I do not have many things to say this time, other than… they were great and made yesterday truly a fantastic sunny day! Traffic in that area of Mandaue crawled and halted but I heard no one complaining hehe! Oh, for a change, I will pepper this page with pictures and/or videos that I took during the parade instead of my veeery looong stories. Well, I am talkative you know… so there will still be a spattering of what I think I have to tell you!
Rushed to the Mandaue City Hall at exactly 1PM. That meant I was already late! Oops, the intersection of AS Fortuna and the Highway (MC Briones) was already closed. So I asked the driver to try entering via AC Cortez (the road that leads to the old bridge) corner A Del Rosario St., Voila! The intersection of AC Cortez and A Del Rosario was also already closed and some contingents were there. I just thought OMG, this is going to be a very long parade! So, I walked A Del Rosario heading towards City Hall to see what I can and to grab lunch along the way. I was not disappointed!
While having lunch at Chowking (diagonally across Jollibee) I noticed that groups actually took off from the very corner. Here goes my pics…
Oh alright boys, girls and gays... I mean the performers and crews! As promised, just email me if you want any pic in the original hi-res version or if by chance I may have a pic or vid not posted here, then I'll see what can be done. You are all great!
Even the lowly "puso" had a place in the parade!
Poor footwear won't fit his big feet!
These kids had to endure the scorching heat of the noon sun. Every little shade became suddenly very useful! Mind you those beautiful costumes are nowhere near cool to wear am almost sure. Those are real mats (as in your usual lowly banig). Try wrapping your mat around your body, go out in the sun and start dancing. Hah, it won't be easy! But these folks seem to be having fun just the same! I salute them! I truly do!
Ah, this is not part of the parade hehe! Its a hearse that just came out of the Mandaue Church heading towards the cemetery and they had to pass where the competing teams waited for their cue in the parade.
I think they can lie down anywhere with those dresses?! Those are mats anyway hehe!
Every little shade counts... every little shade. I was starting to feel sorry for them... but they were all smiles and giggly! So I thought I was over-reacting. Anyway, was I not baking myself in the sun too trying to shoot pics? Well yes, BUT I was not dancing and did not have to be anxious about any "winning performance". So I all the more salute these kids! I know we shall all envy them having experienced this. Its a story to tell your children and grand children, yknow!
And these two beauties were trying to grab a quick nap. They had a tiring pit of final rehearsals late last night... and in a while its showtime... so, beauty rest was truly in order. But I disturbed them :( My apologies darlings.
Took this pic to remind me at how detailed their outfitters do it down to every footwear. But I see a nokia hiding somewhere hehe... do you?
Crowd rousers! These boys mimicking the vendors of Carcar triggered a lot of coaxing from the audience. There was even almost a commotion. When some ladies shouted for them to throw the goodies to the audience, others thought they'd do it and started inching forward to the middle of the street. Gosh! I am thankful they did not! Otherwise it must have been chaos. Well, if they did, I would have fought for at least a piece of those goodies... I think hehe!
Crowd favourite! As the Mantawi Group approached, people were cheering and clapping and many of them (us) spilled into the street to watch. That woman in yellow (middle of photo and not part of the crew btw) was jumping and cheering and clapping like she won the lotto! Of course this group was favourite of many in the audience since they represent the city of Mandaue where the festival was being held. I call that "home-court-advantage" hehe! Oh hey, even I (now a Banilad resident) was unconsciously cheering for them! Oh well, blood is thicker than beer hehe!
One more cheer for Mantawi... they painted their sneakers gold to match their costumes! Da! Kaya nyo?!
The smiles in this group were truly captivating and contagious! I did not even see nor hear the "counters" - y'know, the performers who you hear loudly counting 5, 6, 7, 8 and 1, 2, 3, 5 whatever hehe! In this group, they looked like they were just there to have fun in their dance and that they knew their steps so they enjoyed it and their smiles were genuine! When they swayed or ran or jumped, the smiles were just really perfect... not controlled nor mechanical!
Oh hey, these guys were not winners but they captured my attention on the street. Synchrony and fluidity of their moves were for me quite amazing! I found them good even if there were hitches once they started moving forward! Well yes, I also saw them sweep the awards over at the Hinulawan last June hehe! Biased ba?!
Da si madir ka-strict ba! He was shouting "forward forward fooorwaaard"! If I were organizing these contests, I think it would be good to subtract points if the choreographers or trainers are seen coaching during the parade. This is what performers should have already practiced doing, right? So, if the parade is itself a contest, the trainers should already cease and desist! At the very least they should do it discreetly or via signals sounds or clickers. Well actually, the only thing that sometimes irks me is that these trainers, guides, choreographers etc., most often block the spectator's view or distract the attention to the performances. Oh okay, I like his shoes hehe!
