Pundaquit recollected: Magic amidst a mango orchard

Serendipity is one of those marvelous words in this second language I learned. I was scouring my e-mail files when I stumbled on this report I filed in April 2005 to a newspaper after returning home from a visit to Casa San Miguel in Zambales. The piece was turned down twice in different sections of the same daily. By then, I was too tired to peddle it elsewhere. No heart broken; just an electronic file shelved.

Many mango seasons have gone by, even the data here are dated,chief of which is Coke Bolipata is no longer 40. Another is the fact that travel time to Zambales has been cut drastically with the opening of SCITEX.

But when I stumble upon old words, what am to do but give them a new lease on life (cliche-sounding though that may seem), especially because this piece was turned down on grounds of being too lengthy and too local. Once more, with feeling, the Pundaquit of 2005. And I hope Bolipata has remained faithful to his vision.

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A dozen seasons have passed since violinist Alfonso "Coke" Bolipata, artistic director of Casa San Miguel, built and opened a cultural center in the heart of a mango orchard in Pundaquit, Zambales, and the artistic fruits are falling from the trees.

Over the weekend at the Ramon Corpus Hall, Myra Beltran, lead dancer-founder of Dance Forum, and Paul Morales, artistic director of Airdance, joined Donna Miranda, Marielle Alonzo, Jethro Pioquinto, Nordic Caraig and Reagan Cornelio through five numbers, most of which danced to live music by Alvo Paert, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ernest Bloch as interpreted by the Pundaquit Chamber Players under Bolipata.

The recital, entitled "Ludus," derived from the writing of St. Thomas Aquinas, connoted movement and play as opposed to stillness, Morales said.

Morales, who referred to Beltran as the country's leading light in modern dance, said it was a challenge to choreograph for a small space or for that matter "make dances that can be performed in any venue."

Then there is the matter of dancing to live music that he said took time to adjust to the tempo. To him dance is "solace, a sanctuary where you always go back to yourself. You keep on observing yourself, pacing yourself."

Beltran, who got back last November from the University of Iowa's theater arts program, brought home sheet music for the chamber music players to perform.

She met Bolipata in 1994 after her first full-length concert that revolved around Roberto Feleo's "Tao-Tao" installation. She wanted to dance wherever it went, and Casa was one of the venues. There she became an artist-in-residence and was featured in Sari Dalena's film "Puting Paalam." She continues to produce work for the Casa once every two years.

Bolipata, 40, who recently recovered from a gall bladder operation that has left him gaunt-looking, has never been more energized with the success of the music, theater and visual arts workshops offered at the Casa this summer.

Casa has as many as 120 participants in the music workshop, the youngest being three years old and the oldest 48. They drop by every Saturday and Sunday for lessons. Some of them are farmers, fisher folk, tricycle drivers, gas station attendants and professionals.

The promising young musicians also teach the younger kids and get paid P50 for each student for every half hour's lesson. For example, the 11-or-12-year old child would teach the four- or five-year olds.

According to Bolipata, senior resident artists come to give short-term workshops. In the past, Casa had violinist Oscar Yatco, writer NVM Gonzalez who used to play the guitar, cellist Renato Lucas and Bolipata himself.

Resident artists are current college/conservatory students who come to the center on weekends to teach throughout the year. These are mostly Bolipata's most advanced students from his teaching studio in Manila.

Asked how Casa San Miguel sustains its yearlong program, he said there are corporate sponsors that are good citizens and know how to give back to the community.

The Casa's educational activities are made possible by contributions to the annual operating fund from Citigroup in New York, the offices of Senators Ramon Magsaysay Jr. and Loi Ejercito as well as grants from the Metrobank Foundation and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. There are also private contributions from individual donors.

Bolipata said more infrastructure support for building and technical upgrades are made possible this year by Siemens and its affiliates, adding, "Beyond all the material support, we exist really because of the goodwill of our dedicated and loyal staff, teachers and volunteers."

Artists' residencies are by informal invitation only and chosen according to the needs of the center. Interested artists can e-mail the Casa at pundaquit@yahoo.com to make a proposal.

Bolipata said there are three young orphans in the group who signed up for therapy and are "getting better than expected." They were given additional scholarships in the art workshop for further therapy. The art teachers are Daniel Querijero and Carlo Gabuco.Bolipata admitted though that the festival is more known by Filipino-Americans abroad who come home as balikbayans after viewing feature documentaries on the place in the Filipino channel. These Filipinos tell their relatives in the home country about this special place in Zambales, and that's how visitors turn up.

Bolipata's work in the first three years of the Casa's existence was to bring people from all over the world to perform or to try the space. The space includes an amphitheater that can comfortably sit 1,000 people, and it was the site of the recent concert of the Metro Manila Community Orchestra under Josefino Toledo. There is also a shadow play theater. The Siemens company sponsored a multi-purpose
hall that can be used for exhibits, workshops and performances. The Alaska room (after the milk company) is used for practice sessions.

Bolipata has branched out to adapting folk tales. In the beginning, Casa San Miguel went into children's illustrated book publishing for which it gave residency grants to young writers to research and document local Zambales folktales. They came up with a collection of a dozen folktales from the province, with a plan to publish one each year featuring a young illustrator and a young writer. Sadly, they only went as far as publishing two stories, "Kablay," retold by Amel Zubiri and illustrated by Felix Mago Miguel, and "Pawikan," an original story by Randy Bustamante, illustrated by Katti Sta. Ana.

Bolipata said, "In the interest of bringing back to life an interest and pride in indigenous stories, hand in hand with the development of a theater program, the dozen
stories provided the necessary material to achieve the objectives of promoting arts and culture at a community level using a native story to be performed by local talents.

"I wrote the mermaid story three years ago because it had a mystical relevance in my life, details of which are too strange to relate now. The story is the universal tale of the mermaid who takes a young boy to her world, only for him (Julian) to realize that he belongs to the mortal world, to accept the fate of mortality and take on the obligation of caring for aging parents.

"The mermaid, through the human and mortal Julian, learns to love, dream and shed tears. In her world there were no shadows, no darkness, no love and no tears. The mermaid lets him go, warning him that he will have no memory of her. Upon returning, he is shocked to see that 50 years have gone by, thinking he had merely fallen asleep. In the end, Julian takes on the responsibility of making a life for his family. At times, while in fishing from his banca, he peers into its depths filled with a sense of the familiar, while the mermaid (unseen) stares back at him from beneath."

Getting there:

Casa San Miguel is on Evangelista St., Barrio San Miguel, a fishing village in the town of San Antonio, Zambales. By bus, take the Victory Liner from Caloocan Terminal, also known as Monumento. Buy a ticket headed for Iba. This will take you north to Olongapo, and upon reaching Marcelino, the bus will head west towards San Antonio. Get off at San Antonio, where you will have to get on a tricycle, right
across from the the bus station. Tell the driver to take you to Casa San Miguel. Travel time from Manila to Casa is about four hours.

By car: Take the North Expressway which brings you through the provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga and Bataan. Enter the Subic Port to save 15 minutes. Upon exiting continue on the National Road through Subic town, Castillejos and San Marcelino. In San Marcelino, take a left to San Antonio. Upon entering San Antonio, you will pass the
municipal hall and town plaza, and see a school at the end of the road. Take a left here past two small blocks and a right on Evangelista St. Drive for about three kilometers and you will see a sign that says: "Welcome to Casa San Miguel." If you hit the beach, you've gone too far!

Photo source: http://www.waypoints.ph/photo_detail.php?wpt=casasm&passfile=casasm01.jpg