Ricca Bautista has had the opportunity to travel internationally for the purposes of attending residencies, workshops, and conferences. Here she is in a dance pose at The Hong Kong Cultural Center.
This year, Daloy is highlighting various individuals who are engaged in contemporary dance in the Philippines, either as practitioners, collaborators, or supporters.
The objective of this initiative is to disseminate vital information about the past and present developments in this field, foster opportunities for artistic partnerships and communal engagement, and cultivate the appreciation of contemporary dance among the general populace.
As part of our celebration of Women's Month, we are proud to showcase Ricca Bautista, an exemplary woman who has made significant strides in the dance community. I vividly recall our initial encounter at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Summer Dance Workshop in 2010 (13 years ago!), where I had the privilege of instructing a beginner's contemporary dance class. Since then, she has progressed from a promising young dancer to the esteemed head of Guang Ming College's Dance Department and Managing Director of the CCP Choreographers Series!
Q AND A with Ricca Bautista:
What is your typical day like?
- On the weekdays if I’m in Tagaytay, I start my day by warming up my body with yoga. Then I get ready, put on makeup (my daily ritual) and head to work. Right now, work is 2 floors below where I stay. Sometimes I have classes, other times I have meetings. Most days are filled with paperwork, writing and preparation for lecture classes. On other days I also attend my PhD classes at UP Diliman. Highlights of a typical working day is sharing ideas, laughs, stories and food with colleagues and students.
On weekends, I either do fieldwork for a community development project I’m in, or hangout with family, my partner, and friends. I especially like sharing meals with people I love.
Presently, Ricca holds the position of Chair at the Dance Department of Guang Ming College. The esteemed institution has recently acquired a capacious and generously sized dancing studio. Above are photos of the youthful dancers engaged in rehearsals under the guidance of guest teachers and choreographers of GMC.
What are your interests now, personal and professional?
- Right now I’m focused on rebuilding the dance program and research unit post-pandemic at Guang Ming College. Now that we’re back face-to-face, there’s a renewed energy to try new things, make them happen, and learn along the way. It also helps that we’re more or less from the same generation at the school, and our higher-ups give us the liberty to explore and manage things on our own as a team. This energy also bleeds into my work as an arts manager working with new people and new ideas for growth. What keeps me in check about the reality of the world however is working with a community in Caloocan for a project on youth equity.
Personally, I’m slowly getting back into shape. I’m in the process of making my body feel like a dancer again –– to be agile, mobile, and expressive –– because I miss that part of myself. I’m also learning about how to handle my own finances.
What are you most passionate about as a teacher or facilitator? What do you hope your students get out of a workshop or session you give?
- I’m passionate about facilitating agency and empowerment; thinking of ways to help each individual learn new things, think critically, and recognize their own talents and strengths. It’s not always easy. A lot of the time it involves wracking your brain for ways to make a topic easier, or more digestible, but at the same time help the student reach a certain standard. I find that integrating creative exercises to learning always helps. In most cases, it takes time, labor, commitment, and patience to see a student grow from what they were, but it’s very rewarding when you see it.
As an arts manager, I’m currently making sense of what mechanisms we can do, where working with the government (via CCP) can sustainably support dance artists but at the same time being self-reflexive of holding that privilege and space.
Images capturing the graduation of esteemed dance scholars of Guang Ming College, along with Ricca Bautista and the GMC dance faculty.
What are your dreams/s for contemporary dancers in the Philippines?
- That dancers are organized as a community and are well paid. That dance institutions recognize the need to make their salaries competitive and sustainable, and that the respect for the arts starts there. That dance artists, organizations and institutions continue to carve out spaces to share different methods for creating and exploring choreographic styles, at the same time be accessible to a wider audience who are able to relate to these processes.
What are your dreams for audiences of contemporary dance in the Philippines?
- That they find fulfillment and truth in the partaking of dance and in being a part of the community.
Photo grabbed from Ricca Bautista's instagram
What is the most memorable dance production or workshop (PH based) for you?
- The most recent workshop I attended was flying-low with Marah Arcilla at Beltran’s Dance Forum. It was at the start of the year and I hope it marked the start of one filled with dancing. It was challenging but it helped me undo past holding patterns and ways of moving learned from ballet, which is quite freeing especially with the body I have now. It also challenged me to embody a simple concept (gathering and sending) that should permeate every flow of my movement.
The most memorable production I was part of in the PH is Agnes Locsin’s Encantada in 2011. It was such a huge learning curve, but I learned about discipline and commitment to the craft, and I nurtured an interest in narratives and movement styles in the Philippines. I’m very excited for its restaging this April!
The 2022 CCP Choreographers' Series poster features Wifi Body PH, where Ricca serves as the Festival's Managing Director.
What are your upcoming workshops or projects and how can we contact you, to work with you?
This year CCP Choreographers Series will have Koryolab in August, and NeoFilipino in October. Both shows will be presented at the new Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. Follow us on Facebook for updates: https://www.facebook.com/ccpchoreoseries
Guang Ming College will also be hosting Alaya: An Arts and Humanism Conference with support from CCP and UP College of Music on May 22-24, 2023. Visit www.gmcalaya.com
On April 21-22 and 28-29, GMC will also be opening to the public our dance and theater students’ graduation recitals. These will be presented at our campus in Tagaytay with matinee and evening shows. It’s a good excuse to visit the city and see both dance and theater in one afternoon or evening! For updates, follow us on Facebook: Guang Ming Dance Project and Dharma Theatre Ensemble.
I generally post updates on classes and dance shows on Instagram via @watchdancemanila
Ricca had previously authored a scholarly article titled "Contemporary Dance and Embodied Desires in Post-Pandemic Post-Colonial Times" that presents an insightful analysis of the intersection between dance, embodiment, and culture in the current Philippine context. Interested parties may access the article here: (PDF) Contemporary dance and embodied desires in post-pandemic post-colonial times | Regina Bautista - Academia.edu
NAME: Ricca Bautista
TITLE: Educator, researcher, arts manager, dancer
AGE: 30s
PRONOUN/S: She/her
CITY YOU ARE CURRENTLY BASED IN: QC, Metro Manila, and Tagaytay City, Cavite
Short Profile:
Regina Bautista is a dancer, scholar, and arts manager, is pursuing her PhD in Anthropology at the University of the Philippines (UP). She received her MA Dance from York University, Toronto, and BM Dance from UP, cum laude. She was a member of Ballet Philippines’ junior company BPII, and danced with the Filipino-Canadian troupe Hataw. As a dancer/scholar, she has presented research papers in international conferences in dance, and her essays have been published at the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, academic journals, and online websites. She has also been engaged in research projects on health equity, the creative economy, virtual ethnography, and dance history. Currently, she is a full-time lecturer for performing arts and Chair of Dance Department at Guang Ming College, Manila, and is a part-time lecturer for dance at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. She is also the co-director for CCP Choreographers Series and runs a dance calendar on Instagram called @WatchDanceManila.
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