Douglas Nierras
| Douglas Nierras | |
|---|---|
 30th Anniversary Dance Concert.png Philippines' Dance Guru (this photo was used for the 30th anniversary dance concert in Meralco Theater) | |
| Born | May 28 [when?] Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines. |
| 💼 Occupation | Director, choreographer, national adjudicator for dance, consultant for arts and culture progressive development, teacher |
Douglas Nierras is the founder, artistic director, and choreographer of Douglas Nierras Powerdance. Creatively involved in dance over four decades, his present choreographic and teaching style is the distillation of influences from the various companies he became a part of, as well as academic training in dance pedagogy, both here and abroad.[1]
Honours, decorations, awards, and distinctions
He is the NCCA “1998 Pasasalamat ng Bayan sa Sayaw Awardee” for Modern Dance[2] and recipient of the “Gawad Alab ng Haraya 2001” award for Outstanding Choreography.[3] In January 30, 1990 – 2000. In January 30, 1999, he became the Grand Prix Winner at the “10th SAITAMA INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE DANCE CONCOURSE 1999 - 2000”.[4] This is the first and only international Grand Prix honor for creative contemporary choreography won by a Filipino in its entire dance history. Dubbed by the noted art critic, Marge Enriquez as "one of the country’s most important choreographers of the century",[5] no less than National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquinco has called him “The Quintessential Choreographer”.[6]
In 2019, Nierras received his Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance and was voted in Aliw Awards Best Choreographer twice: one in the 90's and a second time in 2019, while Powerdance was elevated to the 2004 Hall of Fame of the Aliw Awards as Best Pop/Jazz Contemporary Dance Group for having won the award three years in a row (2001, 2002, and 2003) and won the best Ensemble for the Binondo a Tsinoy Musical in 2019.[7][8] Furthermore, he gained the respect of the public sector when he received the “Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan sa Sayaw” Award during the Araw ng Maynila celebration on June 22, 2005.[9]
Nierras is also highly recognized in Philippine mainstream media, gracing numerous major dance festivals and dance competitions as an esteemed judge. Among the competitions he has judged and choreographed for are Starstruck of GMA 7, Stardance and I Can Do That of ABS-CBN, and Shall We Dance and Dancing Nation of TV 5. He has also judged for many local dance festivals such as the Sinulog Festival, and the popular Aliwan Festival.[10][11][12][13][14]
He also teaches movement for stage, choreography, and performance for actors, singers, and dancers. Recently, he garnered great reviews from the musical “Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag” and the recent musical in The Theater at Solaire, “Binondo A Tsinoy Musical,” for his outstanding choreography.[15][16]
He was also commissioned to choreograph and direct for TV commercials, TV series, and movies in the Philippines. To name a few: GMA 7’s Fantaserye: The Last Prince, Bong Revilla’s movie Captain Barbel, the musical movie EMIR commissioned by the CCP, 90’s Tide Commercials, Sun Silk and Cream Silk Commercials, and the renowned SARSI “Angat Ka Sa IBA” Commercial, which is, up until now, the basis of ingenuity in conceptualizing, choreographing, and directing TV ads in the commercial industry.[17][18]
He was the first to use, explore, and develop 5D performances with the use of modern visual technology in the Philippines and also the first to use and explore aerial dancing and adapt to and maximize available technology in the Philippines.[19]
He is also commissioned to direct and choreograph Presidential State Visit Cultural Dinner Galas, including those for United States President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese Empress Michiko Shōda, Japanese Emperor Akihito, and the 21 Presidential State Visits for The World Economic Forum hosted by the Philippines in 2014 and graced by 21 leaders from across the world.[20]
Aside from the said achievements, he is continuously working on his lifelong mission to educate the people and future dance artists in the Philippines, conducting Choreography Clinics[21] in different regions in the Philippines, achieving great results, giving dance workshops and character development in various government and non-government organizations. Together with his dance company, POWERDANCE, they established their own Scholarship Program that continuously provides free scholarships to deserving but less privileged potential dancers.
Surely, it is priceless to embark on a noble resolve which has no other desire but to educate the mind, the temporal body, and the everlasting soul. True to the calling of being a teacher, the much-awaited Douglas Nierras Choreography Clinic was held last March 2008, after eight years, offering an intensive approach to teaching the making of dance derived from the Douglas Nierras Powerdance pedagogy. Douglas Nierras has continuously strived to reach out to the general public, with workshops, lecture demonstrations, outreach concerts, choreography clinics, and faculty and student cultural enrichment seminars.[21][22]
Notwithstanding the varied awards and responsibilities he undertakes in his various capacities as artistic director for his company, Douglas considers himself to be—importantly and simply—a teacher.
References
- ↑ Nierras, Douglas (April 12, 2015). "In this dance workshop, learning need not end when the fun starts". INQUIRER.net.
- ↑ Abunda, Boy. "An act of pure joy". philstar.com.
- ↑ https://ncca.gov.ph/sentro-rizal-3/programs/organizational-awards/gawad-alab-ng-haraya-and-dangal-ng-haraya/
- ↑ "Performing Arts Directory | Douglas Nierras Powerdance". artseducation.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
- ↑ "BINONDO, A Tsinoy Musical".
- ↑ "VANCOUVEREYE ZINE". uncommontalk.blogspot.com.
- ↑ Charm, Neil. "Sindak 1941 wins big at 2019 ALIW Awards | BusinessWorld".
- ↑ "MERGED: Silliman University - Page 50". www.istorya.net.
- ↑ Yuson, Alfred A. "Manila's Patnubay awards". philstar.com.
- ↑ "StarStruck Throwback: 'Terror Dance Mentor' Douglas Nierras vs. Batch 1 Survivors". GMA News Online.
- ↑ "Vanessa, nag-taping na para sa 'Stardance'". philstar.com.
- ↑ "Angel Locsin and Douglas Nierras to Seat as "I Can Do That" Special Judge this Weekend".
- ↑ "PressReader.com - Your favorite newspapers and magazines". www.pressreader.com.
- ↑ "Aliwan Fiesta 2014: The Mother of All Fiestas".
- ↑ Jesus, Totel V. de (May 27, 2018). "'Binondo' musical is more than a love story of Chinese-Filipinos". ABS-CBN News.
- ↑ "Manila in the Claws of Light". June 16, 2020 – via Wikipedia.
- ↑ "Douglas Nierras". IMDb.
- ↑ "ISA MUNANG PATALASTAS". isamunangpatalastas.blogspot.com.
- ↑ "DOUGLAS NIERRAS-- KING OF MODERN PINOY DANCE". sportsmanila.net.
- ↑ "Cultural crisis #APEC2015". The Manila Times.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "The Power of Dance - Filipino Journal".
- ↑ "Douglas Nierras Powerdance to hold homecoming concert". Inquirer Lifestyle. September 23, 2012.
External links
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