De La Salle University - Manila

History of Culture and Arts Activities and Organizations in the La Salle Campus

The first recorded sign of cultural activities in DLSU was found in Green and White 1947 with the existence of the Oratory Club and Camera Club.

There were also some organizations which have existed for a while such as the Cultural Society in the 60’s, La Estudiantina De La Salle in the late 70’s, the International Arts and Culture Society,  Kapilas, Deogracias Regio, in the late 80’s, and Artists’ Circle in the early 2000’s all of which aimed to promote the appreciation of Filipino culture and arts in the campus through programs, lectures and shows. 

For a time, the Forensics Society now known as the De La Salle Debate Society, apparently founded in 1957, was housed in the Cultural Arts Office, until it was assigned in the Office of Student Activities in the late 90’s. The Camera Club was also classified under the Student and Cultural Activities Office but it has been permanently assigned to the Office of Student Activities as a special interest group.

History of the Culture and Arts Office

Since the school was established, cultural groups in the campus were treated like any typical student organization, as it aimed to provide various avenues for students’ talents to flourish; and DLSU has never ceased to support culture and arts programs, as it believes in its value, indicated in the school’s insignia: Religio, Mores and Cultura.

DLSU has defined Cultura as “man’s regard for material things” (ITEC, 1987). It is further elaborated as:

• the appreciation of Art and Culture -   the awareness, recognition and   evaluation of different art forms; voluntary attendance and/or participation in art and cultural activities; patronizing native/owning art pieces
• love of things Filipino – choosing to live and to work in the country; appreciation and patronage of Filipino culture, art and products.

Even in the absence of an umbrella office to oversee the cultural organizations’ activities, various groups have emerged. Some have already been dissolved, some have stayed and some have evolved. DLSU is proud to have been part of the lives of these budding artists who have blossomed in their respective fields, not only in the culture and arts scene.
                                    
In the late 80’s when the academic trend of formally establishing a student affairs offices in campus have transpired, all the student and cultural activities were cradled in one office, headed by its director, Alfonso Alba, with assistant director, Fernando Pahati. This was in 1988, and the first organizations registered under that office were the: Camera Club, Communication Arts Society, the newly revived DLSU Chorale, La Salle Dance Troupe, Harlequin Theater Guild, International Arts and Culture Society (INTERACS).

In 1991, the Cultural Arts Office was formally established, with Ms. Edith Batalla as director. The groups under the first Cultural Arts Office were: the Camera Club, Communication Arts Society, La Salle Dance Troupe, Harlequin Theater Guild, International Arts and Culture Society, DLSU Band and Forensic Society. When Mr. Rene Molano took charge of the office in 1992, he has finalized the roster of artist groups in the office to be composed of the Artists’ Circle, DLSU Concert Band, DLSU Chorale, La Salle Dance Troupe, DLSU Chamber Ensemble, DLSU Debate Society, Green Media Group, Harlequin Theater Guild. New groups were also established such as the Bootes (now the La Salle Dance Company-Street) and the De La Salle Innersoul.

Ms. Grace Cura became director of the office from 2000 to 2002.

The office is currently under the leadership of Ms. Glorife Samodio, also an alumni and a Kennedy Center cultural fellow. She has introduced and established various cultural programs and strengthened the artistic programming of each of the groups to ensure a very active and creative campus. The Office dedicates itself in promoting a well-balanced non-formal education of culture and the arts to the Lasallian community. Through its self-organized programs and activities, the awareness and appreciation of different art forms are being promoted. It ensures that its self-organized productions are of good quality and are relevant to the community.
The office also cultivates the innate talents of artistically inclined Lasallian students through its different cultural organizations representing dance, music, theatre, film and broadcast arts. The skills of aspiring artists in these fields are refined through relevant workshops, seminars, symposia as well as competitions and awards. The CAO consists of the Green Media Group (production staff) and the Student Artist Managers (administrative staff) and seven performing groups: the DLSU Chorale, Lasallian Youth Orchestra, De La Salle Innersoul, La Salle Dance Company - Contemporary, La Salle Dance Company-Street, La Salle Dance Company-Folk, and the Harlequin Theatre Guild. They are trained not only to be excellent performers but excellent managers as well. These groups also hold outreach programs to promote culture and the arts in the grassroots level through workshops and performances. In 2011-12, the office was given a new name, the Culture and Arts Office, to signify the university’s recognition of the importance of building the true concept of culture among our youth, alongside with recognizing the arts.

