MERGED: Silliman University

[skullyboy]

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Douglas Nierras Powerdance in Concert



19 NOVEMBER 2010
Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium
Silliman University

Known as the Philippines’ premiere company in modern, jazz and show dance, Douglas Nierras Powerdance is internationally recognized and respected as a contemporary dance company. It was formed in 1988 by Douglas Nierras who had the vision of teaching, performing, and sharing the art of dance and making it more accessible to greater number of audiences, especially the youth. Receiving no regular government nor private corporate subsidy, the company aims to do its share in the promotion of contemporary Filipino culture and help develop a more sensitive public by sharing that unique dance experience peculiar to Douglas Nierras Powerdance. For the past 20 years, it has carried this vision by presenting self-produced annual concerts dealing with a variety of issues and inspirations—from the spiritual to the mundane, from the historical to the contemporary, from the global to the domestic, from the most socially sophisticated to the colloquial—all done with a brash, challenging, thought-provoking, and very distinct choreography, an edge that has been a Nierras and Powerdance trademark.

Douglas Nierras Powerdance has gone a long way from its appearance on the television show Shades in 1988, barely four weeks after it was formed. Later came the television show RSVP, and since then the company has enjoyed notable performances on television, stage, and the cinema, locally or abroad. Douglas Nierras Powerdance has represented the country on several occasions including the Festival International de Jazz de Mexico (1990), the ASEAN Festival of Songs in Singapore (1989-94), the East Meets West Economic Summit (1995), and as the finale performer for the Asia Dance Festival in Tokyo (1996). In March 1998, Douglas Nierras Powerdance performed an all-Filipino repertoire at the Lincoln Center, New York City, as part of the Philippine Centennial Celebration there. In 30 January 1999, Douglas Nierras Powerdance bested dance companies from 73 other countries to win the Grand Prix at the 10th Saitama International Creative Dance Concourse in Yono City, Japan—the Philippines’ first and only grand prize for modern dance choreography. Douglas Nierras Powerdance has also been the recipient of the Aliw Awards Best Pop/Contemporary Dance Group for 2001, 2002, and 2003, winning the Hall of Fame Award in 2004.

The company is composed of full-time professional dance artists, teachers and choreographers who, aside from being performers, produce, promote and market the company’s shows and the Douglas Nierras Pedagogy. These dancers are dedicated artists who view their involvement with dance as a serious career and have undergone extensive training in the various disciplines of dance here and abroad, honing their craft to a high technical competence and mature artistry.

Douglas Nierras Powerdance is trained, choreographed and directed by its founder.

[skullyboy]

Ryan Cayabyab in Concert



17 SEPTEMBER 2010
Claire Isabel McGill Luce Auditorium
Silliman University

Since its inception in 2007, the Ryan Cayabyab Singers (a.k.a. RCS) has been making great waves in the Philippine music industry. Their album, Ryan Cayabyab RCS, was released in November of 2007 and their songs made it to the airwaves immediately.

They have been performing not only in the local music scene in the Philippines, but also in South East Asia and recently the United States in cooperation with and benefit of Gawad Kalinga (GK).

[skullyboy]

Silliman University Emergency Medical Services (EMS)





Ford E450 V8 LWB Ambulance imported from the US

[skullyboy]

Construction/Renovation inside Silliman University Main Campus

Dr. Jovito Salonga Law Center





Gymnasium





Shaw Pool



Grandstand





Oriental Hall

[tophat]

oh my...what happened to the gym diay? looks like the way it was in world war II....

[skullyboy]

oh my...what happened to the gym diay? looks like the way it was in world war II....

hehe they're going to transform it into a purely steel & concrete structure

[skullyboy]

Amihan Jumalon: Exploring Femininity and Power Art Exhibit

The exhibit title evokes power and femininity; it paraphrases a chess term about how a pawn journeys across the length of a board to become a queen. Amihan, the eldest daughter of the Jumalon family of painters, shows us glimpses of her own journey in becoming an artist and a mother in the above-titled art show. It opens at the Luce Auditorium Foyer Gallery at Silliman University in Dumaguete on 24 July 2010.

“Being a mother and an artist is like walking a tightrope. If I fall, something breaks. You can’t run, you don’t have the time. So you tread slowly and allow these roles to serve as your balance beam,” says the artist. “Queen Building is a visual, surreal chronicle about undertaking and maintaining these roles.”

The works in this coming exhibit all feature female figures, which have been Amihan’s primary subjects all throughout her career as a visual artist. Some are grim personas born out of the artist’s struggles to fuse being a mother and an artist in the years she has been largely absent from the art scene. Some are painted almost like mythological figures; dream symbols that evoke a particular aspect of women’s experiences. And some are virtually self-portraits, the artist recreating and discovering facets of herself.

Amihan Jumalon, the artist

Thus, on ‘Iron Maiden’ (acrylic on canvas), we see the artist’s implacable likeness personifying a medieval torture device while another figure crawls out of its dark, womb-like recess. The monochromatic painting manages to evoke both aggression and femininity, qualities that can be found in the artist’s earlier paintings.

In ‘Lovers’ (acrylic on canvas), we see the artist recreating herself once again, this time as two copies of herself, setting them up in mischievous poses while a huge mastodon skull dominates the background.

"Magician"

We see another figure with her likeness in ‘Magician’ (acrylic on canvas), which provides a colorful counterpoint, not only to the more muted approach of the other works, but to the mother-and-child genre paintings. This large-scale work features a portrait of the artist with her hands inside a barrel, her young son, and another hooded female figure. Naïve stick figures of monsters (which her son doodled) dance in the background.

