First Lady Lisa Araneta-Marcos leads guests, including David and Susan Rockefeller and Wendy O’Neill. (Photos by TheDiarist.ph)
The Impossible Dream has just become possible. That could very well have been the subtext as performers Bituin Escalante, Poppert Bernadas and the Philippine Madrigal Singers did a stirring rendition of The Impossible Dream as finale to the dinner celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) Nov. 8, 2023.
The past 60 years, this cultural exchange institution that binds Asia and the US through fellowships and grants has had 6,000 fellowship exchanges, covering 16 artistic disciplines, benefiting 26 countries.
Beyond those numbers, in the Philippines, recipients of the ACC fellowship grants of the previous decades include National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes, former Cultural Center of the Philippines president Nestor Jardin, the country’s leading scenographer Gino Gonzales, all of whom were at the anniversary dinner, who all stood up with the other grantees, to the applause of the select gathering at the Maynila of the Manila Hotel.
National Artist Alice Reyes’ Filipiniana long dress bears a touch of Hans Brumann jewelry (gold earrings).
Manila Hotel’s Maynila back to its glory
To celebrate the milestone, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. and First Lady Lisa Araneta-Marcos led the guests who included David and Susan Rockefeller and Wendy O’Neill.
ACC was founded in 1963 by philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III in New York to facilitate and strengthen the learning and understanding of different cultures and art forms. ACC grantees fly and settle in from all over, from the US to Asia, or Asia to the US, or within Asia, on grants, to research and explore their diverse creative interests.
ACC has become a thriving network of artists and supporters across continents. Previous grantees include the visual arts legend Yayoi Kusama of Japan, visual artist Nam June Paik of South Korea, ballet legend Martha Graham of the US, the great Filipino musician Jose Maceda, Chinese film maker Chen Kaige. The ACC is in New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei and Manila. (www.asianculturalcouncil.org)
US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson and husband Aubrey
Josie Cruz Natori gave the good news that this year’s endowment fund is the biggest in the history of ACC
In her remarks, ACC chairperson Josie Cruz Natori, the Filipino designer behind the global fashion brand, said how honored she was to be the first Filipino to become chairperson of ACC. She gave the good news that this year’s endowment fund is the biggest in the history of ACC.
Member of the ACC board of trustees, pioneering businessman (Gourmet Farms) Ernest Escaler opened the evening celebration by thanking the select guests. We learned that the foundation has set an ambitious goal to raise for the endowment fund, and about a little less than half a billion pesos could be raised.
The guests came in black tie and Filipiniana. We’re glad to note that, for a change, it was NOT a ballgown night, because hardly anyone came in one. The women were fashionably yet appropriately dressed in Filipiniana, either newly designed or vintage. Not overdressed. Easily among the always-elegant Filipinas, Irene Marcos-Araneta wore a simple malong over her Pepito Albert pants and muted grey blouse, and practical as always, she wore flat pumps.
Irene Marcos Araneta in malong over Pepito Albert pants, and Gino Gonzales
Josie Natori was sheer dramatic simplicity in black-and-white maria clara-inspired ensemble with overflowing sleeves. Her sister-in-law, Ching Cruz, who helped attend to the guests, was in stunning red, her stylized kimona in intricately embroidered pina, with Sabrina neckline, and the serpentina cut perfect for her slim figure—a design by Albert Andrada.
Ching Cruz in stylized maria clara and serpentina by Albert Andrada
Josie, Philip and Ching Cruz and Aida welcomed their mother, Angelita, still charming and stylish—at 99 years old, and, with a smile, she made it clear to us, that she turned 99! She was visibly enjoying the evening social.
99-year-old Angelita Cruz with her children Philip, Josie and Aida
The First Lady was in a well-cut Puey Quinones.
The select crowd was composed of the culturati and the active supporters of the arts. Former ACC grantee Gino Gonzales did the venue and production design. Maynila, the banquet hall/restaurant which had taken on several lives in the ‘70s on to the ‘90s, bore Gonzales’ judicious touch of Filipiniana. Gonzales always has a way of making Filipiniana elegant.
Chef Margarita Fores prepared a sumptuous gala dinner: Tinola of Gifts from the Philippine Seas; Bohol Blue Marlin, Bulacan River Prawn, Capiz Scallop, Negros Blue Crab, with Tomato Guisado, Saffron Rouille, Pansit Pansitan Perfume; Braised & Grilled US Angus Short Rib Bistek Tagalog. That came with Bone Marrow Jus, Crispy Onion Hay, Potato Mash, Steamed White Rice wrapped in Banana Leaf, Sigarillas, Native Corn, Gotu Kola.
