Cast & crew
sofia costales
Dancer
senior graphic designer and creative head at Octomedia Australia
taking up Masters in Communication Applied Media Studies at DSLU Graduate Studies Program
part time ballet instructor at Rhythm Works
Dance School
former first company artist at Ballet Manila
travel vlogger and YouTube partner (#SofCoTravels)
passionate about dance and photography
is a beach bum...and multimedia artist
Deborah Lynn AFuang
Dancer
Deborah Lynn “Debbie” Afuang started with a dream of becoming a bunhead.
She started learning ballet from Ava’s School of Dance then got accepted as a scholar at the Philippine High School for the Arts and CCP Dance School. During those years, she realized that dancing solo on pointe wasn’t the goal for her. Eventually, she studied at the University of the Philippines and was exposed traditional arts practice and research. It was also there that she fell inlove with collaborations and travelling for work. She graduated Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in music (major in dance) and a whole new perspective and heart for the arts.
She is now a dance mentor, fitness trainer, collab artist, wellness advocate, fusion junkie, and an adventurous commuter ready to find meaning and beauty even in the daily jams of metropolitan traffic.
paulina reyes
Dancer
Having worked with various artists in the Philippines and abroad, Paulina has grown to become passionate in teaching, creating movement, as well as inspired to never stop learning and experimenting. Fresh out of university, she is diving into the performing arts head on. Beyond teaching in the studio, she is currently involved in a musical theater production and has recently been accepted to the Royal Academy
of Dance Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies (CBTS) program. Paulina aspires to give back, teach students, and create pieces that would not only make an impact in
the dance community but would also be useful to society.
mika fabella
Dancer
Mika graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a Major in Dance. Taking her first ballet class at the age of 17, her training began with Male Claravall and Breshnev Larlar at the Claravall School of Classical Ballet, and then later with Nina Anonas at Ecole de Ballet Manille. Mika later joined the CCP Summer Dance Workshop in 2007, and joined the CCPDS and Ballet Philippines season the following year. She has since danced for both the school and the company, becoming a part of several Ballet Philippines productions, including Alan Hineline's Coppelia, The Nutcracker and Xon Quixote, among others. She has since guested for the contemporary dance company Airdance in the recent ASEAN 2017 Closing Gala, held in Manila.
Anna Guerrero
Dancer
Anna graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Barnard College of Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics. While studying full time, she continued her ballet training at Valentina Kozlova’s Dance Conservatory of New York. She is a recipient of several awards from prestigious international ballet competitions, including a Gold medal at the 2017 Valentina Kozlova International Ballet Competition held in St. Petersburg, Russia, Bronze Medal and Special Award for “Best Interpretation of Compulsory Contemporary” at the 2016 VKIBC, and Silver and Bronze Medals at the XI Tanzolymp International Dance Festival in Berlin. Moreover, she was selected to perform in competition galas in Berlin, New York and St. Petersburg. She is currently dancing with American Repertory Ballet.
pipay era
Dancer
Pipay Era is an independent movement artist. Recently, she entered the flow arts community through Legato Visual Performing Arts.
John Michael “mIkey” Huang
Director of Photography
Director. Cinematographer. Screenwriter. Hobbit.
Mikey is a freelance filmmaker and photographer who grew up surrounded works of fantasy and science-firction. inspiring his approach to visual communication and content creation. Over the years, he has worked with various productions teams on a diverse range of projects. from commercials and events coverage to short and feature films.
Mikey is most passionate when it comes to delivering inspiring ideas through cinematic storytelling, especially when working with actors, designing camera shots, and conceptualizing original stories. In his spare time, he enjoys traveling the multiverse, and he hopes to share these experiences with others and create his own worlds of inspiration.
aisha polestico
Dancer
Aisha Josephine Polestico majored in Ballet in the Philippine High School for the Arts and graduated with high donors. She pursued dance as a career and entered the dance program in the College of Music, University of the Philippines Diliman. She is currently a graduating student and a senior member of the University of the Philippines Dance Company. She won 3rd place in the 2016 CCP Ballet Competition, choreographed and danced in "Juana and the Sacred Shores", a dance film by Antonne Santiago featured in the 2017 Cinemalaya Film Festival Shorts Category, and recently performed in Gebbvelle Selga's "Alas Tres" in the Macau Contemporary Dance Exchange Springboard held last September.
