Mooning, swooning, or crooning? Events and activities for Valentine’s Day

Rejoice, lovers of all shapes, forms, and sizes; the day to celebrate romance has come yet again! Revel in the various activities the metro has prepared — from concerts to take you down memory lane, to a ballet production that combines the sensual and the macabre in one heady performance, to a yoga-for-two offering, among many others.

(Of course, the activities below are not only for those with partners but also for anyone who’d like to spend the unofficial holiday with other loved ones and friends.)

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Start the Valentine’s Day celebration with a cute gesture as the Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) will not only be delivering your gifts, but their Singing Karteros (singing postmen) will also treat your loved one to a song.

PHLPost said in a press release that they intend to bring the love, music, and the “kilig” (romantic thrill) to Filipinos through this “Love Express” promotion. Other activities in the promotion include: a love lock project, a Valentine wall and love note, personalized printing of V-shirt and DJ booth for love song requests, all located at the lobby of the Manila Central Post Office.

For inquiries on this Valentine’s Day Promo, you may call (02) 527-0144/45.

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Take a trip down memory lane�� with the first installment of #LoveThrowback, a concert of eight original Pilipino music (OPM) crooners of the 1980s, 90s, and early 2000s, singing their well-loved songs.

The singers include Rico Puno, Marco Sison, Raymond Lauchengco, Gino Padilla, Chad Borja, Wency Cornejo, Roselle Nava, and Nina.

“I was thinking of a perfect Valentine’s show… so I chose [songs and singers] that people would want to hear,” said Calvin Neira, stage director, during a press conference on Jan. 26 at the Luxent Hotel in Quezon City.

He added that each singer will have around three songs during the show and that it will follow a certain “story” — mostly hugot lines — and will have “less talk, more music.” Hugot literally means “to pull or draw out” and has more recently come to describe words that clearly come from emotional past experiences.

Mr. Neira said the goal is to make the concert a touring one, with a new installment every year.

#LoveThrowback is on Feb. 13, 8:30 p.m. at the PICC Plenary Hall, Pasay City. Tickets are available at SM Tickets (472-2222), Ticketnet (911-5555), and Ticketworld (891-9999).

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Spend Valentine’s Day eve with “Asia’s Songbird” Regine Velasquez in a team-up with the Concert King Martin Nievera, alongside Angeline Quinto and Erik Santos, for a one-night concert, Royals, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Fans in Cebu will get to celebrate Valentine’s Day itself with the Royals as the concert will be staged at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino there on Feb. 14. Both concerts are slated for 8:00 p.m.

Tickets for the SM Mall of Asia event are available at SM Ticket outlets (470-2222). For the Cebu leg, call 0925-5200222 or (032) 232-6888.

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For those who’d like unique sight as well as sound, Ballet Philippines’ (BP) Opera, a ballet adaptation of artist Gabriel Barredo’s acclaimed exhibit of the same name, is built on the dark, sensual, and macabre, with a fixation on body parts.

The performance, which plays on opera’s meaning in Filipino (“to operate”) and English, will also feature new installations from the multimedia artist: pieces the dancers will use on stage. It will also not be strictly ballet, as the production will make use of contemporary dance.

The story will revolve around a pair of twins and their mother trying to live in a world where death always watches and temptations abound.

“[Seeing Mr. Barredo’s work,] you get an emotion… there was a lot of emotion, and I tried to connect with what I felt looking at his work and what I could take, and bring it to the field that I know, which is dance,” said Redha Benteifour, the French choreographer, during the press conference on Jan. 27.

BP President Margie Moran-Floirendo said at the same press conference that the production is for mature audiences, and they will not allow admission of young children.

The production will have a limited run at the CCP Main Theater on Feb. 13 and 14 (at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.), with a fund-raising gala on Feb. 16 at 8 p.m., the night before the opening of Art Fair Philippines.

For tickets and reservations, call the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 or TicketWorld at 891-9999.

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For those who would rather spend Valentine in a more “Zen” way, LiFE Yoga will be hosting “Power of Two” on Feb. 13 at 10 a.m.

“Power of Two” is a “fun, light-hearted, two-hour partner yoga” session designed to “open the heart and create powerful bonds between you and your partner, friend, and/or family member,” stated a company press release.

The partner yoga will blend and balance opposite or contrasting energies between you and your partner with specific postures, pranayama (breathing techniques),�� hand gestures, and meditations.

A “gong bath” will be provided at the end of the session, to generate “sound healing.”

Internationally certified Kundalini Yoga teacher Rosan Cruz will lead “Power of Two.”

LiFE Yoga is located on the second floor of Forbestown Center, 8 Forbestown Road, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The regular rate is P1,800 for two. For information, call 886-7500.

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The UP Repertory Company (UP REP), the University of the Philippines – Diliman’s official University Performing Group for Philippine Theatre, is bringing back one of its most outrageous, most shocking, and most controversial plays for Fringe Manila Arts Festival: Karitas at Damaso. The show will open on Feb. 14 and will continue to run on Feb. 15, 20, 22, and 27, at Pineapple Lab, Makati City.

Written by UP Diliman’s UZ Eliserio, directed by UP REP alumnus Dax Carnay, and choreographed by UP Filipiniana Dance Troupe alumna (and Daloy Dance Company member) Jomelle Era, the production also features an “all-critical, all-daring, all-UP” production cast and crew.

The play will take on religion in a wild electronic dance music-flavored farce, where a young woman confesses her sins to a priest and the nuns in order to be cleansed before she is married. She will go through various rituals to cleanse herself of her sins and hopefully get her virginity back—the most special gift she intends to give to her groom.

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On Feb. 13, indulge in harmonies from one of the country’s widely acclaimed musical ensembles as the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra serenades you with classical symphonies at 5:00 p.m., at the Robinsons Galleria Activity Area.

The following day, the Galleria Activity Center will host the Bailona love team of Bailey May and Ylona Garcia, singing their way into your hearts.

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Acacia Hotel Manila will bring to its stage one of the best contemporary a capella groups in the country, Pinopela, for a one-night show on Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Acacia Ballroom.

Composed of eight young and talented singers from Baguio City, the group was first recognized when it joined the Akapela Open, taking second place in 2013 and the championship in 2014. Akapela Open is the first competition of its kind in the country and is spearheaded by The Music School of Ryan Cayabyab.

Their repertoire�� for the Acacia Hotel Manila show includes hits from different decades from both local and international artists. Guests may expect astounding voice arrangements, improvisation, beatboxing, and dynamic choreography. Tickets are a net P1,800 each, inclusive of a six-course dinner with a glass of wine.

Purchase tickets in advance at the Guest Services Desk of Acacia Hotel Manila. For more information, visit www.acaciahotelsmanila.com, email [email protected], or call 720-2000. — Zsarlene B. Chua