The goal of the recently trending 5-day Artist Challenge on Facebook is to “fill our news feeds with images” of Artists’ works, and it has done exactly that, and more. The last two weeks for the local dance community was met with a barrage of dance photos, on stage, in the studio, during off days, some old photos and some new, some carefully put together and others just oddly random. Some posts may have been blase, but the unearthed pictures that were either breathtakingly beautiful, or historically note-worthy, or both, completely made up for it.
My brother, Lucas, former premier danseur now full-time corporate executive, dad, and occasional dancer for TEAM’s performing arm, CODA <http://www.teamdancestudio.co/#coda>, is entering relatively late in the Artist Challenge game. He finally found some time over the weekend to look through our family archive of photos and came up with this, his first post–
TEAM Nutcracker photoshoot, in front of the Philam studio, circa 1980s
That’s him and me, as the Nutcracker Prince and Clara/Sugar Plum Fairy. The flood of likes on this post seems to suggest that this gimmickry is serving its purpose. As of writing, at least 108 people have seen this photo of scrawny little ballet boy Lucas, with his first ever partner (not by choice), scrawny little me. And how’s about that scrawny little Nutcracker at the center, which was handcrafted -carved and painted- by our dad and first ever ballet teacher, Eli Jacinto.
Lucas was actually looking to post a different photo, but when he got hold of the one which he originally had in mind, he had already given up and posted this instead. So as not to let that photo go to waste, I am sharing it here as well–
A young Jacqui and Lucas, at the barre
And while I’m at it, let me just throw in a few more sibling photos.
In the Sisterhood, Basilio Villaruz tribute 2014
In a recent repeat of In the Sisterhood, a dance made for me and Joelle by our dad, inspired by the love-hate relationship we have as sisters, I used as backdrop an old photo of us singing “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile” from the movie Annie. I used that same photo from our musical childhood as a first post to my own Artist Challenge.
TEAM in concert circa 1990s
And here is Joelle with her first ever dance partner, our other brother Quincy. Dancing their first ever grand pas de deux, from Le Corsaire.
Yes we are a dancing family. And we have a lot of pictures. Let’s see what Lucas posts next, if he even follows through in the 4 days left of the challenge. -JJ
TheStudio 