History of the Lasallian Youth Orchestra.

The De La Salle College Band was founded in 1948 by Br. Leon. It has ceased from existence in the late 60’s. A new group called “Musicians’ Ensemble” emerged in 1982, and in 1983, DLSU formally hired Mr. Eliezer San Felipe as a conductor. The musicians’ group in the campus has evolved from a marching band, to a concert band in the 90’s During the time of Br. Andrew Gonzalez as president in DLSU in 1995, he formally set-up the DLSU Chamber Ensemble to cater to student classical musicians. The group existed side by side with the DLSU Pops Orchestra which was then what the DLSU Concert Band has turned into. In 2009, the two groups were merged and now known as the Lasallian Youth Orchestra, with Mr. Eliezer San Felipe as resident conductor and Mr. German de Ramos as assistant conductor.

History of the Harlequin Theatre Guild

The existence of De La Salle College Players Guild was seen in a 1960’s write up in Green and White, where Mr. Armando Baltazar directed the first real dramatic workshop in La Salle’s post-war history. Its initial presentation, “The Bat” was staged successfully in San Sebastian College Auditorium. Since then, it has continued to produce original plays and adaptations of Filipino classics by national artists. It was renamed La Salle Drama Guild until it has changed its name to Harlequin Theatre Guild in 1985-86. The jester logo that HTG uses today was first used by the Drama Guild in 1983.

Today, the Guild advocates social issues and the promotion of Filipino culture in the campus and in other schools. It has also established its name in the culture and arts scene as it hosted the National Theater Festival in 2009, and has staged several plays by invitation, in legitimate theatres such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Philippine Educational Theatre Association. In the same year, it has staged an original piece, “Rizal is My President”, which has served as DLSU’s sounding board for the advocacy of voters’ education. It has been staged several times in various public venues and campuses in the metro, while the script is being used by other theatre groups to promote the message.    In 2011, it has embarked on a tour to represent the country and the university in the Prague Quadrennial, an international competition on scenography by university theatres, and the group has won the “Children’s Choice Award”.  

History of the Green Media Group

The Green Media Group was formerly known as the Communication Arts Society, which existed as early as 1978. It has established its membership until the late 80’s and revived in the mid 90’s. When it was revived, it was just perceived to take on photo and video coverage services for the university. It has also expanded its membership to other colleges, and not only for Communication Arts majors. AToday, the Green Media Group is the recognized production and media services arm of the university, composed of dedicated student members who take care of stage management, technical direction, creative and coverage services of most university and organizational events.

History of the DLSU Chorale

The existence of a chorale group in the campus was seen in the Green and White 1962, then known as the Chorale Society. In 1966, it was renamed as Collegiate Chorale, until it was changed to DLSU Chorale in 1980. In that year, they have made some TV appearances in noontime shows.

In 1988, they got Mr. Noel Bugarin to conduct the group. From that year on to 1992, the group carved a niche in the music scene both locally and abroad. The group was able to win first prize in various competitions in the country, and was invited to perform in Japan, and again, to compete in Italy, Spain and England where they won major prizes.

In 1995, under the tutelage of Prof. Rodolfo Delarmente, the group embarked on a highly successful European concert tour that took them to various countries such as Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Greece and Norway, reaping accolades from European and Filipino audiences alike.  They have repeated the same feat in Europe in 1999, when they bagged major prizes in competitions in Germany, Italy, Greece, Austria, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Belgium and France, gaining praise from their audience in all their performances.

In the summer of 2002, the group had its very first North American Concert tour, where they performed in various states such as California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, Ohio and New York, as well as Toronto and Ottawa in Canada. The group represented Southeast Asia as they joined in the Asian Christian Music Festival in Hongkong, performing in April of 2004 at the Shatin Auditorium together with various groups from other Asian countries such as Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. The Chorale embarked on a successful four-and-a-half-month US and European tour in the summer of 2004k, serving as Ambassadors of Goodwill through Music and Culture in their performances as various states such as California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York, as well as in various European countries such as Sweden, Norway, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Italy, France, Denmark and Finland. The group was given the Folkloric Diploma in the famous 21st Bela Bartok International Choral Competition in Hungary, which was participated in by various choral groups from all over the world.

