Holiday Trip: CCP
Nothing beats a good quality time with family during the holidays. Although our family really likes our home television, we didn't want to be home buddies the entire long weekend. So, we went out of the house as early as five o'clock in the morning and went to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
I know what you're thinking. So much for a holiday trip, right? Why not Tagaytay? Or Baguio? Let me help you understand: Going here is like time travel to me.
It doesn't look like that now (I didn't get to do a lot of documenting). But places where memories were built haven't change. This haven of performing arts has been part of my memory archive since I-don't-even-remember-when-anymore.
As a family, we regularly visited CCP to take a whiff of fresh air there. I have this really cute (cute talaga? nagbuhat ng sariling bangko) photo when I was five years old, sitting on a really big tree's branch. And then a photo of my brother and I chasing each other on the grassland. If you're from my generation (or older, hahaha), you may also be perfectly aware of the bicycle and roller blades rent all around CCP.
Outside the building, CCP may be a mere edifice amidst a flora-getaway in the middle of the city; a temporary refuge for lovers and loners, or families like ours. And growing up, that's all I knew about it!
I gained a little consciousness about the world at large and I found out that CCP is rooms and rooms of theatre and auditoriums inside and out. Once when I was a fifth grader, my classmates and I watched a cultural performance of Igorots at the Folk Arts Theatre not very far from CCP itself. That is the beginning of my love for Filipino performing arts, and my love affair with CCP.
Who would have known that seven years later, I'll be back, watching yet another performance--only on the silver screen. As college sophomore, we were required to watch our alumnus' film screening in Cinemalaya 2007 (Cinemalaya by the way is a local festival of independent films). After the screening, it didn't feel like a requirement anymore. Not only did I get to spend a day out of class (ha!), I also got to watch moving paintings for the first time in my life. The scenes were like eye candies--picturesque landscapes of beaches and cliffs. I vowed that I will attend future Cinemalayas--required or not!
Thank God, Cinemalayas were required! More time I got to spend in CCP! We were madly in love. Galas, elbow-brushing with actors and theatre performers in that beautiful lobby were a must for me. I had mock photo shoots with friends who also loved what I love. I viewed art exhibits by my professor, and other artists' labor of love. I have visited their library (there actually is a library) and researched impossible finds. I think the only thing I haven't tried doing there is to watch an actual play! (Faith goal for 2011!)
The architects who made it may have tried to make it look like a toilet bowl in mockery of the person who asked for its creation. But, the joke's on them! It has become a toilet bowl, yes--a beautiful dump of ideas and creations by virtuosos. A part of me (and people who may be like me) becomes alive when I visit that place--the artsy-fartsy part. Oh how goosebumps arise when I walk the marbled floors of CCP and look at its sparkling chandeliers! Other creators have walked this path and produced numbers of magnum opus. It smells like ART in the air. Always have. Always will.
I was so glad to actually be there last Thursday. From feeling 21 and jaded, I felt like I was ten and childlike. Old memories suddenly became vivid, looking so real. So far, it's the best day of my Holy Week. I can't wait for my next visit there--Cinemalaya 2011. New memories are to be made, like another obra maestra to be displayed in my hall of memories. *hopeful sigh* We (the Legaspi family) need not go far to take a break from work and stress.
See you soon, CCP, see you soon.
 |
| It's looking a lot like... something in your rest room. |
It doesn't look like that now (I didn't get to do a lot of documenting). But places where memories were built haven't change. This haven of performing arts has been part of my memory archive since I-don't-even-remember-when-anymore.
As a family, we regularly visited CCP to take a whiff of fresh air there. I have this really cute (cute talaga? nagbuhat ng sariling bangko) photo when I was five years old, sitting on a really big tree's branch. And then a photo of my brother and I chasing each other on the grassland. If you're from my generation (or older, hahaha), you may also be perfectly aware of the bicycle and roller blades rent all around CCP.
Outside the building, CCP may be a mere edifice amidst a flora-getaway in the middle of the city; a temporary refuge for lovers and loners, or families like ours. And growing up, that's all I knew about it!
I gained a little consciousness about the world at large and I found out that CCP is rooms and rooms of theatre and auditoriums inside and out. Once when I was a fifth grader, my classmates and I watched a cultural performance of Igorots at the Folk Arts Theatre not very far from CCP itself. That is the beginning of my love for Filipino performing arts, and my love affair with CCP.
Who would have known that seven years later, I'll be back, watching yet another performance--only on the silver screen. As college sophomore, we were required to watch our alumnus' film screening in Cinemalaya 2007 (Cinemalaya by the way is a local festival of independent films). After the screening, it didn't feel like a requirement anymore. Not only did I get to spend a day out of class (ha!), I also got to watch moving paintings for the first time in my life. The scenes were like eye candies--picturesque landscapes of beaches and cliffs. I vowed that I will attend future Cinemalayas--required or not!
Thank God, Cinemalayas were required! More time I got to spend in CCP! We were madly in love. Galas, elbow-brushing with actors and theatre performers in that beautiful lobby were a must for me. I had mock photo shoots with friends who also loved what I love. I viewed art exhibits by my professor, and other artists' labor of love. I have visited their library (there actually is a library) and researched impossible finds. I think the only thing I haven't tried doing there is to watch an actual play! (Faith goal for 2011!)
The architects who made it may have tried to make it look like a toilet bowl in mockery of the person who asked for its creation. But, the joke's on them! It has become a toilet bowl, yes--a beautiful dump of ideas and creations by virtuosos. A part of me (and people who may be like me) becomes alive when I visit that place--the artsy-fartsy part. Oh how goosebumps arise when I walk the marbled floors of CCP and look at its sparkling chandeliers! Other creators have walked this path and produced numbers of magnum opus. It smells like ART in the air. Always have. Always will.
I was so glad to actually be there last Thursday. From feeling 21 and jaded, I felt like I was ten and childlike. Old memories suddenly became vivid, looking so real. So far, it's the best day of my Holy Week. I can't wait for my next visit there--Cinemalaya 2011. New memories are to be made, like another obra maestra to be displayed in my hall of memories. *hopeful sigh* We (the Legaspi family) need not go far to take a break from work and stress.
See you soon, CCP, see you soon.
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