Philippines Tour 2024 – Bayawan Newsletter

Performers Without Borders Philippines Tour 2024

Bayawan!

Welcome back, get comfy and strap in because this time the team has made it to Bayawan City!

The Team

Gina (Bazzinga), Jamie (Mr Sunshine), Meg (Nutmeg), Ryn (Ryn Hooligan), Szymon (Sai), and JMS (The Goon)

Lets Go

We started calling ourselves the “Dream Team” because of how well we were all getting on. We were well acquainted with our goals, feeling inspired by our colourful surroundings, full of mangoes and ready to spread more circus joy. Dumaguete had given us a little taste of what was to come: diverse interactions and connections with creative young people who share our enthusiasm for performing arts. We were now excited to perform our newly devised shows and start the teaching journey.

Bayawan Here We Come

Bayawan is the agricultural centre of Negros Island, with a population of 127,000. Fishing and farming are a core part of its industry as well as its cultural history. It is subdivided into 28 barangays (districts), and the rural areas account for 83.1% of the total land area. The city centre is an urban beach town, with a plaza and shopping mall, many schools, a university, and a sprawling neighbourhood of residential buildings, bars, and restaurants—but despite this and its 8 km of beautiful beaches, it is not a developed tourist area. The small shopping mall is quite a recent development, opening its doors in 2019, and so the city’s residents are largely engaged in self-employment. Therefore, Bawayan felt a lot quieter than Dumaguete and a lot smaller, with a feeling of accessibility either by foot, motorbike, or putt-putt (fully electric trikes!)”.

Bayawan is a perfect location for us to fulfil our aim of bringing circus to places that lack access, as although it is considered a transport hub of south Negroes, most of these roads are barangay roads. And out of the total 645.23 km of roads, less than 9% are paved with concrete or asphalt. (105 kilometres are gravel roads, and 485 kilometres are earth-filled roads.) According to Wikipedia, “This translates that most of the roads, especially the barangay roads in the upland barangays, are not passable during bad weather conditions. The road situation affects the residents in the hinterlands, and the farmers have a very high cost of transporting their products.” Bayawan Boulevard, then, is a huge development for the city economically; stretching proudly along 2.5 km of coast, it is “among the longest in the province and has become a major local venue as well as a tourist attraction.” So it felt like this leg of the project was the ideal location for PWB.

Bayawan Boulevard

We arrived by van, a 2.5-hour drive from Dumaguete, the final stretch of our journey cruising along Bayawan Boulevard. The boulevard was lined with palm trees, stretching along a strip of sandy beach. Little huts made of logs with whickered roofs stood on both sides of the road—some farmhouses and people’s homes where the front window doubled as a store. Racks of potato chips, packets of soap and coffee, canned fish, and bottles of beer and soda were stacked around the front windows, and smiling faces greeted us whenever we passed. We passed stalls selling Boku shakes, coffee, and boiled eggs, as well as pickup trucks with farmers resting under crafty gazebos selling their fruit harvests of watermelon and yellow or green mangoes. We discovered a new favourite fruit, langsat (which was a small yellow citrus fruit that tasted like a cross between lychee, lemon, and orange).

Other huts on the beach sheltered snoozing fishermen and groups of people doing karaoke—it was always time for karaoke, even first thing in the morning. There was an omnipresent ballad playing on the winds from all the people doing karaoke nearby. People hung from hammocks, sandaled feet visible as they swayed on the gentle ocean breeze, resting from their early mornings and hard work. Fishing boats were perched on the sand and floating on the water’s horizon, and on the other side of the street were people’s homes where dogs, chickens, and pigs roamed around the gardens. The smell of salt, fish, and compost lingered in the air pleasantly, and the mountains framed the beach on our left and right.

Julsam’s And Madame

As we pulled up to our accommodation, we felt blessed with the landscape right outside our front door: impressive skies, the sea directly in front of us, and the friendly waves of locals as they whizzed past on motorbikes and putt-putts. The hotel was called Julsam’s Pension House, and we were greeted with a warm reception by a woman in her fifties, whom we came to know fondly as Madame.

We were constantly struck by the etiquette of Filipino people, the formality of the language, the way we were addressed as “sir” and “ma’am,” the general feeling of politeness everywhere we went, and Julsam’s was a prime example of this hospitality—we felt very warmly received. We were shown around a series of clean, humble rooms of varying size. After some discussions as a team, we divided ourselves into dorms and doubles; the aircon was temperamental, water was turned off between 5 and 8 am, and we had “visitors” in the form of geckos and other creepy crawlies, but all of our needs were met.