Another cheerful bunch! 
They look like they're really enjoying what they do! 
And finally, here's a concoction of my video clips:
Rushed to the Mandaue City Hall at exactly 1PM. That meant I was already late! Oops, the intersection of AS Fortuna and the Highway (MC Briones) was already closed. So I asked the driver to try entering via AC Cortez (the road that leads to the old bridge) corner A Del Rosario St., Voila! The intersection of AC Cortez and A Del Rosario was also already closed and some contingents were there. I just thought OMG, this is going to be a very long parade! So, I walked A Del Rosario heading towards City Hall to see what I can and to grab lunch along the way. I was not disappointed!
While having lunch at Chowking (diagonally across Jollibee) I noticed that groups actually took off from the very corner. Here goes my pics…
Oh alright boys, girls and gays... I mean the performers and crews! As promised, just email me if you want any pic in the original hi-res version or if by chance I may have a pic or vid not posted here, then I'll see what can be done. You are all great!
Even the lowly "puso" had a place in the parade!
Poor footwear won't fit his big feet!
These kids had to endure the scorching heat of the noon sun. Every little shade became suddenly very useful! Mind you those beautiful costumes are nowhere near cool to wear am almost sure. Those are real mats (as in your usual lowly banig). Try wrapping your mat around your body, go out in the sun and start dancing. Hah, it won't be easy! But these folks seem to be having fun just the same! I salute them! I truly do!
Ah, this is not part of the parade hehe! Its a hearse that just came out of the Mandaue Church heading towards the cemetery and they had to pass where the competing teams waited for their cue in the parade.
I think they can lie down anywhere with those dresses?! Those are mats anyway hehe!
Every little shade counts... every little shade. I was starting to feel sorry for them... but they were all smiles and giggly! So I thought I was over-reacting. Anyway, was I not baking myself in the sun too trying to shoot pics? Well yes, BUT I was not dancing and did not have to be anxious about any "winning performance". So I all the more salute these kids! I know we shall all envy them having experienced this. Its a story to tell your children and grand children, yknow!
And these two beauties were trying to grab a quick nap. They had a tiring pit of final rehearsals late last night... and in a while its showtime... so, beauty rest was truly in order. But I disturbed them :( My apologies darlings.
Took this pic to remind me at how detailed their outfitters do it down to every footwear. But I see a nokia hiding somewhere hehe... do you?
Crowd rousers! These boys mimicking the vendors of Carcar triggered a lot of coaxing from the audience. There was even almost a commotion. When some ladies shouted for them to throw the goodies to the audience, others thought they'd do it and started inching forward to the middle of the street. Gosh! I am thankful they did not! Otherwise it must have been chaos. Well, if they did, I would have fought for at least a piece of those goodies... I think hehe!
Crowd favourite! As the Mantawi Group approached, people were cheering and clapping and many of them (us) spilled into the street to watch. That woman in yellow (middle of photo and not part of the crew btw) was jumping and cheering and clapping like she won the lotto! Of course this group was favourite of many in the audience since they represent the city of Mandaue where the festival was being held. I call that "home-court-advantage" hehe! Oh hey, even I (now a Banilad resident) was unconsciously cheering for them! Oh well, blood is thicker than beer hehe!
One more cheer for Mantawi... they painted their sneakers gold to match their costumes! Da! Kaya nyo?!
The smiles in this group were truly captivating and contagious! I did not even see nor hear the "counters" - y'know, the performers who you hear loudly counting 5, 6, 7, 8 and 1, 2, 3, 5 whatever hehe! In this group, they looked like they were just there to have fun in their dance and that they knew their steps so they enjoyed it and their smiles were genuine! When they swayed or ran or jumped, the smiles were just really perfect... not controlled nor mechanical!
Oh hey, these guys were not winners but they captured my attention on the street. Synchrony and fluidity of their moves were for me quite amazing! I found them good even if there were hitches once they started moving forward! Well yes, I also saw them sweep the awards over at the Hinulawan last June hehe! Biased ba?!
Da si madir ka-strict ba! He was shouting "forward forward fooorwaaard"! If I were organizing these contests, I think it would be good to subtract points if the choreographers or trainers are seen coaching during the parade. This is what performers should have already practiced doing, right? So, if the parade is itself a contest, the trainers should already cease and desist! At the very least they should do it discreetly or via signals sounds or clickers. Well actually, the only thing that sometimes irks me is that these trainers, guides, choreographers etc., most often block the spectator's view or distract the attention to the performances. Oh okay, I like his shoes hehe!
And finally, here's a concoction of my video clips:
1 Comments
those costumes are really amazing. they are very intricate in design. Great photogaphy.. love ur blog..
ReplyDeletemac