Braised & Grilled US Angus Short Rib Bistek Tagalog prepared by Chef Margarita Fores
Dessert was Coconut 3 Ways—Panna Cotta, Pulot & Latik Crumble; Cebu fresh mango & Mango Glass in Buco Shell.
The Filipiniana menu was served with Montes Alpha Chardonnay, Chile 2021, and Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon, Chile 2021.
The evening’s musical program, so well produced, covered a good span of Filipino culture—folk, colonial, contemporary—from folk songs to Broadway to Pinoy musical, put together by an artistic staff led by Nestor Jardin, Teresa Rances, Chris Millado, Rony Fortich.
From left, former ACC grantee Nestor Jardin who worked on the gala dinner production with Chris Millado (far right), shown with Monino Duque and Thelma Sioson
Monino Duque, Alice Reyes, Edna Vida, Doreen Yu
Performing Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag was Rony Fortich on the piano. With him doing the evening’s accompaniment were Christine Noelle Vargas (bass), Jordan Amaca (guitar). Bituin Escalante, Poppert Bernadas and the Philippine Madrigal Singers left the audience in awe, especially those watching Bernadas for the first time.
For the first time too, many in the audience saw the already polished artistry of the dancers of the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines founded only during the pandemic by National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes, who beamed with pride in the audience; she was an early ACC grantee.
ACC PH Foundation treasurer, restaurateur Malu Gamboa Lindo was one of the evening’s discoveries—she made a very good emcee: warm and well-modulated voice, audible and articulate.
The ACC gala dinner was a welcome change in that the performance started right after dinner, so that the guests weren’t busy eating and dinnerware clinking as artists performed. Many dinners usually don’t give our artists the courtesy of paying attention—the basic etiquette—as they perform. The ACC gala dinner showed how it should be done—with swift dinner service and later, the audience in full appreciation of the program.
The performance opened with Philippine Folk Songs: Kuratsa, A Medley of Cebuano Tunes, Bahay Kubo (arranged by National Artist Andrea Veneracion), and the playful Da Coconut Hut (music and lyrics by National Artist Ryan Cayabyab).
Then it was a collective traipse down nostalgia lane in Vaudeville to Bodavil, when you could almost hear Katy dela Cruz and Sylvia La Torre sing and shimmy to Hahabol Habol, Balut, Aba-ba-ba Boogie. Beyond the jaw-dropping performances of Escalante and Bernadas, these iconic compositions brought to mind some of the giants of Filipino music and culture: Clod Delfino, Ruben Vega (lyrics and music, respectively, of Hahabol Habol); Jerry Brandy (music and lyrics of Balut); Aba-ba-ba Boogie (lyrics by Joey Reyes, music by National Artist Ryan Cayabyab).
This was followed by Broadway Musical to Pinoy Musikal—the heart-stopping performances of Escalante, Bernadas and Philippine Madrigal Singers of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Found Tonight, and Mitch Leigh’s The Impossible Dream.
For many in the audience, it was their first time to hear the Tagalog lyrics of The Impossible Dream by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera. His words pierced the heart and the soaring voices of the artists lifted the spirit.
Indeed the impossible dream is made possible, even if only in the arts.—Thelma Sioson
Melba Solidum, Emil Yap, Alice Eduardo, Irene Marcos-Araneta, Michelle Tiangco
From left, Marian Ong, Margie Moran-Floirendo, Helen Ong, Czarina Ong-Camus
Mia Borromeo and Tina Cuevas
Teresa Rances
Philtrust chairman Jaime Laya and Doris Magsaysay-Ho
Nedy Tantoco and Patrick Jacinto
Marilen Tantoco
ACC PH Foundation president Maria Isabel Ongpin (2nd from right), Lopez Museum head and ACC supporter Cedie Vargas (far right), Joanna Ongpin Duarte (2nd from left), Marianna Lopez Vargas
ACC PH Foundation supporters including ACC PH president Maria Isabel Ongpin (3rd from left), treasurer Malu Gamboa Lindo (blue terno), Teresa Rances of event management (far left), Ching Cruz (red serpentina), Dr. Joven Cuanang (far right) in group shot with the First Lady Lisa Araneta-Marcos and ACC heads Josie Cruz Natori and Ernest Escaler