For some of our performers, adjusting to sharing space was a challenge, but we all accepted that this year we were blessed with a lot of comforts that were not afforded to past volunteers. Compromises were made, and over the upcoming weeks, “rock, paper, scissors” became a useful tool in deciphering who’s turn it was for personal space. Our accommodation was being provided by the LGU, and we accepted three rooms with gratitude. We were very happy to each have our own comfortable bed, and as a team we were good at respecting each other’s needs and boundaries.

The team spent 2 weeks of the tour here, and it became a familiar and homely base for us to plan our days, rehearse sections of our choreo in the dining area, swim in the sea, eat endless amounts of fried green bananas and sticky rice treats, air our stinky fire costumes in the laundry area, do admin, and rest. We had plenty of storage space for our props, and they were also kind enough to let us store food in the kitchen. We drank endless cups of free coffee, and Madame insisted on us sitting to eat with her at the dining table—even when our bellies were so full—and we got to try all sorts of local and national delicacies. Our accommodation was nicely situated, just a little putt-putt ride or pleasant walk from the city centre. We spent our evenings wandering around town, sipping avocado shakes (which quickly became an obsession for our group), buying fruit, having dinner, and making friends with the locals.

Change Of Plans…

Our Partner Organisers (PO) had arranged for us to work in Bayawan’s many schools over the course of these two weeks, as well as some exciting performance opportunities in the city proper as the annual Christmas festivities began. Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of anybody’s control, some of our plans changed, and we had to adapt to many cancellations and school closures.

We were in the Philippines during election time, and during some sort of unrest, a local politician went into hiding, and many of the schools closed temporarily for an unplanned teacher training week. This meant that a lot of our days were shortened, and we had fewer sessions than expected. Gutted, the team made plans with our POs to find as many places as possible to deliver our workshops and shows. In the end we were able to successfully fill our schedules and take our work to schools and community spaces in a variety of villages around the barangays. We felt that our partners did a fantastic job of coordinating with all the local youth leaders, politicians, and schools to find places where we could have a high impact on the children and community. It was very well organised considering all the barriers and last-minute nature of some of the arrangements, and we were extremely grateful for all the opportunities!

Travelling In Style

Our rides to work were varied; the team joked that the only mode we had not yet taken was a cow. A couple of times we travelled by putt-putt, looping a huge stack of hula hoops onto the little roof at the back. On one occasion, the team left a suitcase full of juggling balls in the back of a putt-putt, and a kind driver, knowing they were unmistakably ours, dropped them back to our accommodation! Some days we had a minivan, so the team and all of the equipment had its own place with pleasant AC; on those comfortable rides we were able to make plans for our sessions, fill out impact forms, or do well-being check-ins. Other days we were in pickup trucks; some of us sat in each other’s laps or with our knees curled around our ears to make space for all of the equipment. Sometimes we resorted to sitting in the cargo bed, clinging onto the roof! Which made a hilarious entrance to some of the locations when the kids saw us arrive, poking our heads out and waving from behind stacks of hula hoops and descending acrobatically from piles of luggage.

One day, on our way to a session, we were greeted by an enormous dump truck, the type that is often used on work sites that lifts at the back to deposit large amounts of rubble. The side of the truck read “City of Bayawan,” and we needed to climb dexterously up a ladder via the enormous wheels to get in. There was absolutely no back to the truck, so we piled all the gear in the far end and held on tight as we ascended the mountains. All of us were elated at the adventure of this commute, singing to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and enjoying the breeze as if we were sitting in a sports car with the roof down. On the way home, we would drive in an exhausted and contented silence, listening to the insects and grasshoppers wake up the hills around us.

The Barnyard Collective

One of the most incredible parts of travelling abroad in general and with PWB specifically is getting the opportunity to connect with fellow artists and community builders. In Bayawan it felt as though we were surrounded by friends. Our time with the Barnyard Collective was an exciting beginning to more artistic collaboration to come.

We spent a few afternoons at the house of Julia, her husband Bob and children. Together they have obtained government funding and created a space where young people involved in different creative pursuits can gather and practice. It was a beautiful, open-plan house with a big garden and lots of space to run around inside and out.

