Former Ballerina Cathee Roslovtsev Opens Dance Studio in SPARTA Mandaluyong

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Former Ballerina Cathee Roslovtsev has decided to fulfil her life-long dream of putting up a dance studio, which caters to children and adults alike. The Elan Ballet and Pilates Studio is located at the second floor of SPARTA in Mandaluyong. Formerly with the Philippine Ballet Theatre and presently an artistic council member of The Philippine Ballet Theatre, she will be using the Australian Conservatoire of Ballet training method for her ballet classes.

The training method is a 12-year training method for the child, from 5-17 years old, wherein yearly, somebody from Australia will give the exam, to see if the child can move on to the next level.

Apart from Classical Ballet, she also offers Baby Ballet classes for kids from 3-5 years old, Mommy and Me Ballet classes for kids who are between 2-4 years old, while her Pre-primary Ballet classes on the other hand, targets kids who are at least 5 years of age.

According to Cathee, the values that kids can learn from ballet include, “Camaraderie, obedience, discipline, patience and perseverance. All of these values can be learned while mastering the various techniques, like doing the pirouette.”

She also stresses the importance of learning Pilates for ballet students.

Cathee, who is also a Certified Pilates Instructor, will also be offering Pilates with machine and mat. “Pilates and dance go hand-in-hand. Because with Pilates, the exercises are designed to restore the natural curves of the spine and it rebalances the muscles around the joint”, she says.

Cathee, who is very dedicated to her craft, was also very hands-on with the construction of the Dance Studio. For instance, she had to install a special kind of flooring that helps cushion the knees and the joints, so when you do your jumps and your leaps, you don’t get injured.

Apart from Classical Ballet, The Dance Studio also offers Jazz, Street Dance, Tap, Salsa, Zumba, Pilates and Yoga for Special Kids. She also has customized programs for her dance clients, Cathee adds, “Because each person has a diff body type. So programs will be customised depending on what the client needs.”

SPARTA is located along Pioneer Street in Mandaluyong City. For more information, please call 6553799 or 0977-7634402.

Change That Keeps Hope Alive

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Tomorrow, we will be concluding the six years of the Aquino presidency - six years of hard work for many who joined the campaign to reclaim government institutions from the throes of corruption and impunity. Six years of hard work as well for those who stayed outside, in the ranks of civil society, to offer counsel and critique during the toughest times of the outgoing administration. The past six years gave us much hope that with Aquino’s leadership, we would achieve much and more.

Akbayan Youth witnessed how this hope came to life - from the passage of the SK Reform Law which Akbayan Youth has campaigned for almost two decades, to the implementation of Abot-Alam and expansion of the CCT to cover secondary education to ensure that all young people can get access to education opportunities. We saw the passage of the RH bill and the Sin Tax Law that secure the youth from preventable diseases. We were witness to the government that strived to achieve much and more.

In the last few hours under President Aquino, we thank him for his hard work. He was an imperfect man, his was an imperfect administration. But he stood by us, in a time when we could not fully give our trust to our government.

We thank the people who worked in government, the people who put faith and partook in the project of shaping the government we needed.

And as we say goodbye, we welcome to the new administration under President Rodrigo Duterte. We look forward to having a Philippines where Filipinos especially the youth have secure jobs and incomes, a Philippines were we take care of the environment, a Philippines where there is genuine peace, a Philippines where the LGBT and women have their due space and recognition.

But we stand firm as we engage the new leadership, our new president, and the people who will join him in government, and urge them to move towards deepening democracy and respecting human rights.

Akbayan Youth will continue its work to constructively engage the new dispensation, always mindful of the kind of change we want to advance - a change that is founded on social justice, a change that makes us better persons for each other, a change that will make us truly equal and free.

Suicide Incorporated - A Play to Help Raise Mental Awareness All Set to Open on July 15

Wazzup Pilipinas!

How can a theater company help raise mental health awareness by staging a play that tackles the theme of depression, suicidal tendencies and suicide itself ?????.

Catch Twin Bill Theater’s eye-opening production aimed to shed light and raise awareness on mental health issues to its audiences in “SUICIDE INCORPORATED”--- a 2010 tragicomedy by brilliant Off- Broadway playwright Andrew Hinderaker.

Imagine a world where a company that edits suicide notes exists. Now imagine being part of that company. SUICIDE INCORPORATED centers around a company that makes money by drafting suicide notes. The business is Hallmark gone Wall Street, turning a profit by bullishly pushing its clients to perform the unspeakable. The CEO speaks, in an advertiser’s tongue, about cornering the market by targeting those suicide victims least likely to leave notes: Men. It turns out all these men are emotional mice when it comes to discussing matters of the self.

SUICIDE INCORPORATED will be directed by Steven Conde.

Six topnotch actors coming from different theater backgrounds have bonded together to essay the pivotal roles in this dark comedy exploring the perils of depression, coping with loss, guilt and redemption,