madge reyes
Dancer
Dance and other miscellany, Madge is a multi-hyphenate in the creative industry. A former Soloist with Ballet Philippines with a degree in Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines, she continues to embed movement into her work as a graphic and web designer. Her latest venture as founder and artistic director of Entablado (https://bit.ly/2K182ns), merges her passion for both dance and film. Her goal is to bring art closer to the people by means of projection mapping and large scale installations. It had its first successful run at the BGC Arts Center Festival last June 2017.
sam arboleda
Director of Photography
Sam Arboleda is a 25 year old musician and photographer, based in the Philippines. She is looking forward to taking part in the creation of MariaClara as she too is interested in discovering and sharing who the "Filipino" is. "I may not be a dancer, but I can help relay the message by being one of the people making the film,behind the scenes".
tegan walgren
Composer
Tegan Wahlgren is a composer, musician and performer based in Vancouver, Canada, with a BFA in Music Composition from Simon Fraser University. Her scores for film, dance and theatre have been featured in TIFF Top Ten Student Shorts, Festival of Recorded Movement, and Vancouver Fringe Festival, among others. She is a regular session violinist in the New Music/experimental and pop/folk scenes in Vancouver, with credits on a variety of locally-produced records (Sam Tudor, Harley Small, REBECCA FLOOD). Tegan’s diverse musical influences —including a background in Celtic fiddle and choral singing— have aided in the development of Wallgrin, her experimental art-pop solo project. As Wallgrin, she has opened for critically-acclaimed artists such as Jenny Hval and Flock of Dimes, while spending the rest of her time circuiting Vancouver’s underground venues. Tegan is currently working on Wallgrin's debut album, Bird/Alien, due for release in 2018.
dane afuang
Dancer
Dane Afuang is a BS Development Communication graduate at the University of the Philippines Los Banos. Even before having a science degree, Dane has been performing in theater and film- as an actor, dancer, and overall performer. She was a theater major at the Philippine High School for the Arts where she also got a scholarship to study in Japan in 2012. She is now working with artist-advocates at the Active Vista Human Rights Center, the education arm of DAKILA Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism.
carissa laurel
Dancer
Carissa Laurel graduated from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) with the degree of Bachelor of Performing Arts, major in Dance. She was a recipient of the DLS-CSB Ballet Philippines Full Scholarship. Carissa has worked with Lori Belilove & The Isadora Duncan Dance Company, The Ballet Club, Aries In Flight, and Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, all of which are based in New York.
Carissa recently performed in Silvana and Gabriella Mangano; There is no There” which was part of the “Re-enactments” exhibition in DLS-CSB’s Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. She is also a guest artist of Manila-based Seven Contemporary Dance Company.
deej fabian
Director of Photography
Videographer. Editor. Photographer. Twix Monster.
Anyone who knows Deej will agree that he's the go-to guy if you want somebody who knows their way around the local urban culture scene. Always in the loop, whether it's for music, fashion, or lifestyle, and great at candidly capturing persons and moments, he is able to put these things to use in order to connect people and bring brands closer to the market the want. his work has led him to collaborate with brands like SM Youth, Diageo, and Palladium.
kayla de vos
Project Manager
Kayla De Vos is an emerging dance artist and administrator currently based on the occupied and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples (Vancouver, BC).
Graduating from Simon Fraser University with a BFA in Dance in 2017, Kayla has since had opportunities to train nationally and internationally, most recently presenting a work in progress by choreographer Allan Falieri at the Larnaca Biennale on the island of Cyprus in November 2018.
She is also the General Administrator of Co.ERASGA, sits on the board of the Training Society of Vancouver, and guests as an associate producer for plastic orchid factory.
tin gamboa
Choreographer/Director
“As an emerging artist I hope to explore movement vocabulary that tackles questions surrounding community and culture, whether in live performance or transposing that movement onto film. Since graduating from Simon Fraser University two years ago, I have had opportunities to collaborate with other Vancouver artists, create numerous choreographic works, develop a deep-rooted interest in dance film, and engage with the community in the process.”