We were surrounded by hard-working youth, passionate about everything from media to conversationalism. We had a great time doing team-building games with them and taking part in activities and icebreakers to get to know each other. It felt entirely possible that a juggle club could be born; the space was perfect, the people were passionate, and there was a lot of playful energy in the room! Following on from some of the circus they did with PWB the year before, the kids were extremely enthusiastic to develop their skills, and we enjoyed sharing open box sessions together as well as circus workshops.

Our time in the Philippines is part of a five-year plan, of which this was the second year, but one of the aims is that we can engage youth leaders in becoming circus workshop leaders and building their own props so that the project can be sustainable even after the tour finishes. We had a few amazing afternoons with the Barnyard Collective. It was a pleasure to play together, watching their juggle skills grow, giggling and Hula hooping together, and getting people of all ages involved in every prop, from Diablo to Rolla bola. We were treated to live music and lots of interesting chats, and PWB cannot wait to return next year to see how they have progressed with the equipment that we left with them!

Donated: 5 Hula hoops, 5 Diabolo’s + 5 sticks, 5 Spinning plates + 5 sticks, 5 Contact balls, 5 Staff’s, 5 pairs of Poi, 5 Flower sticks + 10 control sticks, 4 Rolla bola boards + 3 bolas, 1 Poi ‘how to’ CD, 1 Contact juggling book, 5 Juggling Stickers, 2 Spin Poi bags, 25 single scarfs. 

The Kids Show

Locations : 3

Audience members: 322

Everywhere we went, there was a basketball court, so we felt encouraged by how we’d themed the kids show, and we felt really appreciated, especially when we had younger audience members. The show really began to take shape as we gave it life on stage. Our clowning took on new heights as we warmed into the silliness, caricaturing our basketball star selves in the warm-ups, receiving roars of laughter at our slow-mo running, silly puffing faces, and exaggerated squats. We were hyping up the crowd for the trick shots and pulling audience members up onstage to participate.

Some of the places were revisits, but others were entirely new, and we could feel the newness of the experience in the open-mouthed reactions from some of the kids. Some children stood frozen, staring in absolute shock as Ryn climbed on Gina’s shoulders to become a basketball hoop. Others screamed in delight and couldn’t stay still when two poi-spinning dinosaurs came on stage in a Hula hoop car, or when JMS opened a can of potato chips to a snake springing out at them suddenly.

We had a lot of positive feedback; kids were amazed to see some of the tricks they were doing in our workshops on the stage, including hoop globes and three-ball cascades. We felt blessed to be taking part in so much community. At Tabuan Barangay Hall, children clustered around us for photos, holding one finger up to symbolise their hometown: “One Tabuan.” At SR Memorial Elementary School, kids had walked nearly two hours to watch the show and take part in the session (despite school not being officially open that day), and their gratitude was expressed in a thank you dance that they presented at the end.

Everywhere we went, there were young people dancing to this track—APT by Rose and Bruno Mars. The moves became familiar to us over our 2 weeks in Bayawan, and we joined them singing along with the chorus and doing the hand gestures together. We noticed the way that dance and music seemed so integrated in everybody’s routines in the Philippines, with choreography rehearsals the norm everywhere we arrived and a notable eagerness to take part in singing exercises in our circle sessions. It felt very likely that flow arts and circus would popularise in the Bayawan based on how many people were already so interested in performing arts.

The Fire Show

Locations: 9

Audience members : 4021

The fire show was taking shape and definitely something to be proud of. We received lots of enquiries about coming back next year every time we performed it. Some of the high schools we performed at were not simply cheering; they were literally screaming with excitement from the moment that we arrived to the moment we departed! It was surreal to be greeted with that sort of hysteria! Bayawan High School (our first place of delivery in Bayawan) was waiting for us when we arrived, and their anticipation had built to an exhilarated scream as we stepped out of the car and began setting up. That day we had to adapt our session due to transportation issues, so after some clowning and circle games, we put on an impromptu cabaret performance while some of the team set up the fire show, and then we did our first run with fire on stage in front of this screaming audience. We felt very triumphant to have had such a successful first run (despite some of us being attacked by ants as we stood to the side of the stage waiting for our cues!).

Our fire show had a similar response in high school, Enzo Nicolai Tévez; their screams of excitement will remain core memories for us! There was some miscommunication about our arrival, and so after introducing ourselves to a very friendly but confused headteacher, Gina literally asked, “Do you want a show?”. 25 minutes later we were set up and being introduced to an entire building of screaming high school students. Sai received chants of his name as he juggled fire staffs, and Meg had a really easy task of hyping them up during her hip-hop-inspired fire skipping section.