The personal becomes the universal. “Queen building” is a reflection of the multitude of roles and personas worn by women. It is in these explorations of self as archetypal female subjects that Amihan’s work shines.

The exhibit runs until August 14, and is open to the public. For more information, please call (034) 422-6002 loc. 520 or 09173235953. (Bendix Fernandez for the Silliman University Cultural Affairs Committee)

[skullyboy]

Lopez Group Chair: Silliman Campus is ‘Most Environmentally Friendly’

“I cannot think of a more pleasant environment in this country that is most conducive to serious study than the campus of Silliman University.”

These were the words of Mr. Oscar M. Lopez, Chairman of the Lopez Group of Companies during the formal turnover of the company’s donation of P3 million to the University. The amount establishes the Oscar M. Lopez Professorial Chair in Electrical Engineering at the College of Engineering and Design.

Mr. Lopez considered his donation as a gift on the occasion of his 80th birthday on April 19 from two of the companies of the Lopez Group: Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and First Gen Corporation. Both EDC and First Gen find environmental protection at the core of their corporate social responsibility programs.

The donation of Mr. Lopez has as much trace of his encounter with Silliman as a child as it does of his personal involvement in environmental initiatives, among them with Conservation International based in Washington, DC.

“Mention Silliman and I am reminded of the time I accompanied my late father here about 40 years ago on March 19, 1971 to be exact,” he said.

This was the time when Mr. Lopez accompanied his father, the late Don Eugenio Lopez, Sr., on his conferral by Silliman of the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa.

“I remember the pleasant boat ride that brought us here to Dumaguete from Iloilo City and the very pleasant and relaxing surroundings that made one feel like he is in harmony with Mother Nature,” he added.

In expressing how he is convinced that Silliman is the right recipient of his donation, Mr. Lopez cited the University’s clear environmental commitment in its Vision statement: "A leading Christian institution committed to total human development for the well-being of society and environment."

" I can think of no other university that gives special mention to the environment in its mission-vision statement than Silliman,“ he said.

Mr. Lopez continued on establishing his affinity with Silliman through the Center for Tropical Conservation Studies (CenTrop). As the country’s first captive breeding center for the Philippine spotted deer which now hosts 20 animals and 24 plant species, CenTrop, he said, echoes his similar advocacy for the preservation of the diversity of flora and fauna worldwide.

As a tribute to his late father, Mr. Lopez briefly discussed the “virtue of keeping one’s word” – the meat of the message of Don Eugenio during his conferral at Silliman.

He relayed the story about his father’s acquisition in 1961 of Meralco, the country’s largest electricity distributor, where Mr. Tegen, the president of General Public Utilities that formerly owned Meralco, closed the deal with Don Eugenio based on a verbal agreement. This prevailed despite an offer from another party of USD5 million more than the Lopez group’s.

“My father cited Mr. Tegen as truly a man of integrity and character because when he was offered that bigger amount there had been no written contract… But Mr. Tegen’s word was like god. It was enough, and he stood by it.”

Mr. Lopez shared the thrusts of the Lopez Group of Companies through its various community projects and social engagements that give life to the final message of his father during his conferral: “…regenerate our country…drive away from our midst the big scoundrels in the government who are devouring our country and reducing its people to poverty and misery.”

In his later years, Mr. Lopez grew to know more about Silliman through his friendships with Sillimanians and those who have helped shaped the University. Among them was the late Silliman President Dr. Quintin Doromal, a personal friend and fellow Harvard graduate. Mr. Lopez was saddened by the death of Dr. Doromal who met a fatal car accident eight days after they were together at the wake of the wife of former Senator Jovito Salonga (in whose honor the Silliman University Dr. Jovito Salonga Center for Law and Development was named).

“King (Dr. Doromal) and I had many things in common. We were both Ilongos, he from Dumangas and I from Iloilo City. We both completed 80 years of age this year…We also shared the same commitment for conservation of natural resources,” he said. “It is why I want this contribution of the Lopez Group to Silliman to perpetuate our mutual love for the environment.”

A joint project of EDC and Firs Gen, the Professorial Chair will be awarded to a faculty at the College of Engineering and Design who has an established track record in publishing research or has significant discoveries or inventions related to energy engineering.

“It is my fondest hope that this Professorial Lopez Chair contribute to the cycle of progress and lead to a very productive and strategic partnership between the Lopez Group and Silliman University for many years to come,” Mr. Lopez said in closing.

Silliman University President Dr. Ben S. Malayang III and Board of Trustees Member Dr. Angel Alcala headed the delegation from the University that formally welcomed Mr. Lopez. Mr. Lopez was accompanied by his wife Mrs. Consuelo Lopez, his sons Mr. Federico Lopez (President and CEO of First Gen) and Mr. Benjamin Lopez (Vice President of First Philippine Holdings Corporation), and Mr. Paul Aquino, Vice Chairman and CEO of EDC, among others.

[Butitor]

I miss Silliman so much!

-batch 2007

duol ra gapuyo sa Silliman pero dugay2x nako wala kasulod campus hehe

[colby]

I miss Silliman so much!

-batch 2007

duol ra gapuyo sa Silliman pero dugay2x nako wala kasulod campus hehe

BATCH 2006

daghan ng new building... Mabuhay SILLIMANIAN!!