A Spanish Fiesta feat: Sol Pico’s fantastic act / Notes on ‘Mulat’, PETA

Sol Pico’s Besame el Cactus (Kiss My Cactus), part of the current Spanish Festival for Culture and the Arts, evoked suspense, laughter, wonderment and sheer admiration for the dancer who wrought surprise upon surprise upon surprise.

Her one-hour show at the RCBC auditorium was described thus: "Sol Pico touches the theme of risk, success and failure of an artist. Without compromising her personal style, she enters surrealistic comedy and nightmares with varied styles from classical ballet to extraordinary flamenco footwork. Theater, drama and music converge within the world of dance in this high-spirited performance."

In essence, this was what one witnessed:

In a (surrealistic) warrior’s armor and leggings, Sol Pico descended from the stage to distribute large tomatoes to a few. She thus won audience sympathy at once, amusingly enjoining the spectators to throw the tomatoes at her in case they didn’t like her show, but warning them to aim accurately! Onstage, she went into ballet and modern dance movements to an operatic aria rendered exquisitely by Montserrat Caballé (?) to the familiar Besa me mucho, to Cha-Cha, and so on.

She obviously must have been into classic ballet, and excelling in it, as the predominantly balletic steps proved, these fusing with popular ballroom, modern and Spanish dances, and a bit of acrobatics. Sol Pico even walked on an imaginary tight rope perhaps to suggest risk. On a flying trapeze (more risk), she glided and floated in the air while executing funny, angular footwork.

Removing her armor, she ascended a ladder to try her luck even further, and putting around her waist a billowy skirt in white with touches of black, engaged in rapid port de bras (arm movements) that again conveyed balletic training. On her descent, she shed off more of her costume, revealing a very brief tutu. She twirled and turned, executing eclectic steps, while her partner held on to a huge, dizzyingly revolving mirror. Donning a thick white wig, Sol Pico kept bumping against the mirror and falling, impliedly to demonstrate the many nightmarish dangers an artist faces.

Later, she toyed around with a lighted torch – still another danger – her partner holding up a similar one. His sleeve caught fire but it was quickly extinguished. To further surprise spectators, Sol Pico lighted a cigarette and danced while holding it in hand. Meanwhile, the symbolic wooden cactus was pushed out of sight.

On a darkened stage, she emerged in black trousers and toe shoes to execute modern dance, repeatedly jumping and landing in a squatting position on pointes. This was a daring and difficult stance; indeed, she kept astounding the audience with her dexterity – she was in continuous, perpetual motion – and there seemed nothing she could not do! Her act was clever, fascinatingly imaginative and unpredictable, with a consistent semblance of spontaneity. It ended with ripe tomatoes "raining" onstage – a surreal joke on herself – as Instituto Cervantes cultural officer Jose Ma. Fons Guardiola handed her a bouquet to tremendous applause, with curtain calls ensuing.

* * *

Invitations to the ‘Rama and Sita’ puppet show staged by UP’s Teatro Mulat, and to Mario O’Hara’s Ang Palacio ni Valentin staged by PETA, were sent to The STAR office (rather than to my residence), thus arriving late. Here are notes on both productions.

In her message to Teatro Mulat founded by playwright Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio, Indian Ambassador Navrekha Sharma observes: "The ‘Ramayana’ is truly a wondrous story. It is a rich mixture of sweetness and light, terror and anguish, honor and fidelity, and vindicates for all time the superiority of good over evil. Its characters define the spark of divinity which resides in all mankind as well as the evil which, again, only mankind is capable of."

Director Amihan Bonifacio Remolete, daughter of Amelia, observes:

"Since Mulat has been inspired by Asian puppet traditions such as the Indonesian wayang golek (rod puppet) and wayang kulit (shadow puppet), we decided to combine these techniques and shadow players. A blend of Filipino and Indian motifs is seen throughout the play.

"The rod puppets, designed by the playwright (Amelia), are beautifully carved from wood by Paloy Cagayat. For us, the puppet is the star of the show. The puppeteer or dalang (an Indonesian term) is the soul of the puppet. In black outfit, we give life to the characters. The use of black has been inspired by the Japanese bunraku puppeteer’s outfit which means ‘invisibility’ or nothingness.’ The puppeteer’s hand distracts people at first; what they see as distraction is actually the art and skill of puppetry.

"Another element which projects the puppet’s character is the voice. Well-known and dedicated stage and movie stars and theater students give voice not only to one character but to as many as three: Tony Mabesa (another mentor of mine), Alex Cortez, Romnick Sarmenta, Harlene Bautista Sarmenta, Jovy Peregrino, Jim Bergado, Marte Nerona, Marco Harder and Aileen dela Cruz.

"Playwright Amelia has captured 12 books of the epic into a one-hour show."

* * *

Throughout the years, PETA has been performing at the open-air Rayah Sulayman, weather permitting. Its permanent stage is now at No. 5 Sunnyside Drive Barangay Kristong Hari, QC.

The opening play Mario O’Hara’s grand prize winner in the 1998 Centennial Contest, which Soxie Topacio directs, is (and I quote), a love story in zarzuela. The setting is Palacio where Valentin’s nightly drunken stupor brings him back to his colorful past as the brilliant pianist of the Palacio orchestra. The beautiful singer Diding is the love of his life, and the obsessive Señor Alfonso wants Diding, too. The love affair is tragic, but their great love transcends even death.

Nonie Buencamino is Valentin, a difficult role spanning 50 years. "Nonie brought to life my dream of Valentin," says Soxie. Diding is alternately played by Cynthia Culig-Guico and She Maala. Chinggoy Alonzo and Chiqui Xerez-Burgos alternate as Don Alfonso.