Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities

Behind the thriving art scene in the Ateneo are dedicated faculty, passionate students, and a supportive dean like Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia.

On March 14, 2007 during the Loyola Schools (LS) Awards for the Arts held at the Escaler Hall, Ateneo Loyola Heights campus, a special award for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities was conferred on School of Humanities (SOH) Dean Dr. Garcia.

Dr. Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, vice president for the Loyola Schools, said that Dr. Garcia was awarded for “his wholehearted, unequivocal support of the arts and humanities in the Loyola Schools.” Moreover, “his deanship of the then School of Arts and Sciences was instrumental in establishing the Awards for the Arts in 1994.”

Moreover, the citation written by Dr. Benilda Santos and read by incoming SOH Dean Dr. Luz C. Vilches gave special emphasis to this role:

”Very much unlike the Greek Philosopher, Plato, who was critical of art and artists and who urged strict censorship of the arts because of their influence in molding people’s character, Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia encounters art in deep appreciation for it and with a fresh regard for the artist as one who cannot be totalized or recuperated into one’s self. It comes as no surprise, then, that Dr. Garcia’s first concern at the outset of his deanship in the School of Humanities was the establishment of a proper dwelling place for those serving not just the arts but also the rest of us teaching humanities courses. The Horacio de la Costa Hall was re-constructed with single rooms to provide faculty with a quite workplace for greater creative space. It was through Dean Garcia’s initiative that creating this space was achieved.

“Soon, the Ateneo Institute for Literary Arts and Practices was established. Housed in the Kagawaran ng Filipino, this center puts the Loyola Schools in the service of beginning writers nationwide. The School of Humanities likewise spearheaded the establishment of the Loyola Schools Publications Awards for Literature, putting various forms of creative work on par with research. Fairly recently, the welcome founding of the Bachelor of Fine Arts Program is a statement of the growing recognition of the significance of the arts in the School of Humanities.”

In turn, Dr. Garcia responded with deep gratitude for the recognition. “If there is a paying, it is not a paying back but a paying forward, a passing on. Wouldn’t this really be grace if by that is meant the capacity to give what has been given, to share what has been bestowed? In this perspective, one understands why one desires to pass on the gifts of life, love, knowledge. It is because one has been given life that one also looks forward to give life. It is because one has been loved (first) that one aches to love. It is because one has been taught (by a remarkable teacher, no less) that one desires to teach. It is because we have been given a gift (to sing, to dance, to act, to write) beyond calculation that we aspire, in turn, to ‘give without counting the cost,’ to use Ignatius’ beautiful formulation,” he said.

Theater thriving
There are three theater groups in the Ateneo: the distinguished Tanghalang Ateneo, the socially-conscious Entablado, and hip Blue Repertory. And all of them are thriving as shown by the number of awards given to thespians and playwrights during the 2007 Loyola Schools (LS) Awards for the Arts on March 14, 2007 at the Escaler Hall, Ateneo Loyola Heights campus.

 

Eight awardees for theater arts were cited: Anne Marie M. Dionisio, Andrei Nikolai R. Pamintuan, Jean Pierre Mitchell T. Reniva, PH Hermelina U. Chua, Emilio Antonio V. Sta. Maria, Jesus Joseph Ignacio, Regina Milagros M. Lim, and Jillian Mari D. Pena. They either hailed from one of the three theater groups, or were part of a theatrical production in the 2007 Fine Arts Festival. In a campus where students have very varied interests, the pull of theater was surprisingly strong.

 

Dionisio, for example, was cited for her portrayal of marginalized and unconventional characters in Entablado. Pamintuan, meanwhile, was lauded for his “dynamic directorial calls” which set a fine line between safe and risky.

 

Reniva’s multiple roles as actor, costume and theater designer, and company manager for Tanghalang Ateneo didn’t go unnoticed either. And so were Chua’s comic, feminine and philosophical voice as playwright, producer and director for her own play in the Fine Arts Festival; Ignacio’s “promise as a key player in professional theater”; Lim’s discipline in knowing her lines, blocking and respect for co-actors; Pena’s theater professionalism as performer, producer and leader; and Sta. Maria’s daring in writing about sexuality, abuse and incest.

 

Two students, meanwhile, bagged the award for the Graphic Design category. Aaron James G. Tangoan won over the judges for his “fresh approaches to design problems” while Velasco was a shoo-in for his “flair for architectural and commercial design”.

 

Awardees for fiction were Antonio Adrian M. Habana, whose stories “turn the ordinary into something special”; and Marguerite Alcazaren de Leon, hailed as a postmodernist writer with “bold imagining and daring writings”.

 

This year, the categories of poetry, music and dance had lone awardees. Erica Clariz C. de los Reyes, awardee for poetry, was awarded for her portrayal of woman as both victim and perpetrator and her moralistic sensibility.

 

Bianong Labiano, awardee for music, is a gifted composer, arranger, director, pianist, song leader and performer. Labiano, a Dulaang Sibol alumnus, was also cited for his full length librettos composed at a young age.

 

Last but not least was dance awardee Ma. Theresa Joy G. Rocamora, who wowed judges with her “intuitive choreography and sense of form.”      

 

A special award for Lifetime Achievement in the Humanities was conferred on School of Humanities Dean Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia. According to a memo released by Vice President for the Loyola Schools Dr. Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, Dr. Garcia was awarded for “his wholehearted, unequivocal support of the arts and humanities in the Loyola Schools.” Moreover, “his Deanship of the then School of Arts and Sciences was instrumental in establishing the Awards for the Arts in 1994.”

The LS Awards Arts Committee is composed of Dr. Ricardo G. Abad, Ms. Frances Marie Alcaraz, Mr. Jonathan O. Chua, Ms. Melissa Vera Maramara, Dr. Jovino Miroy, Mr. Edgar C. Samar, Dr. Benilda S. Santos, Ms. Rica Remedios B. Santos, Mr. Alvin B. Yapan, Mr. Lawrence Y. Ypil, and Dr. Fernando N. Zialcita.

          

Photos by Henson Wongaiham and Michelle Correa