A Valentine’s vogue ball, archival film viewing, and more at this year’s Fringe Manila Festival

Philippine Arts Month has lots in store for everyone: There are a couple of art fairs to look forward to but also performance and contemporary art-driven programs like Fringe Manila Festival that will run the whole month of February and a few days into March.

Centered on creative community building and giving platform to forms often relegated to the “fringes” of mainstream art, Fringe Festival traces its roots to Edinburgh, Scotland. The idea of the festival only emerged in Manila in 2015 and has since grown from a side event to a program that many local creatives flock to.

It has evolved into a city-wide collaborative effort with venues ranging from the conventional (creative hubs, galleries, and theaters) to the unconventional (cafes, hostels, museums, schools, and retail shops) with artists to complement them.

Diverse performers

As usual, the festival will play host to a number of subversive and out-of-the-box contemporary art concepts. Such includes collaborative performances by Barcelona-based Su e Giu Circus; Filipina-American contemporary dancer K. Go with Daloy Dance Company; visual artist Adam Red in collaboration with Japanese artist collective Sakai International Community Arts; artist Mark Valino with fellow Filipino-Canadian collective Immigrant Lessons; Lyon-based French-Filipina artist Maïa d’Aboville and French painter Henri Lamy; and renowned New-York-based Filipina dancer and choreographer Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish of The Alvin Ailey School in collaboration with artists Ea Torrado, Leeroy New, and Olivia d’Aboville.

Participatory workshops

Fringe Manila Festival will also see a lot of participatory workshops and sessions that are open to all. Acro-yoga duo Filipino-Canadians Kaye Peñaflor and Sam Jarvis, collectively known as Kasa, will be holding aerial and acro yoga sessions. “Art After Dark,” on the other hand, is a life drawing session with two models and three performance sets facilitated by Karla Consolacion and Mookie Tamara. “Queen of Rope” and “Mistress of the Underworld” Joyen will also host a basic rope bondage class under “String Theory.”

What else can we expect from this year’s Fringe Manila Festival? The short answer is “a lot.” Here are some of them from their Foreplay Program to the main event that starts on Feb. 12 to a Fringe Hangover Program spilling into Mar. 1 to 15.

Lagablab: Ang Improv Show na Puno ng Puso by Chopsuey Improv

Feb. 8, 7 p.m.
P300

Unscripted, unrehearsed, these improv performances about love right in time for the upcoming hearts day.

Somewhere Else Instead by Langgam Performance Troup

Feb. 8-9, 7:30 p.m.
Yuchengco Museum
Pay what you can

A movement piece composed of five performers reflecting on the importance of stairs metaphorically and architecturally.

Pineapple Lab’s Really Really Fringe Market

Feb. 9, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Pineapple Lab

A spin-off to their free-market program that lets you take and give stuff as you wish—no strings attached.

Basic Pottery Workshop by Hey Kessy

Feb. 8, 9 a.m.
Commune
P3,000

Let the basics of pottery with Hey Kessy, a pottery studio that specializes in workshops and custom designs.

Opening Ceremony with Burlesque PH and Deus Ex Machina

Feb. 12
Draper Startup House Rooftop

A night filled with sultry performances from Burlesque PH, the Philippines’ premier burlesque troupe with their long-running cabaret show “Bodabil” and Dues Ex Machina to officially open this year’s festival.

Closed Curtain

Feb. 13
Gallery in the Gutter

A behind-the-curtain talent show for all introverted performers.

Sweet Valentine Ball with the House of Mizrahi

Feb. 15, 9 p.m.
The Adlib Dance Studio
P250

The House of Mizrahi, the first-ever voguing house in the country, hosts Sweet Valentine Ball, a voguing ball.

Classic Filipino Cinema with Lopez Arts Initiative

Feb. 20, 7 p.m. with screenings on Feb. 27 and Mar. 5
Pineapple Lab

The Lopez Arts Initiative brings together storytelling, film restoration, and heritage in a casual, community-inspired platform with the showing of award-winning, thought-provoking local films.