced dances, Muslim pageants and festivals, regional variations and dances of the countryside for the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company of which she was the dance director. These dances have all earned critical acclaim and rave reviews from audiences in their world tours in Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Among the widely acclaimed dances she had staged were the following: Singkil, a Bayanihan signature number based on a Maranao epic poem; Vinta, a dance honoring Filipino sailing prowess; Tagabili, a tale of tribal conflict; Pagdiwata, a four-day harvest festival condensed into a six-minute breath-taking spectacle;Salidsid, a mountain wedding dance ; Idaw, Banga and Aires de Verbena’.
Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula was awarded the title of National Artists of the Philippines in 1988. Text taken from National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
K is for Kidlat Tahimik, A-Z of Filipino Cultural Exports
B: 1942 / Dubbed by fellow filmmakers and critics as the “Father of Philippine Independent Cinema”, the films of Kidlat Tahimik are a critique on neocolonialism, primarily influenced by the 1960’s Argentinian manifesto of the ‘Third Cinema’.
Tahimik’s work has been received positively worldwide, with his latest film ‘Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III’, awarded the Caligari Prize at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival. This is not the first time Tahimik’s work has been celebrated in Berlin. In 1977 he won the critics over with ‘Perfumed Nightmare’, which was awarded the Fipresci Prize.
As Balikbayan was only released in February of this year, there are currently no trailers available to view online… perhaps the Filipino Embassy in London could arrange for a screening, as the work is a call to a new movement toward making films with stories that are truly Filipino. Stand up for a united third world revolution.
Third Cinema Manifesto can be read here.
A review on Balikbayan can be read here.
Kidlat Tahimik Filmography includes:
#OFW more than a country of good looking, half-wit, opportunistic terrorists
S is for Nicole Scherzinger, A-Z of Filipino Cultural Exports
B. 1978 / Perhaps an unlikely candidate for my final cut…but despite appearances I think Nicole Scherzinger is a true artist. With a career spanning over 16 years, time alone has proven Scherzinger’s talent and survival instincts in the cutthroat world of the music industry. Perhaps better known by UK audiences as a judge on Simon Cowell’s X Factor (2010/ 2012), Scherzinger is a talented singer/ songwriter and former lead singer of successful girl pop group ‘The Pussy Cat Dolls’ (2003-2010).
Nicole Scherzinger, is a strange beauty. At a glance I thought she was black – – this has been echoed throughout her career, by critics negatively comparing her to Beyonce. The comparison is inevitable as both girls are from the same generation with shared influences, ranging from powerhouses like Whitney Houston & Tina Turner, to stage performers such as Mick Jagger & Prince. The female pop stars, have a shared musical education, which has been remixed and reinterpreted for their own singing and dancing stage acts. Scherzinger, like Beyonce – grew up in America, but is in fact mixed race; her father is of Filipino descent and her mother of Native Hawaiian and Russian descent. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, her parents split when she young and she took on her stepfather’s surname. Nicole Scherzinger has been mistaken as Pakistani – this is of little wonder, due to her hit song ‘Jai Ho’, for Slumdog Millionaire (2008).
Scherzinger is also the face of Müller youghurt – Mullericious!
#OFW more than a country of good looking, half-wit, opportunistic terrorists
R is for Jose Rizal, A-Z of Filipino Cultural Exports
Journalist, Poet, Activist, Doctor (1861–1896)
Born into a wealthy and affluent family, Jose Rizal was a gifted scholar, excelling in various subjects and fields of discipline – from the arts, to the languages and sciences. A proud Filipino, Rizal sought independence from Spanish rule. Inspired by the social impact of Harriet Beecher Stowe‘s novel – Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), which also lay the the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement in America. Rizal took a similar approach in his novel ‘Noli Me Tángere’ (Latin for Touch Me Not), an accumulation of his research around the dark colonial past, which held back the people of the Philippines from fulfilling their true identities. Published in Spain and printed in Spanish, ‘Touch Me Not’ was banned, yet smuggled into the homeland. For this act of so called terrorism, Rizal was exiled and executed by the Spanish. The Spanish had removed the messenger, but the message lived on, the movement had begun and dissidence was united. In 1898, the Philippines became an independent country, in spirit Jose Rizal’s legacy was fulfilled. Rizal is recognised as being an instrumental force and icon in the Nationalist movement; his work continues to be celebrated today with ‘Touch Me Not’ being a compulsory read for high school students.
#OFW more than a country of good looking, half-wit, opportunistic terrorists
Q is for DJ Qbert (Invisibl Skratch Piklz), A-Z of Filipino Cultural Exports
B. 1969 / DJ QBert was officially awarded the title America’s Best DJ in 2010. With a well-documented and successful DJ career, he is considered as one, if not “The Greatest DJ Of All Time”. DJ Qbert was one of the founding members of Filipino DJ Troupe Invisibl Skratch Piklz, from the east cost of America. The award winning group of individual DJs were instrumental in the development of the turntable genre and also influential in the sub genre of Pinoy Hip Hop – the outcome of bringing hip hop ‘back home’ to the Philippines.
DJ YODA ON WHY QBERT IS THE GREATEST DJ OF ALL TIME:
“Why is Qbert the best? It comes down to one thing: scratching. Ask anyone involved in rhythmic manipulation of records and they’ll tell you the same thing: no one is coming close or has ever come close to Qbert. My first exposure was through his mixtapes when I was learning to scratch aged about fifteen. He’d put film samples on top of classic B-boy breaks and cartoon samples and scratch up random spoken word stuff. Without that I wouldn’t be doing what I do now. The cool thing is his whole focus has been on developing the art form of turntablism. Qbert’s out there keeping it real and passing on that knowledge and creativity to a younger generation through his online scratch academy, which is really important.”
Dj Shadow & Qbert Mix – listen here
Qbert talks about his approach to collecting records here
#OFW more than a country of good looking, half-wit, opportunistic terrorists
