Mari Dance to revisit JM Cabling’s major works at Areté
Mari dance is back, and they’re getting real about the artist life.
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Mari dance is back, and they’re getting real about the artist life.
Mari Dance is heading back to the spotlight with a restaging of its heavy-hitter production, a dance in a day in a dance.
From 16 to 31 May 2026, the Doreen Black Box Theater at Areté will host this full-length journey through five choreographies by JM Cabling.
Most of these pieces got their start through the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) prestigious "Choreographer’s Series," and seeing them stitched together now feels like watching a highlights reel of Filipino contemporary dance evolution.
Directed by Mikko Angeles, this production gets real about the "survival" aspect of the craft. With Al Garcia returning as the lead Choreographer, the piece tackles the stuff people rarely talk about: the burnout, the constant rejection, and the crushing pressure to keep creating. It’s an honest, layered narrative that unifies five different vibes into one cohesive story about the local dance scene.
This show is basically a "Thank You" note to the CCP Choreographers’ Series. Conceptualized by legends Denisa Reyes and Myra Beltran back in 2015, this program became the ultimate playground for movement.
It built on the foundations of NeoFilipino (the boundary-breaker since '87) and Wifi Body (the indie fave since '06). Whether it’s the WifiBody.ph competition for newbies, the Koryolab for mid-career experiments, or NeoFilipino for the masters, this system is what kept the art form alive.
The lineup is a literal timeline of Cabling’s career. You’ve got Bent from way back in 2014, Nothing Special and Lihim ni Lea from the 2017/2019 CCP runs, and the pandemic-era I Wanna Say Something from 2021. By stitching them together, Mari Dance turns these separate pieces into a "living archive." It shows that contemporary dance is a connected family tree of mentorship and growth.
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The casting is stacked. Janine Arisola-Cabrera takes on the role of Lea, while dance royalty Georgette Sanchez-Vargas and Ea Torrado alternate as the mother.
But the real heart of the show is the ensemble—scholarship students from Butuan to Sorsogon. Through partnerships with Guang Ming College, Mari Dance is proving that you don’t have to be from Manila to make it big; they’re building a bridge for regional talent to hit the professional stage.
This multi-weekend run at Areté is a huge milestone for Mari Dance. It’s a mix of performance, pedagogy, and community. It’s proof that when you give artists the right platform and mentorship, their work evolves.
