Lipad Bukod sa Hangin ng Alapaap
By Giovanni Ortega
Photos by Erina Alejo
Cautious as I drove 6 hours from Los Angeles to San Francisco for an opportunity to be in-person with other artists. A practice we seem to have taken for granted until this culling of air and sea, henceforth I took the invitation from Alleluia as a calling to commence a new project, mind body and soul… so I thought.
Conscious when we went in the dark at Yerba Buena and I witnessed firsthand the shadows of movement and music through handy speakers, all of us unaware and navigating a new space but one that is all too familiar. There were no introductions, no kisses but all masked architecture. How can you tell that you love someone in the dark? Through movement and whispers. The backdrop of the San Francisco skyline looming over us and a man-made waterfall as part of the musical chorus whistling by.
Cautious and Conscious as I was wrapped in tribal indigeneity, cloth, a corseted ore, tassels that blind and a silenced mouth but a vocal body. The different sites unfolded each step, from brick to sand, from street lights to ocean beach. Everyone in our little pod of fairies and warlocks traversing the spatial awareness of humanity hungry to be engaged, enraged and entertained. These bodies convulsing, flying and falling into animals and spirits in the city.
The event was blinding and painful, as I relied on my 6th sense to see, following silhouettes, shadows and voices. It is while carrying the pain of humanity and soreness of livelihood exhaustion that we were re-born. The resistance of being free to create was hindering my own freedom to be.
Alleluia knew, she never said it, but knew that I, like many others….the we, the he, the she and they can simply awaken within and cautiously and consciously ride the wind. Voices that came from this body are from a primal earth reminding us of what once was is always what it shall be.
Langit, Lupa, Kaluluwa, Lakbai Diwa
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Giovanni Ortega (AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC) has been working professionally for over a decade. He believes in creating an accepting and inclusive relationship with artists and communities alike regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and class.
In the past few years, he's teamed up with several organizations around the world to observe how the arts and culture are used to inform different populations on how we can decimate discrimination and enhance acceptance. As a core member of Theatre Without Borders, they have the distinct opportunity to work with communities and artists from across the globe to engage, investigate and create stories that usually go untold but are relevant and important to share with everyone.
As a multidisciplinary artist, a public speaker in over one-hundred-forty college campuses and an international collaborator, these experiences have given Giovanni the opportunity to see the variety and diversity of what our society has to offer. This is what he continuously instills with the people that he interacts with in communities, organizations and academia.