ON THE FRINGES: The IPAG History
#inspiringIPAG
The INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) is the country’s most-travelled and -awarded performing company recognized for its groundbreaking work in theater, dance, and performances sourced from the cultures of the Southern Philippines. Founded in 1978 in Iligan City, IPAG has evolved into an independent professional company that continues to champion Filipino artistry, storytelling, and heritage. Through its acclaimed productions, IPAG brings to life the diverse narratives of the Philippines – especially those from Mindanao – blending traditional and contemporary forms in ways that inspire, educate, and entertain audiences across generations.
IPAG has represented the country in over a hundred cities in national and international festivals, showcasing the wealth of Filipino culture through powerful performances that integrate movement, music, literature, and visual design.
Today, IPAG stands as a beacon of creative excellence, bridging education, culture, and the arts. Its productions not only highlight the beauty of Philippine Identity but also serve as transformative learning experiences for students, educators, and audiences here and abroad.
IPAG continues its mission to celebrate Filipino stories, bringing the soul of the nation to the stage, embracing communities to integrate Filipino oneness.
A film documentary chronicling the growth of the most-traveled Philippine performing company from its beginnings in 1978. This full-feature AV narrates the timeline of the IPAG — from its simple homegrown origins to its significant position in Philippine performance practice and production after over four decades.
“…kagiliw-giliw ang mga eksena…” Bienvenido Lumbera, NATIONAL ARTIST FOR LITERATURE
“… fascinating…not for an instant did audience attention falter….” LEONOR OROSA-GOQUINGCO, National Artist for Dance
“…awesome… infectious charm!” ANTONIO MABESA, National Artist for Theater
Over 50 full-feature productions performed in over a hundred cities worldwide stamp IPAG’s storied reputation as a major performing company. IPAG has enthralled thousands in North America, the Hawaiian Islands, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea (for the 2002 World Cup), Japan, Vietnam, China, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Monaco (presenting a Command performance for Prince Albert).
Major festivals in India and Thailand, including the 2018 India-ASEAN Summit and the holiest Dipotsava in SriRama’s birthplace, featured IPAG performances that received wide acclaim.
Founded in 1978 by STEVEN PATRICK C. FERNANDEZ (Artistic Director) and LIGAYA FERNANDO-AMILBANGSA (Founding Chairperson, Advisory Council), IPAG is widely acknowledged for its contributions to Philippine Performing Arts and Letters. IPAG has evolved its signature performance form from the pangalay, indigenous to the Sulu Archipelago in the Southern Philippines. Perhaps the Philippines’ closest claim to classical dance, the performer, like the sea, seems to glide through space, its pedagogy established by the guru Amilbangsa herself.
IPAG’s engagements are perhaps the most extensive for any repertory company in the Philippines. The Guild is a center for training, Performance Studies, and the precursor of the pioneering Culture and Arts Studies Program in the MSU-IIT.
IPAG productions integrate the dance, music, literary, and art expressions of the Southern Philippines where it is based. Its distinct Theater is characterized by local color, poetry, rhythm, and an engrossing presence with that universal appeal that has captivated the world.
IPAG, well-featured in media and in numerous anthologies, continues to represent the country in international festivals.
The most-awarded Philippine Performing Arts Company
AWARDS
IPAG received the highest Philippine Literary Award – UMPIL Gawad Pedro Bukaneg – and the UMPIL Gawad Balagtas (for both English and Filipino categories) for Founder-Artistic Director STEVEN PATRICK C. FERNANDEZ in 2014. IPAG is also recipient of the ITI Intl Lampara para sa Kulutra at Sining, ASTROFIL Spain Excellence Awards for Culture and the Arts, the Humanitarian Award for Culture and the Arts (Karanaka, India), and the NCCA Sudi Music Awards.
The CCP awarded both IPAG and Fernandez with the CCP Pilak and CCP Gador, preceding the Gawad CCP para sa Sining, the highest distinction for a performing company. Amilbangsa was conferred the 2015 Ramon Magsaysay Award (the Asian Nobel)
IPAG Center, HULMA-Iligan
Ramiro St., Ilaya, Poblacion, Iligan City
email ipagarts@gmail.com ipagarts@yahoo.com fb: ipagarts
web www.ipagarts.com
Contact. tel: (+6363) 229 5178 mobile: 0917-7161318
STEVEN PATRICK C. FERNANDEZ, DFA
Founder-Artistic Director
The INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD (IPAG) is accredited under the INTEGRATED PERFORMING ARTS GUILD – ARTISTS RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (IPAG-ARM), INC., under the laws of the Philippines, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 20, 2009 with registration number CN200929803.