The team learnt the nuances of each other’s props and performance styles and worked with increasing cohesion with each run of the fire show. The show is full of group and duo choreography, and in our spare moments we cut, edited, and tidied these sections, building confidence in each other and deepening our collaboration across a wide range of skill sets and experience.

Our fire shows in the Bayawan city centre were memorable highlights of the tour. We performed twice on the plaza, an amphitheatre within a beautiful garden of winding paths, under huge trees with great vines, and next to an illuminated fountain shooting impressive walls of water. There was not a single part of the plaza that was not glittering in Christmas lights; gold and white light bulbs arched over the pathways, dangled down alongside the vines on the trees, and spiralled up every surface. PWB felt honoured to have the opportunity to return for a second year in a row, this time with a bigger and better fire show. Our gold and black costumes seemed perfectly aligned with the staging and the décor of the plaza around us. Our energy was high during this performance, and we received great feedback, including friends in the audience telling us, “It was an amazing show this year; you guys brought so many new things, and the choreography was great!”.

Christmas Lights

It is an incredibly special thing to be in the Philippines at Christmas, which is a time of year that is venerated and celebrated extensively as Christianity is the majority religion. With over 90% of the population identifying as Christian, we understood that they took the festivities very seriously. It was interesting to see how Christmas differed in South Asia from ours at home. Not only was the weather above 30 degrees (some days 40C, including the humidity!), but how the festivities were fused with Filipino culture. For example, we watched the lengthy process of a local art competition where various tribes and organisations came together in the street to create nativity scenes out of indigenous materials such as coconut shells, corn husks, bamboo, and palm leaves. Sleepless nights ensued as people weaved and drilled and crafted, a small reflection of the commitment to the work that these organisers do all year round, where they feed the hungry, clean the streets and beaches, and enact all sorts of community kindness and environmental awareness. We saw how deeply committed these communities were to delivering a magical Christmas to their children and how prominently there was a message of love, gratitude, and generosity that felt similar to our own celebrations, but there was also a feeling of attunement with nature, with mindfulness for consumption and waste, that felt different from our attitude at home, and the universal presence of faith also made for a purity around the holiday celebrations that the modernised western world feels like it lacks.

The Show Must Go On

We got to perform our full fire show at Hayahay, the night market with a big stage in the centre that feels like the heart of the city. We were part of a big performance that marked the first day of Advent, the start of the Christmas celebrations, and the competition with the indigenous nativity scenes, so we felt very privileged to take part in such a special occasion. As luck would have it, it rained—a LOT. So much so that we worried about the safety of the stage. But after some vigilant checks, a lot of sweeping off the puddles, and borrowing some umbrellas, we decided to not let the rain dampen our motivation. The show must go on, and so we continued to prepare ourselves. Crowds of people stood sheltered under umbrellas, which we felt was heroic seeing as we knew just how much the locals hate the rain! However, prayers were answered, and we were extremely fortunate that the rain stopped just as we were getting warmed up! We had such a magical time during this show; everyone in the audience was so enthusiastic, witnessing us pushing through the adversity of the rain and adapting our big tricks to the obstacles of the stage (Gina’s rope dart act received impressive gasps during this run due to the tight proximity of the stage set up and some pretty intense pyrotechnic canons!). We got to share the stage with fellow artists and some of our friends from Bayawan, which felt really special, and our friend Bethel even joined us on stage for her first lycopodium performance!

Our second performance on Bayawan Plaza was on another very stormy night. This time, we assessed the stage and realised that the full fire show would not be possible. However, we had no intention of disappointing, as the night was part of a wider showcase of students, some of whom we had given props to this year, including Hula hoops and Poi. We decided to adapt and put together a cabaret-style show of our solo fire acts, and this was the perfect decision to make, as we were able to provide an exciting show and demonstrate how to keep our performers and equipment safe. We have a wide diversity of skills and styles as a team, so that felt very joyous to showcase on stage. When we created cabaret shows last minute, we allowed ourselves so much freedom, especially after so many days of running the same show. This night felt really special as a form of pure expression, artistry, and inspiration. The young people also inspired us with some incredible dance performances; we had seen many rehearsals around Bayawan, but it was incredible getting to see the young artists showcasing their talent on stage with so much energy!