Three years ago, we have a different principal: Strict and very traditional yet very good school administrator. By traditional I mean that she was very conservative on every aspect thus it was never allowed for the students to perform something which depicts anger or with a hint of sexiness. You have to cover every bit of your body with cloth, that is why there are no beauty pageants in the school. But now, the new principal (although his administrative skills is very much hated and there are issues concerning against him) is a little bit loose when it comes to those kinds of things. Currently, the school is doing annual beauty pageants, field trips, JS prom and all other things we were not doing way back. As for the arts, modern dance is now encouraged so still as the folk dance which dated way back the antiquity of our batch. Yesternight, I attended the Cultural Presentation of my high school for the Barrio Fiesta of Pulong Buhangin, Sta. Maria , Bulacan. I could tell that they are up for that specific night and they toiled days to prepare for the production. I couldn't say the production is astounding nor it can pass my taste (The students, and also the teachers need a crash course on basic back stage management and on how to control your mouth), but they did a job well done. In all fairness to them, it is wonderful to see how modernization was obvious in the program compared from our traditional and boring stuff we do three years ago (which on a biased point of view, we kicked ass. Hello, we are the "golden batch") .
The whole experience was fun. Having to mingle with my ex-teachers, seeing old classmates and friends, finding cute high-school guys (with abs!), and meeting interesting faces. One performance caught me there is the fire dancing. Again, I am not impressed with the performance itself but on how much skin it was shown. The guys only wore boxers and the girls are flaunting their curves. By God on the High Heavens, that scene is far from tolerable and would easily send the ex-principal in fury. But no, the new principal is gay and from that it is implied that he likes the scene very much with that smile painted all over the face. Everything else is plain and boring, the whole production didn't impress me at all.
Having been exposed to a variety of arts, and to point I am not a know-it-all, there performance last night was nothing compared to what I have seen and experience. First, the production team is totally disorganized-- it will be best if there is a central person to manage and delegate stuff. Backstage traffic was outrageous, every one is speaking loudly and everyone is all over the corridors (There is no dressing rooms pa nga!). The stage was undefined, how come CAT cadets allow small children running in the performance area? The mics are too low in volume to think that they are performing in an open-space. In short, everything is very amateur and inexperience is pretty much obvious.
The good thing about the production last night is on how the "arts" on our dear old alma mater is being extended. This could mean that the teachers and the student would continue to explore their potentials so should there ever any other school production, they will be better than yesternight showcase of crap. I would advice them to do some research and watch more interesting stuffs. Enough of that crumping and modern dance, that is so passe, Showtime has a lot of that already and even Vice Ganda is having enough of those stuffs. Find more ways to be creative, that is the key. Yet, despite of the tedious performances yesternight, they did the job done.
