SMASHING! (March 01, 2010)

The last time we saw her was at the University of the Philippines' Nicanor Abelardo Hall during the last day of Samahan ng mga Papetir ng Pilipinas' smashing PAPET ASEAN 2010: Celebrating ASEAN Puppet Traditions last week.

It was a Friday and we were supposed to do our weekly ritual: discuss her poems every afternoon at 4 at the Likhaan: U.P. Institute of Creative Writing until her mom was ready to fetch her.

But, lately, she had all the time in the world to watch Singapore's Mascots and Puppets Specialists , Malaysia's Pak Yusoff Mamat, Indonesian dalangs, and our very own Anino Shadowplay Collective, Ony Carcamo, Roppets Edutainment, and Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas.
After almost a year with us as her adviser, Nikki, not Giovanni but Ferriols, is already an author!
The poet behind the book Smashing Cities is 17-year old Elvira Leonida Nicole Nuestro Ferriols.
Her pet project is nothing but a partial fulfilment as a Creative Writing major at Philippine High School for the Arts.

And it was made possible by grrrl power: her classmates, Ma. Angela Simbajon and Gianneluisa Gonzales, to name a few, was her book designer/photographer and model respectively.

On p.82, she describes herself as a “regular of film escapades concerning Grammy winners and feeds on a healthy selection of books and good music before barfing up the good stuff on paper” who “hopes to dine with the likes of Alex Turner, Gael Garcia Bernal, Bob Dylan, Neil Gaiman, etc.”

However, we can get to know her better through her poetry.

Consider her A Smashing City as her representative sample:

Her bloody avenues
are virtually jam-less,
the skyscrapers are all aglow,
and the windows to her soul
are sliding open
to let the nightlife in,
consuming her
blithe body.
The party’s begun—
She’s on over cloud nine!
She screams “that drink is mine!”
She sleepily smiles and says she’s f-fine…!

Ironically, her ode to the city was written during her stay in the mountain.
That's why her 82-page baby is inspired by Mariang Makiling and published by Aklat Makiling which can be found in Mt. Makiling in Los Baños, Laguna!

Yes, as a PHSA scholar, she has to live with her batchmates, 40 incoming freshies every year, to name a few.

As a matter of fact, PHSA Executive Director, Fernando Josef, is looking for the likes of Nikki for the 2010-2011 artists-scholars.

So, Grade 6 or 7 students graduating this March -- with exceptional talents in any of the fields of dance (ballet or folk), music (instrumental or voice), theater, visual arts, and creative writing – can avail of this rare opportunity.

Reiterates Tata Nanding, as he is fondly called in theater, television, and film world: “We wish to take in the best young artists of their generation. Likewise, since the funds for the four-year special training in the arts come from the taxpayers of the entire country, we would like to ensure that the young artists even from the most remote areas are informed about the search and auditions and are given equal chances of vying for the scholarship.”

Around 5 p.m., last February 26, we got a text from Nikki reminding us – while waiting at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute for Dr. Nelson Patron who eventually decided to perform partial nephrectomy to our Ina on March 16.

Anyway, it was all about the much-awaited PHSA happening known as Kuwit.

Indeed, we felt kinda healed upon hearing that even right after the National Arts Month we can continuously harvest from young artists' blood, sweat, and tears, so to speak.

We are talking about the big event at the Arts In The City within Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City on March 5 at 7 p.m.

Subtitled Traysikel, it will feature her and her classmates launching books: Soc Orlina's Pasahero, Isabella Patricia Hanopol Borlaza's Ang Pagpapakilala ng Isang Batang Mangangatha at iba pang Dula, and Nikki's' Smashing Cities.

Later, last Friday, too, we received another reminder from poet Mike Coroza, fresh from speaking and/or singing engagement during the 2nd International Conference on Filipino as a Global Language in San Diego, California last January 15 to 18.

Well, he wanted us to witness his career move from a mambabalagtas to a matinee idol, at least to his wife Jeanette and his son Miko, who took multiple roles as Pabling and part of the chorus, and his siblings Aya and Miggy.

All via Severino Reyes and Fulgencio Tolentino's smashing masterpiece, Walang Sugat, directed this time by Ricardo Abad, conducted by Josefino “Chino” Toledo, choreographed by Dexter Santos, and designed by National Artist Salvador Bernal who all did a great job in contemporizing a sarsuwela circa 1902.

As Tadeo, the father eager to arrange his son Miguel's marriage to the female lead, Julia, portrayed poetically by Laura Cabochan, Mike succeeded in connecting -- as swift as a SmartBro -- with the audience, perhaps due to his Balagtasan improvisation!

What made us roll into laughter, along with Jonathan Balsamo of the Ateneo High School and Association of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (APCAS), was his song-and-dance dalliances with Juana, supposedly his balae, played by London-trained Sonia Roco, whose posters as a “senatoriable” we cannot miss along Katipunan.

This Ateneo de Manila's Sesquicentennial offering at the Henry Lee Irwin Theater deserves to be toured in different campuses, Jesuit-owned or otherwise, after its final matinee last Saturday.
Not only for the sake of musical-lovers but for scholars as well since part of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Ateneo de Manila University’s program 500@150, which aims to raise money for 500 scholarships this year, and to Agenda for Hope.

By the way, Mike is proclaimed by smashing National Artist Virgilio Almario as the workshop director of Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA)'s Poetry Clinic this year – from June to November --as part of its 25th anniversary celebration.

Young poets like Nikki who plan to write bilingually can simply submit in Word Document file the following: one-page bio-data, ID picture, phone number, and five sample poems in Filipino via palihan@liraonline.org. Or submit them personally at the UP I.C.W, 2/F Faculty Center, College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman in Quezon City.

TEXT SUPPORT:
In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

CONSIDER THIS:

Sometimes we put too much passion on the biggest dreams and priorities in life that we fail to love the smallest pleasures from simple things. We search so much for the right choices, for the right person, for the right paths to walk through, and for the right time and for the right reasons.

But life is not about searching for the things that can be found. It is about letting the unexpected happen and finding things you never searched for.