Alvarez deserves National Artist award, say Capiznons
ROXAS CITY — Two local arts and culture advocates have conveyed their approval of Cecile Guidote-Alvarez’s award as National Artist in Theater amidst protests and criticisms for this year’s batch of National Artist awardees.
The concerned provincial artists who requested anonymity said that Alvarez outstanding contribution in theater and other notable achievements and citations merit her the highest national recognition.
Alvarez is among the seven honorees that also include Magno Jose Carlo Caparas (visual arts and films), Jose Pitoy Moreno (fashion design), Francisco Bobby Maosa (architecture), Lazaro Francisco (posthumuous award for literature), Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (visual arts, paintings, sculpture and mixed media), and Manuel Conde (film and broadcast arts).
Described as cultural caregiver, Alvarez founded the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), a pioneering theater group that honed creative artists and audiences through children, college, and community theater.
She also holds a Master of Arts degree in Theater and took special Communications Arts Studies at the State University of New York in Albany, on a Fulbright-Hays and John D. Rockefeller III Fund Scholarship at the Dallas Theatre Center
The theater guru who has been a drama and English teacher at St. Paul’s College in Manila has also produced and directed Kalinangan Ensemble and Balintataw (Pupil of the Eye) among others.
Kalinangan Ensemble is primarily devoted to the development and presentation of Filipino plays and the setting up of people’s theater program popularized by peso tickets and even free performances while Balintataw is a television drama which serves as a valuable laboratory and training ground for students and young talents in various areas of TV, stage, and movie production.
Alvarez is also the founder of Earthsavers DREAMS Ensemble, a performing group composed of disadvantaged youth recognized as UNESCO Artists for Peace.
Among the various citations of Alvarez, who is presently the Executive Director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, include Ramon Magsaysay Public Service Award for the Arts in 1972, CCP Gawad Sining Award for Culture, Ninoy Aquino Award for nationalism, Bantayog Award which made her Hall of Famer in 1997, UN Human Rights Day Award from the Fund for Free Expression, Patnubay ng Kalinangan and TOWNS Award, Citizen’s Award for her outstanding leadership in the presentation of socially relevant plays, and Balagtas Award for the significant contribution of PETA in promoting the national language and the cultural heritage, among others. (PIA)