In April to July 2010, the group embarked again on another North American-European Tour. They have bagged 2nd place under the Category of Chamber Choirs in the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod held in Wales; and in the 49th International Competition of Choral Singing “SEGHIZZI” 2010 held in Italy, 6th place in XXII Grand Prix Seghizzi, 3rd place in Category 1A/1B (Renaissance and Baroque), and 5th place in Category 2a/2b (Pop Songs and Folk Music).

History of the La Salle Dance Company

The first trace of the La Salle Dance Troupe was seen in Green and White 1983 where it claims to have been in existence for 4 years. The group has adapted various genres of dances and advocated both traditional and contemporary dances. The La Salle Dance Troupe boasts itself of the being the organizers of the longest-running inter-collegiate dance competition in the region, the Dancelebration which is about to turn almost three decades old. In 2004, the La Salle Dance Troupe, together with the De La Salle Bootes, a streetdance group under CAO, have agreed to call themselves under one umbrella name – La Salle Dance Company. The company is divided into three genres – Contemporary, Street and Folk. The LSDC-Contemporary continues the Dancelebration legacy while promoting the art of modern dance introduced long ago by Martha Graham. They also host an inter-DLSU dance competition together with LSDC Street. On the other hand, the LSDC-Street has continued to win awards for the university in the hiphop and streetdance genre. LSDC-Folk was also established to ensure that the Lasallians are well-grounded with their exposure in folk dances. 

History of  De La Salle Innersoul

It all started with the college reunion of four KUNDIRANA members whose passion for singing led them to establishing a musical group of their own. As a result, De La Salle Innersoul was formed by Mr. Rene Jose Molano, then Director of the Cultural Arts Office with its present-day artistic and musical director Mr. John Bradley B. Fenomeno—becoming the tenth member group of the Cultural Arts Office and was launched on October 3, 1997.  Another member joined the group in 1998 and the five members went on to stage their first major concert entitled ‘Innersoul: In Control’.  After the success of their concert, Innersoul went on to do a concert tour of La Salle schools all over the country.  The five members became seven in 1999, and in the same year Innersoul staged their second major concert, 100% Innersoul.

During the succeeding years, the celebrity of INNERSOUL became greater; the group became in demand for college and university activities, not only within De La Salle University but also in other universities.  The year 2001 marked the end of INNERSOUL’s exclusivity of membership for former KUNDIRANA members and the newly revitalized INNERSOUL went on to present their Valentine’s Concert, dubbed as ‘Soulmates’.  The year 2003, Innersoul opened its doors to female vocalists.  In 2006, the group produced another grand concert event, entitled: ‘iSing’ which showcased the evolution of Pop and R&B music from the 8-trak to the iPod.  In 2007, Innersoul celebrated its 10th year through a self titled gala concert.  In 2008, a major show entitled ‘Carnivale’ was staged along with other productions: ‘Philosophy of Music’, ‘Forever Yours’ and ‘In Love’. While last year, another major concert entitled ‘Dozen Delights’ gave tribute to the musical pop groups produced by the entertainment scene from different generations – all the way from The Fifth Dimension of the 60’s, Abba of the 70’s, the B-52’s, Swing Out Sister of the 80’s and other hits of the 90’s, to the music of the New Millennium. In 2010, the academic year kicked off with the Innersoul-O! Series entitled Inspirations. And as the Lasallian community celebrates the eve of 100 Years of Lasallian presence in the Philippines, with pride and joy, Innersoul staged “SONGS FOREVER”. The group successfully produced the STAR MANILA™ Centennial Edition, an inter-college singing competition in DLSU-Manila in March 2011.

In the past years, Innersoul has produced performers known for their excellence in the field of singing and stage performance such Vince Alaras of the South Border, Johann de la Fuente, stage actor, Gian Magdangal of the Philippine Idol and Party Pilipinas, Kristine Diaz of Disneyland HK and most recently, Fritzie Cabral of TV5 and Fredison Lo, a commercial model and stage actor casted as Mark Cohen of the musicale RENT.