In the Realm of the Diwatas

By Wilfred Galila

This was first published in a Kularts newsletter on August 2, 2019.

We spent a weekend in Boulder Creek, up in the Santa Cruz Mountains, to shoot scenes for the world premiere of Alleluia Panis’ latest multimedia dance theater production, In the Belly of the Eagle: Man@ng is Deity. It was out of the generosity of Derrel Myers and Naomi White, who were gracious in letting us stay in their property and use it as our location for the shoot, that we were able to accomplish a lot in the development of the production. Generosity is critical in doing the work that we do. It is through the generosity of our community and artists that we are able to create and share our work. It is a form of “energy exchange” as Manai Alleluia would call it.
 
Along with Manai and I came Patricia Ong, who, other than being our main contact, cooked and prepared our meals, wrangled a fan for special effects, and took photos of what went on behind the scenes; Kawayan Perlarose Bolick Ong (Tricia’s daughter), who is making her Kularts debut playing one of the diwatas in the production; dancers Stephanie Herrera, Dre “Poko” Devis, Jonathan Mercado, and Cristino “Tino” Lagahid, who were all playing diwatas; June Arellano in the lead role of Valentino “Baleng” Pablo; and Hana Lee, Kularts’ program manager, who was my second shooter and camera assistant as well as the hairdresser.

Manai had been looking for a pool where we can shoot an underwater scene for the story that we are telling. But it was not just any pool made of tiles, rather one with a natural looking surface and color. Tucked in a corner surrounded by hills and forest was a two-story cabin that served as our accommodation. The natural pool in the expansive backyard was fed by water from a nearby creek. There was a hot tub adjacent to the pool. Beyond that were moss covered steps that led to a dense path that opened to a cove in the forest up the hill. All that we needed were in one place. Call it luck, serendipity, or good karma, we couldn’t have imagined finding an ideal location for telling our story with the kind of budget that we’re operating on. The place was a blessing.

Considering that we did not have much time to plot our shots, only having seen the location when we arrived there the day before, there was an added element of spontaneity that also required a lot of thinking in terms of how the different shots would work together. We were working with small and minimal equipment, but that didn’t mean that it made things quick and easy. Shooting takes a long time, but everyone was a trooper. Everyone understood the challenges involved in telling our story. Those who weren’t needed during a certain shot hung out and waited patiently, even lending a hand to help, if needed, and those who were part of the shot were in it with patience and a commitment to capture what we wanted as best as we could.

We were a group of artists who were building something together and passionate about the work we do, with an openness to exploring the creative process. We were, after all, in our own private location; a luxury and opportunity we had that our artist ancestors were not afforded with. We had the liberty to create and to tell the stories of those who came before us. We were in a magical world of our own creation, blessed with the virtue and freedom of art making.  

Part of the challenge that weekend was thinking about the order of shooting parts of the underwater and forest scenes in relation to the costumes that the cast wore; whether we had all the shots where they had to be dry before they got wet. Another challenge was the elements. By the time we started shooting underwater, the sun was behind the trees that were beginning to cast their long shadows on the pool. The temperature of the water was turning cold. Swimming with a lot of fabric on that weighed the dancers down proved to be quite a challenge. Stephanie’s legs would get caught in the long trail of fabric that was tied to her waist while Tino found it hard to kick in the water with the wide bell shaped samurai pants he was wearing. But everyone made it work and we captured some fantastic underwater shots. We continued with the shoot until the pool became too cold to handle. Then there also was the challenge of time. June had to leave early Sunday afternoon and we shot as much as we could that time allowed us to on our last day there.

As with most things in life, we did not get all that we wanted but got what we needed. We wrapped the weekend shoot, ate lunch, cleaned up, and made sure that everything was as it was in the property when we arrived. It was a wonderful and fulfilling weekend of art making with amazing people; an experience that we are all grateful for.