By Leonides Arpon
My trip to the Philippines served as another awakening to the harsh reality of how the true value and importance of the arts is hardly nurtured in people’s daily lives, if at all. It makes this even more difficult when Filipino companies, theatres and touring groups struggle to compete along mainstream entertainment and moreso struggle to survive within their own performing arts community. To me it would be financial suicide to be a working artist in Manila, but when I look at the expenses of living in New York City, dancers do not make much profit, either, and usually need other jobs that really provide for their needs. However, the dollar, at least for now, can get one across the globe to audition, study and become immersed in other cultures and art forms, while earning pesos does not get one far from the archipelago and doing so is still a huge dream, even for the most talented artists within the performing arts in the Philippines.
I’ve heard that many artists in Manila stopped pursuing their careers, not necessarily because of financial difficulty but because of the direction many institutions or companies are going towards, where more pizzazz and flash are presented as opposed to in-depth research, experimentation and collaboration in a creative process. I understand how it can be a smart financial move for choreographers in NY to start doing more Broadway, operas or commercial work to earn a living and keep their dance companies alive. What happens in the long run, though, is that the company members suffer and loose interest because there is no mentorship and even when the choreographers are present the work created is “Fast Food,” Fried and served as fast as possible because of a deadline. No kneading, mashing, boiling, baking or marinating the “meat” overnight involved. Dance schools/institutes now also focus on creating followers, puppets or technicians rather than artists and leaders. These dancers then all look the same and end up quite confused as to what their individual voice or mission is when they are thrown into the real world after they graduate. These young artists spend $1000’s to learn how to live in a dance world that no longer exists today. Most of the companies or choreographers these youth in school dream of working with are either dead, struggling to survive or won’t be in existence by the time that they graduate. What easily happens next is all these young dancers create work that is based on “Gaga technique” or whatever is in fashion, which at best asks questions to the audiences that they don’t even have the answers to. I believe it is an artists mission is to lead others to become enlightened and inspire audiences to lead better lives and continue to push boundaries by taking the time to discover themselves as a person first who can make a difference and express it. There to me lies the answer and not the escape, which is what I often see onstage nowadays.
I’m not sure if the above is the case in Manila or the Philippines as a whole, but I believe that true Artists the world over will continue to starve if they believe in the goal and integrity of what is being created. I believe artists need to not accept starving anymore but truly find ways, even if having to “Occupy Dance” to create time to really discover something of value in their works. When you ask many young dancers or choreographers how much they are getting paid for a project the answer is usually, “I don’t know,” “I did not ask,” “I’ll find out later.” I believe in having to “pay your dues” and work for free at times when starting out or helping a friend but if beneath that there is no expectation or goal to make a living, the artist is only devaluing oneself and their profession as a whole. The Facebook post of “I am an Artist, I got bills to pay too,” does not mean much because one has not learned anything, no matter the information available, until one puts it into action daily! Remaining ignorant or not having goals to change the above would deem me useless and a hypocrite to these young people I was teaching in the Philippines whom I wished to inspire to pursue the arts and if not as a career, as something of value to their life that can be passed on in the future.
On the first day we landed in Catarman, Northern Samar I was actually proud and excited to see many Filipino’s just as dark as myself. I’ve started to forget there are others like me because 99% of the posters, billboards, celebrities and media in the Philippines depict mostly light skinned Filipinos. I told the team as a “joke” to find me one dark-skinned Filipino on a billboard, poster, movie or magazine. I also did not mean those who powder themselves light or use the ridiculous whitening soaps that are popular over there. My new slogan is, “It’s more colorful, diverse and beautiful in the Philippines.” There eventually was one dark skinned man that a friend saw on a billboard that led me to another after I Googled “Executive Optical.” The images spoke volumes to me. From personal experience, I strongly believe that many Filipinos (probably too many) believe that foreigners--especially Caucasians--know more and are better than them. This is in part due to the colonial mentality that is still deeply ingrained in one’s DNA along with the potential strands to realize better if it is nourished. At times I wondered if the above was the impetus for a number of government officials, community leaders, educators, NGO workers and others who volunteered their full support for Project Philippines, or as they called it in some places in Samar, “Chelsea Ainsworth and Company.”
Yet if this was the case or not, I quickly felt that our new friends had the mission to open up the minds and hearts of these youth we were about to teach as well. These selflessly dedicated people wanted us to pass on a particular dialect of a universal language of art that can always be made one's own when exposed to it. This dialect in our case was our styles of modern and contemporary dance, music (imagine a bassoon played in the provinces) and visual arts. As I took time to talk to our collaborators I learned that there were other people behind the scenes who supported the project as well, who we did not meet. I wonder if there were others as well that we were not told about. Some of our collaborators/supporters in the Philippines have taken it upon themselves to find other professions instead of pursuing their art. Some only knew of us through our Kickstarter campaign and rushed to call each other from distances apart before connecting with us to express their willingness to support in any way. This concluded in having other doors that lead to young minds opened for us by next project’s due date. Through their new fields they continue to support the arts and aspiring artists. They are my heros. Whether conscious of it or not, they have taught me through their actions that it is indeed we who have to keep the arts relevant in daily life. This generosity left me grateful and humbled and I learned that my belief in how to approach teaching young people today is valid.
I’ve taught numerous students across the globe and it is a fact that whether a child in the Philippines lives in a home literally made out of boxes on the street corner or if a child grew up in a Beverly Hills mansion, the talent and potential is equal. Whether one has the opportunity to nurture and hone that talent is the difference. Yet if someone has the heart and doesn’t even have an inkling of an opportunity, they will create one. My personal mission was to instill these young Filipino youth with confidence in themselves and develop that heart and spirit to fight for their dreams. Some of these kids without any training at all had the potential to get into Juilliard, but I’d say the confidence was truly lacking. My mission was not just to share knew approaches to dance or a specific technique but to let them know that indeed life is hard and would be moreso if they would try and pursue a career in dance. My parents grew up just as poor as some of these kids. Yet they managed to travel abroad and offer me great opportunities. I struggled with racism and prejudice from both foreigners and my own Filipino community growing up, especially because I started dancing at a young age. The reality back then, though, was that if I succeeded as a dancer I could take care of myself and I did. Yet the reality today is that it is hardly enough to take care of oneself as a dancer no matter how talented you are. Most dance jobs cannot provide a salary for the individual, let alone a family. Young dancers today need to stop thinking of how dance will let them survive but find ways to learn how they can keep dance alive and thriving. After all, dance and all art forms come from within us and not the other way around.
So why continue to nurture the arts? What is so important about the arts during a global crisis? If the world crisis will reach it’s peak, wins over our spirits and the value of art is not protected, there may be no bouncing back this time around. I hope we don’t get to a place where we have to see the answer to this question. However, as history has shown, it is art that always brings people out of the rubble in war-torn and impoverished environments. So it is each person’s responsibility to nurture the artist within themselves and others until indeed we are able to create peace in our planet.
After the project I volunteered to go and teach a class in Smokey Mountain, an area that was once covered with mass garbage dumps that people lived in. I met a young man that came to take my class who grew up in Smokey Mountain, and still lives there. He was involved in an arts program and was part of a folklore dance company. I asked him what did dance do for him and what has he taken from it. His answer as best I remember was, “Dance has enabled me to be disciplined and focused today. I am surprised at how adults treat each other many times, especially in the workplace. Instead of behaving like them I use my creativity to overcome many obstacles. I really miss dancing with the company but am very happy that I did it. I can communicate better with others and am a better person because of dance.”
May we all keep raising young people and ourselves with such values. Thank you all for making Project Philippines happen.
