BAKATA: THE BATTLE OF STREET POETS
by: Kali Alaia
Creative Image Foundation under the leadership of Toshihiko Uriu is paving the way for local talents to get noticed on a global scale.
Bakata: The Battle of the Street Poets project is a play that involved not only the children being supported by Creative Image Foundation '
Creative Image Foundation (CIF) has been providing free education to children who are picking trash since 2000.
The main objective of the education program is to provide opportunities for flowering talent.
The number of graduates from CIF if already at 5,000, the lessons provided are not limited to regular education subjects. The education program involves workshops that will involve singing, dancing including that of theater performance.
Creative Image Foundation makes use of the TIU Theater, located in Amorsolo, Makati as a venue for talent showcase.
The children from Payatas and Smokey Mountain are given an opportunity to experience a wider stage—the aim is to introduce the children to a wider audience not just in the Philippines but also in South East Asian community.
The children studying in the program, do not need to be limited with their education, they can have a venue for artistic expression and not only that they also experience cross cultural exchange.
The foundation wants to bridge cross cultural gap, to foster connections and respect from one culture to another especially with ethnic groups.
Creative Image Foundation has succeeded in training the children to become world-class theater performers.
The aim of TIU is to also introduce ethnic minority culture by including traditional arts performances.
BAKATA is a theater play that aims to showcase how far the children under the program of CIF have learned. It involves an actual script and theater performance play, and it has formally opened to a wider audience.
Baguio artists have been called to collaborate with the children in Payatas and Smokey Mountain, and the result was an intermingling of culture.
Bakata has made me realize that Art must shout, must tug a string, must allow you to explore and create yourself---
I don't usually like to stay in Manila, I detest the place and see nothing useful, I see nothing worth learning- I see nothing worth noticing- to me Manila is heartache, intense heartache- but after watching the Bakata: I began to realize that this kind of heartache has turned people in Manila---violently in love with life- they are hungry, physically and spiritually and this is what causes them to breath intensely-
I was able to sense it inside the theater, with intensity- the kind of hunger that the entire city was feeling, but the kind of hunger that was good- the kind of hunger that does not need to be satiated immediately--Bakata is a good kind of hunger for the soul.
A Baguio spirit who loves her pine trees, her fog, her brewed coffee and bonfires- someone who would rather forget Manila suddenly fell in love with one of the hardest cities to live in--what occurred is nothing short of a miracle--and this I will declare is the Bakata effect--
It has the ability to make you remember, old wounds that you have been repairing all your life- it has the power to make you remember what you have been through on a personal level- it is able to integrate--it is able to make you feel your being here--your presence- your life.
Community theater has different elements, unlike that of theater productions in schools that have presented scripts.
In order to create the script, they first had to immerse in Payatas and Smokey mountain- they had to meet the characters who would be playing, they first had to mold and hear what these children had to say- the script must speak about the essence of the actors, the essence of where they are coming from--Community theater has its vision and message to give- and in order for it to come out right, it has to be merged with the spiritual world.
Baguio artists was able to take the spirituality of the Cordillera side the City of Manila, and it was perfectly mashed and intertwined--leading to a perfect blend. There are so many interesting stories that occurred in Bakata, given the age of Social media we were able to feel it more- the facebook status of the children after the play will astound you--children speaking from the heart..
I have been fortunate enough to be able to meet these children from Payatas and Smokey mountain, it felt really weird because it feels as if they have been specifically picked out to perform in this stage- in this moment in time.
Toshiku Uriu must be thrilled, although I have not met the producer yet- upon reading the biography profile in the pamphlets spread in TIU- I know that this Bakata Play is soul fulfilling for him.
He has dedicated most of his life in developing and sharing what he could provide so that the people of Payatas and Smokey mountain could thrive-- to be able to see this play come to life--- must have been truly a larger than life experience.
Pio Balbuena:
Pio Balbuena worked with Bakata and was responsible for the book and lyrics.
Pio is a rap artist, actor and a television host and has already composed songs, I checked his profile on Facebook and was surprised- this guy is real- and this rap artist speaks of something that comes from within the soul--
If you have not heard of Pio Balbuena yet...check his page and be amazed like I did. I know for sure that one day- this rap artist will be able to create legendary examples and acts that would solidify the demigod that I saw.
This was written, to encourage and invite people to experience community theater-- community theater has his own spiritual power that is often forgotten- because everything is easy, everything is fed into your mouth, everything is instant.
There are certain things in life, like relationships that are in a fragile state and must be opened and enjoyed little by little without destroying it.
Bakata is like a flower, slowly opening its petals to the world, the scent gently enters the nostrils, and then within seconds the flower closes again-- the beauty evades you again, because it wants life to remain flowing--anything that is beautiful cannot be touched, only experienced--like a flower Bakata cannot be destroyed because it is already residing in the soul.
I was able to sense it inside the theater, with intensity- the kind of hunger that the entire city was feeling, but the kind of hunger that was good- the kind of hunger that does not need to be satiated immediately--Bakata is a good kind of hunger for the soul.
Baguio artists was able to take the spirituality of the Cordillera side the City of Manila, and it was perfectly mashed and intertwined--leading to a perfect blend. There are so many interesting stories that occurred in Bakata, given the age of Social media we were able to feel it more- the facebook status of the children after the play will astound you--children speaking from the heart..
Pio Balbuena:
