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Striptease in the spotlight in Eisa Jocson’s provocative ‘Host’
Walking into the Dance.MNL festival at the CCP, you’d expect toe shoes, flowing dresses, bunheads, and maybe some bare pointed feet. There’s no way you’d expect a show like Eisa Jocson’s "Host."
Upon entering the Little Theater last June 23, the audience were instead escorted behind the red curtain covering the stage, where the dance area was bathed in red light. The audience seats were set up around a catwalk-like stage, and Eisa Jocson stood in the middle, wearing a kimono with a Japanese parasol covering her face, waiting patiently for us to be seated. When the music began to play, Jocson began to sway to a Japanese pop song, twirling the parasol and manipulating a paper fan, her eyes teasing and flirtatious as she begins to seduce the audience.
Following up her acclaimed work "Macho Dancer", Eisa Jocson’s "Host" is just as provocative and daring. The piece explores the infamous world of Pinoy entertainers in the Japanese nightclub scene, on which Jocson has done extensive research, from the streets of Tokyo to our very own Sexbombs dancers. (Jocson acquired rights to a specific Sexbomb dance just for this piece.)
As the piece progresses, Jocson removes her kimono and dons a series of costumes, each one with less clothing than the last. She takes us through the neon-lit Japanese bars and into the traditions, nuances, and aesthetics of the striptease dances, including the geisha-like rituals to campy pop culture trends, and ending with a reflection of our own notorious brand of sexy dancing.
Jocson approaches the style like any other type of dance, describing it as “an alien language that I had to learn.” Her take on the questionable art form is more optimistic than others, reminding all that what is underneath is the same, whether the dancer wears a tutu or a corset.
Jocson admitted that previous stagings of "Host" have gotten mixed reviews, with some audiences loving the daring work, and others walking out of the show. Like it or not, it encourages us to ask critical questions about this type of dancing. Is it wrong because striptease and the like should be done in a bar? Is the stage then reserved for only certain forms of dancing? Is dance then only “dance” when it is beautiful, with pointe shoes and flowing skirts, and not when it is born out of society’s vices?
"Host", in Jocson’s words, is a confrontation of what happens in the peripheries. Jocson hopes that through the piece, we begin to think about what it means to “have form and to resist form,” as well as address societal issues that we turn a blind eye to or might be ashamed to admit. — BM, GMA News
Dance.MNL ran from June 14 to 26 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Mika Fabella was a company scholar at Ballet Philippines and is currently a graduating student at the University of the Philippines Diliman, majoring in Dance.
