“Sita” awes guests in Academic Summit

Dinner was served. But when a delectable meal is interrupted, attention redirected, guests stopping to turn their seats to a sumptuous feast on stage, stunned in their places, then applause, we know a performance has succeeded!
 
This was the scenario during IPAG’s performance last Nov. 29 at the MSU-IIT gym that gathered all the big guns of the MSU system. The event was an Academic Summit that blueprinted the directions the MSU system would take.
 
Performing was the highly-acclaimed Sita: The Ramayana Revisited as the highlight of the Academic Summit!

IPAG Director wins 2nd Palanca

Badung” – the Marauders of the South Seas, a 17th century saga of pillage, abductions, slave trading, and reflections of history won for director-playwright Steven P.C. Fernandez a 2022 Palanca Award for the full-length play in Filipino.

“Badung” is Fernandez’s second Palanca after his much-acclaimed “MingMing” won First Place in the 2006 Palanca.

The prestigious Palanca Awards, the most sought-after literary recognition is the Philippine equivalent of the Pulitzer.

“Badung” is set to be mounted in the 46th Season of the IPAG.

Searing “Sita” in a Triumphant Homecoming

The MSU-IIT IPAG continues its road shows of its internationally-acclaimed SITA: The Ramayana Revisited. The production is now an iconic piece well-recognized in nations where the Ramayana epic originated.

The IPAG production has performed to dignitaries and large audiences in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangkok, Singapore, and Ayodhya – birthplace and kingdom of Sri Rama – celebrating Dipotsava as main feature, Hinduism’s major Festival of Lights. Besides its international road shows, the production has performed in national tours enthralling similarly large audiences. All these only disrupted by the pandemic.

This is IPAG’s triumphant return to live audiences in its MSU-IIT Homebase.

The Sanskrit Ramayana is source as we present a contemporary version to our audiences. While keeping the original narrative, the performance takes liberties with presenting relevant issues. The production has kept the characters, the plot, and even the setting

Book and Mise-en-scene. STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ
Choreography. IPAG Creative Collective
Music. STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ & GEEJ WILLIAMS

Acclaimed “Sita” opens National Road Shows

Sita: The Ramayana Revisited is the Philippine’s version of the classic Sanskrit epic. It is perhaps the most performed and acclaimed production by a Philippine company in the countries where the epic is sourced. The IPAG production performed to much acclaim in festivals including the ASEAN-Indian Summit in New Delhi, the ASEAN Summit in Bangkok, in Kolkata, Mumbai, and highlighting the significant Diwali Festival in Ajodhya, the birthplace and kingdom of Rama. This version premiered in 2015 at the Asia Pacific Bond Festival in Singapore.

Book and Mise-en-scene. STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ Choreography. IPAG Creative Collective Music. STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ & GEEJ WILLIAMS

LUCE AUDITORIUM, SILLIMAN U, DUMAGUETE CITY
October 21-22, 2022

MSU-IIT GYM, ILIGAN CITY
Oct. 27-28

IPAG Wins Film Awards

BRAVISSIMO!!!

IPAG’s first forays into filmmaking have received grand welcomes!

IPAG won Best Film (Silver), Best Actress (Girlie Vios-Macapagal), and Best Dialogue (Raymond Barcelon) in the PelikuLOVE 1st ShoutOUT Festival, a nationwide gathering of indie filmmakers led by venerable National Artist Ricky Lee and Palanca Hall of Famer Rody Vera.

IPAG’s entry was the black comedy “When a Manananggal Loves a Man” penned by Barcelon.

Composed by the IPAG Creative Collective, the team was led by current IPAG Executive Director and MSU-IIT Asst. Professor Neil Arkhe Azcuna, Director, IPAG Executive Director, and the IPAG Creative Collective!!!

Conferment Speech, MSU-IIT INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) 
Subversion is Art’s Cause 
“…the freedom to inquire, discover, explore, advocate, as the Arts have always been. Art’s cause is the enhancement of our lives. Enlightenment begets enhancement, a process that can only be inspired by the critical scrutiny Art offers. History proves this.” 
 
The Gawad CCP Para sa Sining is the highest award given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines to recognize phenomenal achievements for the Philippine arts and culture.

GAWAD CCP Conferment Ceremony

The highest distinction for a Performing Company

GAWAD CCP PARA SA SINING, Nicanor Abelardo (Main) Theater, Sept. 2, 2022

The MSU-IIT INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) testifies how a performing company of home-grown artists on the fringes can triumph. IPAG has asserted its role to ride parallel with the most active of our theatres. In our provincial corners, IPAG has refused to be cowed to become a major performing arts company.

We find our lights brighter and more focused when the Cultural Center of the Philippines recognizes us with its highest distinction, the GAWAD PARA SA SINING.

Representing IPAG in its four generations of inspired journeys are Ricardo Jorge S. Caluen (founding batch), Archibald Pacana (2nd generation), Arlem M. Abanes (3rd generation), and Neil Arkhe Azcuna (present Executive Director). BOW!!!

And most especially to the hundreds who have sacrificed time and talent to build the Guild to what it is now, and the hundreds of thousands more of our audiences all over the world who join in our exhilaration!

CCP Confers the GAWAD on IPAG

The 2020 GAWAD CCP PARA SA SINING “FOR CULTURE OF ITS REGION” will be conferred on the IPAG at the CCP Main Theater (Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo) on Sept. 2, 5:00 p.m.

THE Conferment Ceremonies for IPAG, twelve persons, and the iconic Liwayway Magazine recognize their outstanding achievements and contributions to Philippine arts and culture.

The Gawad CCP Para sa Sining is the highest award given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

45th Season Opens

INSPIRING 45th

Forty-five years ago, the INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) was born to become a prominent performing company. IPAG is the most-traveled Philippine repertory company, acclaimed worldwide, hosted by the lead university of the Southern Philippines, the MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT).

The establishment of IPAG was a propitious moment. Not only had it imbibed the region’s artistic and cultural wealth, but IPAG pioneered in building a professional company that has embraced wide national and international audiences.

IPAG’s 45th Season is a testament to the triumphs of a performing company of home-grown artists. Sailing over the stormy waves of the pandemic crests, IPAG has found ways to counter threats to arrive on shore victorious, the integrity of its vision made even stronger by the challenges.

Our 45th Season shares this victory with these productions! We celebrate!

#inspiring45