Mari Dance is bringing back its acclaimed full-length contemporary production a dance in a day in a dance, a work that not only examines the emotional demands of dance-making but also traces the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) enduring influence on contemporary Filipino choreography.
The production will run from May 16 to 31, 2026 at the Doreen Black Box Theater in Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, marking Mari Dance’s first major multi-weekend staging.
Built around five choreographies by JM Cabling, the production brings together works developed across different stages of the country’s contemporary dance ecosystem. Four of the pieces were shaped through CCP-supported platforms, including the CCP Choreographers Series and other dance development programs.
The restaging positions a dance in a day in a dance as a living archive of Filipino contemporary dance, showing how institutional support can allow choreographic works to grow from experimental pieces into full-length theatrical productions.
The production explores the inner lives of dancers and choreographers, touching on burnout, rejection, creative pressure, intimacy, artistic survival and the difficult realities of sustaining a career in dance.
Produced by Mari Dance Company, the work is shaped for the stage by musical theater director Mikko Angeles. Al Garcia returns as the choreographer, anchoring the production’s layered narrative on the personal and professional struggles behind performance-making.
Among the featured works is “Bent,” Cabling’s earliest piece in the program, which premiered at the 2014 Wifi Body Festival’s New Choreographers’ Competition under the direction of Myra Beltran and with support from the CCP.
“Nothing Special” and “Lihim ni Lea” were later developed and premiered under the CCP Choreographers Series in 2017 and 2019, respectively, while “I Wanna Say Something” was first presented in 2021 under the CCP Professional Dance Support Program during the pandemic.
The CCP Choreographers Series was conceptualized by Denisa Reyes and Myra Beltran and launched in 2015 in consultation with former CCP president Nestor Jardin. The program was designed to push contemporary dance expression in the Philippines through three platforms: WifiBody.ph for emerging choreographers, Koryolab for mid-career artists, and NeoFilipino for established choreographers creating major collaborative works.
The series continued the legacy of NeoFilipino, which began in 1987, as well as the independent dance initiatives of the Wifi Body Festival, which started in 2006.
For Mari Dance, the restaging underscores how sustained platforms for mentorship, experimentation and production can shape an artist’s body of work over time. Rather than presenting the five choreographies as separate pieces, the production recontextualizes them into one evening, revealing contemporary Filipino choreography as an evolving lineage rather than a set of isolated works.
The cast features alternating performances by former Ballet Philippines dancer Georgette Sanchez-Vargas and former Ballet Philippines dancer and Daloy Dance Company founder and artistic director Ea Torrado as the mother. Former Ballet Philippines and Alice Reyes Dance Philippines dancer Janine Arisola-Cabrera takes on the lead role of Lea.
Returning cast members Michael Que and Sarah Samaniego join an expanded ensemble that includes Mari Dance scholarship students from Butuan, Iriga, Sagay, Sorsogon and Surigao.
Their participation reflects Mari Dance’s broader education-driven mission, which combines performance, training and community-building. Many of the company’s dancers come from scholarship programs under Guang Ming College and Mari Dance’s own training initiatives, helping widen access to professional dance education beyond traditional centers of the arts.
Co-presented by Areté, a dance in a day in a dance will run from May 16 to 31 at the Doreen Black Box Theater. Tickets are available through maridance.com.