FUSION OF CREATIVITY UNLEASHED
The INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) exploded a startling flash of creativity in 2023 surpassing successes in the post-pandemic transition of 2022 (which included the highest award for a Philippine performing company―the Gawad CCP).
Beyond displaying its signature form, IPAG soared higher as an institution of the arts-and-culture. From 5-star hotel ballrooms, to jampacked amphitheaters, to traditional enthronements and intimate audiences, to communal spaces, IPAG’s presence has become more conspicuous.
Reaching an estimated 50,000 audiences in 2023, IPAG marked three major accomplishments: the ASEAN PANJI performances, the organizing of HULMA Creatives, and the establishment of the IPAG-Studies Academy.
IPAG returned from acclaimed performances in five Indonesian Cities representing the country joining 8 other national troupes in the milestone ASEAN Panji Festival. Celebrating UNESCO’s Memory of the World Heritage, the Panji Festival wove our ASEAN kinships threaded by a shared narrative. The festival will soon be an annual event with each ASEAN nation taking turns hosting.
Binding artists of our communities into one strong collective is the center point of HULMA, a direction in establishing Iligan City as a UNESCO Creative City in the Performing Arts.
Spreading out the IPAG Pedagogy and its Creative Methods, the Guild further enhanced the talents of our artists to create, perform, and innovate. The Institute of Performance and Art Genre Studies (IPAG S) set the Vision of the pioneering performance arts academy in our parts.
Besides new productions (Hapoy daw Waig) and the continuing road shows of the country’s most-travelled Tales From Mindanao, apprenticing directors and playwrights mounted new productions―these through the tranSCRIPT Program and the institutionalized Basic Workshop in the Performing Arts.
The Tales repertoire reached over 20,000 audiences in national tours including its featured presence in the Fulbright-Hayes Dunong at Kalinangan hosted by the University of Hawaii at the De La Salle Dasmarinas campus.
Artist-leaders have been trained through our Hulmahan Program, a number garnering recognition in major awards. The most recent was the prestigious NCCA Writers Prize for Playwriting awarded to our Executive Director Neil Arkhe Azcuna adding up to his growing list of recognitions including writing fellowships, awards, and last year’s Best Film Award for Pelikulove.
Our collaborations have become more active. Besides the distinguished Asia Pacific Bond of Theatre Schools (APB), IPAG continues to work with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the Cultural Center of the Philippines and its Kaisa sa Sining network, the Dept. of Trade and Industry, Dept. Of Foreign Affairs, Iligan City Government, and various public and private initiatives.
IPAG acknowledges their invaluable support.
We distinguish the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) that for 46 years has been our womb, host, and Mother providing us the nurturing spaces where our craft and knowledge grew, developing the IPAG to be a major force in Philippine Performing Arts and Studies. Even as we expand our reach further, we acknowledge our roots from where lies our anchored origins.
2024 opens with IPAG setting its sights to continue showcasing Philippine Culture in Europe’s biggest festival, the Festival du Sud.
ArtisticDirector.STEVEN PATRICK C. FERNANDEZ | ExecutiveDirector.NEIL ARKHE AZCUNA | AssociateArtisticDirectors.ARCHIBALD PACANA LEILANI FERNANDEZ | Marketing&Sales.ARLEM M. ABANES | Finance.HERNENIGILDO DICO | HumanResources.LAURO VILLANUEVA | Technicals.ANDREW SALAZAR | Costumes.LEILANI FERNANDEZ | Music.VICTOR ARLAN | Properties.MARTIN SALVADOSA PAUL FRUTA | Secretariat.JEANNIE DARANTINAO JANE ALLYSON DANTES
