Kigginawan: The Hidden Island is a comedic, colorful take on the evolution of culture brought about by technological advancement and the spread of media. A dance production directed and produced by Lea Klariza Roque and written by Kyle Gabriel Confesor, it will be performed at the DLS-CSB’s SDA Theater this December 6 and 7, 2018. Kigginawan: The Hidden Island is a dance play that will not only be lively and eye-catching, but also educational.
The production follows the thrilling tale of how one man’s ascent to power becomes shaped by media and technology. Audiences will experience the purity of a fictional untouched civilization living on Kigginawan, a far-off indigenous land. The tribe is composed of men and women who have a rich set of cultural practices and beliefs. This all changes, however, with the coming of a television. The natives revel in the glory of the magic box, while Mumbot, an outcast within the tribe, is filled with greed and ambition at the sight of it. Inspired by pre-colonial times, Kigginawan: The Hidden Island aims to spark discussion on the relevance of culture and history in the face of the digital age.
Lea Roque started ballet at the age of 11 with Renee Villa Villarosa-Lascano at the Renee Grace Rose Villa School of Ballet and Performing Arts. In 2011, she was given a scholarship from Ballet Philippines Dance School where she pursued both classical and modern ballet under the tutelage of Victor Ursabia, Rhea Dumdum-Bautista and Kris-Belle Paclibar-Mamangun, to name a few. During her stay in the school, Lea was given opportunities to dance with Ballet Philippines’ company productions such as Giselle and Swan Lake . Later on, she was granted yet another dance scholarship, this time at the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, where she was given the role of Tina in Ding, Ang Bato! . Lea was also a finalist at the 1st CCP National Ballet Competition and Taiwan Grand Prix International Ballet Competition 2018. Her most recent production was NeoFilipino last October 2018 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, where she was both a choreographer and dancer under the recommendation of Denisa Reyes.
Kigginawan: The Hidden Island is Lea Roque’s culminating project as a student of DLS-CSB. Impressively, the production itself is almost entirely student-run, as it was put together through Roque’s collaboration with other Benildeans from the school’s various creative courses.
Through this production, Roque hopes to convey the message that identity and culture evolve through time and technological advancement, and that there is a need for us to be aware of that.
