UE Cultural Affairs Director Earns Prestigious Gawad CCP Award!*
UE graduate and longtime, pioneer UE Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) Director Generoso Arguelles Caringal was recently recognized as one of the 12 awardees at the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining 2024—specifically earning this year’s Gawad CCP Award for Dance!
Held on the occasion of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) 55th Anniversary, the conferment and tribute program took place last Friday, September 20, at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Makati City.
Dir. Caringal was among the 12 honorees recognized for their contributions in the arts.
A known virtuoso of dance, Dir. Caringal became known for his choreography. An article by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) lists him as one in the current generation of choreographers who excels in both modern and classical ballet, having done choreography for productions such as Ballet Philippines’ ‘Ang Sultan’ and ‘Recuerdos,’ and Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT)’s ‘Vinta,’ ‘Prism,’ ‘Pinoy Komiks,’ ‘Andres KKK’, and ‘Darangen ni Bantugen’.
A UE 1980 Bachelor of Science in Business Administration graduate, Dir. Caringal was a member of the then UE Dance Troupe in his college days. As such, he trained under Corazon Generoso-Iñigo, whom the NCCA regards as one of the first-generation Filipino ballet dancers and choreographers.
As a UE Dance Troupe member, the young Gener joined off-campus productions such as Maureen Tiongco’s ‘The Flower Drum Song’ and Dance Theater Philippines’ ‘Mir-i-Nisa’. He became an original member of Ballet Philippines in 1970, where he was honed in folk dance, ballet, jazz and modern dance under the helm of Ms. Iñigo, Eddie Elejar, Tony Llacer, Alice Reyes, Pauline Koner, Norman Walker, Miro Zolan, Jan Stripling, Luminita Dumitrescu, Garth Welch, William Morgan, Vakhtang Chabukiani and Mikhail Kukharev. Courtesy of the ITI-Goethe Institute Grant in Dance, he got to visit several German dance companies in 1979, where he observed dance classes and exchanged views on artistic and administrative concerns in the field of dance.
From 1974 to 1987, Dir. Caringal was the Dance Director of the UE Dance Troupe, choreographing the group’s productions. Among them were ‘Sultan Kudarat’ in 1975, ‘Ibanyuhay’ in 1976, ‘Paglalakbay (Journey)’ in 1977, and ‘Ibong Adarna’ in 1979. He also became the Director of the Philippine National Bank Dance Troupe, the Yeh Shian Folk Ballet Company, the CCP Dance Repertory, and his own Gener Caringal Repertory Company.
He was appointed Head of the Philippine delegation to the 5th Asian Festival of Performing Arts in Singapore in 1985, featuring his work ‘Labaw Dunggon’. This led to an invitation to choreograph at the Gala Concert of the Singapore Dance Theater. This appearance also paved the way for Director Caringal to bring various local performing groups to European and Asian dance festivals.
He is one of the founders and was Chair of the Artistic Council of the Philippine Ballet Theater in 1986 and served as its Artistic Director in 1990 to 2008.
Director Caringal returned to UE in 1998 and became the Artistic Director of the now-renamed UE Silanganan Dance Troupe. In 2002, he was appointed to be the Director of UE OCA. As OCA’s Director, he has done choreography on various UE presentations, among them, ‘Salamism’ (2001), ‘Legend of Singkil’ (2001), ‘OPM’ (2002), ‘Fire’ (2003), ‘Dumbelli’ (2003), ‘Tiboli’ (2006), ‘Ulalim’ (2010) and ‘Ako Gamu-gamu’ (2011). Moreover, he is in charge of UE’s cultural groups which, aside from the UE Silanganan Dance Troupe, are the UE Band, the UE Chorale, and the UE Drama Company.
In 2005, he was elected as the Head of the NCCA Committee on Dance, a position he held up to 2007.
Dir. Caringal had been awarded Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan sa Sayaw (Gawad sa Sayaw) in 1997, and was recognized in 2008 with the Gawad Gatpuno Award.
He received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from UE in 2006, on the occasion of the University’s 60th Foundation Anniversary.
He was bestowed the Diwa ng Lahi Award by the City Government of Manila, during the 2018 Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Awards on June 20, 2018, at the Marble Hall of the Ayuntamiento in Intramuros, Manila.
Dir. Caringal was awarded Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Awards by the Local Government of Manila to as part of the Founding Anniversary celebration of the City of Manila on June 20, 2018.
In December 2018, Dir. Caringal celebrated 20 years as OCA Director and UE Silanganan Dance Troupe mentor via ‘Baliktanaw’, a dance concert featuring some of the Dance Troupe’s former and current members at the time.
Dir. Caringal’s fellow Gawad CCP 2024 awardees are Jose “Joey” Ayala, Lea Salonga, Jose “Pete” Lacaba Jr., Miguel “Mike” De Leon, Gino Gonzales, Julie Lluch, the Loboc Children’s Choir, and the late Mario O’Hara, as well as Negros Cultural Foundation and Negros Museum President Marilyn Gamboa. Posthumous honors were given to Senator Edgardo J. Angara and Zenaida “Nedy” R. Tantoco for their unwavering support to the arts.
Congratulations, Warrior Dancer-Choreographer and UE OCA Director Caringal!
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