Langgam as Bird (Cebuano): Members Go Beyond Borders
- langgamperformancetroupe
- Jun 28
- 4 min read
For the past few months, LPT core members have been making huge achievements beyond the boundaries of theater, expanding their work internationally and interdisciplinary.
We start off with LPT's very own resident actor and artistic associate, Joel Garcia, who was among the main cast of the short film, AGAPITO, which was directed by Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Romero . On May 2025, it was announced that AGAPITO had been officially selected for the 78th Cannes Film Festival - Short Film Competition. Despite the prestigious invitation, artists still had to shoulder their own flight and accommodation expenses going to the festival. Given this, LPT organized a fundraising event for Joel by holding screenings of Pangulong Bangaw's documented performance at the Sikatuna studio on May 1, 2025, in celebration of Labor's Day.
Together with other fundraising and crowdsourcing efforts, Joel was able to secure enough funding for his trip to the 78th Cannes Film Festival, proudly representing Filipino artistry on the global stage.
The fundraising event was held in the LPT studio. While there was a small turnout, donations and sponsorships still kept coming in for Joel's trip to Cannes.
Joel's representing the small but mighty achievement of the Filipino thespian at Festival de Cannes.
II. Blonski's training with Psychological First Aid
In June 2025, our company manager and resident dramaturg, Blonski Cruz, became part of the Mekong Cultural Hub network in Taiwan. MCH is an independent, non-profit, non-government organisation, empowering diverse cultural practitioners to bring to life their visions of an inclusive, sustainable Asia.
Blonski represented Langgam as he completed the MCH's Psychological First Aid training program together with other international creatives and cultural workers this June. The Psychological First Aid program is a vital tool and framework to gain especially given the complex work we do both in our artistic and community work practice. You can check out Blonski's profile in the MCH website here: https://www.mekongculturalhub.org/people/blonski/
III. Jenny's residency with Goethe Institut-Philippinen
Artistic Director, Jenny Logico-Cruz, recently completed her residency at the Performance Ecologies program supported by the Goethe Institut- Philippinen. Performance Ecologies is an initiative that supports Filipino artists working in performance art, dance, and theater. The platform encourages experimentation, challenges traditional formats, and explores new ways of engaging audiences around pressing social and cultural themes.
During the 4-month residency, which was initially held in Linangan Art Residency in Cavite (March) and culminated in Orange Project in Bacolod (June), Jenny revisited an old performance piece for further redevelopment, titled More is More (or Less).
More is More (or Less) is a practice-led research project that experimented on the notion of 'maximalism' in performance through scenography, somatics, and performance auto-ethnography. Everything's Fine also supported the project during its development stage wherein they provided a space for the installation of Jenny's collected objects in May 2025. Organically, More is More (or Less) became part of the launch of the w e a r exhibition, in which Carlo Pacolor's collage collection, F L A T, was also a part of. Katrina Stuart Santiago was the curator.
Jenny performed the WIP performance of More is More (or Less) on June 14, 2025, at the Orange Project, Bacolod City, and received warm feedback from audience, peers, and curators. Jenny plans to perform another iteration of the piece in Manila in August, officially produced by Langgam Performance Troupe itself.
Jenny performs a WIP show of More is More (or Less) at the Orange Project (Art District, Bacolod). Photos by Goethe Institut-Philippinen.
IV. The return of [KOSMOS] as video installation
Also in June 2025, LPT's old pandemic piece, [KOSMOS], was included in a group show titled a covering; a shell: like skin, or armor, curated by Gary Ross-Pastrana at the Modeka Art Gallery. Originally a Zoom performance during the pandemic back in 2021, [KOSMOS] returned as a video installation, becoming a retrospective of a time when we struggled to situate the face in the time of facelessness, and the re-appropriation of the make-up as our vessel and ritual to journey into our inward universes rather than the outward materialist one. The exhibition also included works by Allan Balisi, Zeus Bascon, Denver Garza, Robert Langenegger, Luis Antonio Santos, and MM Yu. The exhibition ran until June 28, 2025.
L: Official poster of a covering; a shell: like skin, or armor. R: Photo of the 10-actor ensemble of [KOSMOS].
V. Upcoming: Jenny and Blonski's residency at Rimbun Dahan (Malaysia)
Finally, Jenny Logico-Cruz and Blonski Cruz, represent LPT as they have been accepted to take part in the Southeast Asia Arts Residency in Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia, this year. Rimbun Dahan will be supporting the development of their new concept proposal, An Inheritance of Taste , an (auto)biographical performance that explores the intersections of food, memory, grief and longing, and the reflection of one’s family legacy and its impact on one’s identity. More details and updates on An Inheritance of Taste soon.
VI. LPT, from ground to flight
LPT is proud of these recent developments and successes of our members as they continue to push the boundaries of their work and practice, further making strides both in the local and global scene. After 10 years of embodying the meaning of Langgam as Ant (Tagalog) by conducting rigorous ground work in portfolio-building, artistic identity-formation, and connecting local communities and networks, it appears that LPT is now ready to move into its next embodiment: Langgam as Bird (Cebuano). In the next coming years, we may see a renewed chapter of LPT: one that takes flight above and beyond the conventional formats of theater, and sees performance as interdisciplinary-driven.
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