melaniemotus said
Ang masasabi ko lang ay to be an actor is to be a dancer and a singer also. Why don't Filipinos get this kind of training? I would assume that actors in UP pretty much get the whole picture due to their kind of exposure, but they still fall short somehow? How come actors from West End or Broadway have a more wholistic approach? Can't Filipinos have the same?
Dami ko namang tanong. : )
pjrebullida wrote today at 8:31 AM, edited today at 8:54 AM
an actor-dancer-singer is what we call a triple threat in theater.
i used to aspire to this. hence, as an actor, i took lessons in voice, singing, acting and dance. it is however expensive take all three lessons. there are hardly scholarships in these fields. i was blessed to have a scholarship in dance (c/o Steps Dance Studio), but for the others i had to shell out 500-1000 pesos per one-on-one session. It takes a high level of commitment to juggle the time needed and the budget.
My lessons payed off and, before I left acting for dance, I had reached a level of competency. However, I turned out to be more of a dancer than actor or singer. I can attribute this to having a scholarship that required me to take 6 to 10 classes a week plus the exposure I received in dance productions. When you compare this to once a week voice lessons and acting lessons only when I am rehearsing a play, one can see why i chose to dance.
i believe actors in the Philippines are not triple threats because of three reasons. One, not all actors have the luxury to get all they need to hone their craft. Two, Laziness and Complacency. And, third, a false pride (yabang na kaya na nila lahat). Of course, the Philippines has its fair share of triple threats but not so many.
After my career turning out, in, and everything in between, I plan to go back to acting with a more "wholistic" approach. But for now, I have the luxury of being a full-fledged dancer.
===== i think i did more than answer your questions. i answered my own.
2 comments:
there's also, think, less demand for triple threats in philippine theater. we produce more straight plays than musicals. and a lot of the musicals that we produce don't even require actors to be "dancers". we don't have the likes of "smokey joe's cafe" or fosse-ish shows.
well, from what i understand they deviate from dancing musicals because walang triple threats and it's too expensive to hire both actors and dancers, too... there are always attempts to stage chorus line and west side story but they remain attempts or dreams.
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