CPDRC Dancing Inmates or CPDRC dancers are a collection of prison inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), a maximum security prison in Cebu, in the Province of Cebu, Philippines where detainees perform dance routines as part of their daily rehearsals and rehearsals, and many of their performances are filmed and released online, making them a popular feature amongst fans and true online celebrities.
Byron F. Garcia, the official security adviser for the Cebu government, is credited for starting a routine choreographic exercise course for inmates. He was appointed as the head of the prison by his sister Gwendolyn Garcia, who was then governor of Cebu. In 2006, he began uploading videos of dance performances; the most famous video is the "Thriller" video of Michael Jackson, which was uploaded in 2007. Other music video performances that include popular songs are also uploaded, and public performances are held until 2010, including some outside the facility. The dance program was launched at another prison facility, has been referenced by other television shows around the world, and inspired the creation of several documentaries, musicals and drama films.
Video CPDRC Dancing Inmates
History
Initially Byron Garcia wanted to introduce a program at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) where inmates would exercise for an hour each day. He also claimed in the British documentary that his inspiration came when watching the movie The Shawshank Redemption specifically the scene where Mozart's voice Figaro flooded the prison yard. Garcia initially introduced a training program in which the prisoners marched in unison, starting by marching to the drum rhythm, but turning to dance to pop music; he started off with one of his favorite songs, Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall". He chose camp music such as "In the Navy" and "Y.M.C.A." by the Village People, so macho prisoners will not be offended by being asked to dance.
The edit of Garcia's first inmate choreographer was the March Algorithm, with 967 inmates, but it only produced 400 views in the first eight months. The next upload, Thriller , however, enjoyed a massive response.
The prison now even has its own authorized choreographer, such as Vince Rosales and Gwen Laydor. Some prisoners are selected more prominently for more sophisticated routines while the general prison population (sometimes up to 1,500 inmates) participates with more easily accessible routines.
Thriller Video
On July 17, 2007, Garcia uploaded "Thriller" on YouTube, a rendition of Michael Jackson music video. The video featured Crisanto Nierre as the role of Michael Jackson and open gay prisoner Wenjiel Resane as Jackson's girlfriend role. Both Crisanto Nierre and Wenjiel Resane enjoy popularity among YouTube fans, and their faces are usually highlighted quite often in most of the later videos.
On December 19, in an article on "Most Popular Viral Videos", Time magazine rated the "Thriller" CPDRC on its Top 10 list. The time mentioned in the detainees' description is: "Orange-jumpsuited accuses murderers, rapists, and drug dealers paying homage to Michael Jackson's Thriller in a dance performance filmed at the Cebu City Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines". Public show
On October 6, 2007 Cardinal Archbishop Ricardo Vidal visited the CPDRC for the first time, and the prisoners performed six dances for him, as part of the Prison Awareness Month event; The archbishop noted, "It was an extraordinary discipline show, if only they practiced that (discipline) in their lives, they would not be here."
CPDRC was asked to participate in the Founder's Day celebration 438. About 20 inmates were selected to perform in front of the Cebu Capitol. They perform the medley "Thriller", "Jump", and "Radio Ga Ga". Donations from a total performance of 1.6 million pesos ( US $ 35,000 ). The provincial governors and officials are so touched, that they include all 1,500 inmates in the mid-year bonus section for Capitol employees. Each inmate is given 1,000 pesos (<$ US $ 22 ) for good behavior. On December 27, Michael Rama, mayor of acting Cebu City, announced that Sinulog Foundation executive director Ricky Ballesteros informed the former of CPDRC's possible participation, but was concerned about the security of the parade. In January 2008, Cebu provincial governor Gwen Garcia visited the CPDRC and took part in several dance exercises with prisoners.
"Together in Electric Dreams" by Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder, and "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice were presented during Garcia's visit to the prison, on his birthday in October. A competition is held among the prisoners for who will take the lead role of Vanilla Ice at the ball.
In April 2008, the CPDRC created a two-hour program, planned for the last Saturday of each month, where visitors can watch prisoners perform, take pictures with prisoners, and buy T-shirts. Egan Torrecampo, a nine-year-old main dancer, said, "When we dance we tend to forget why we are here in the first place."
Ten hours after Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009, 1,500 CPDRC inmates performed a tribute show that included songs "Ben", "I'll Be There" and "We Are the World".
The "Queen Medley" which consists of eight queens of songs mainly includes the performance of popular gay/waria prisoner Wenjiel Resane who dressed as a ballerina performing the main routine. Wenjiel was most famous for his performance in "Thriller" with prisoner Crisanto Nierre. The CPDRC's 8-minute performance of the Queen's song group ended with a "Peace to Mankind" appeal and a quote from Byron Garcia: "If we make life like living hell for these fallen angels, then we may become demon after they are released and reintegrated into society ".
"Grease Lightning" was conducted on November 28, 2009, on the third anniversary of the shooting at the CPDRC between the hostile gangs. Arabo, a surviving gang leader, was given a position as the main dancer. It was his last appearance before he was transferred to Manila's Muntinlupa prison to resume three consecutive life sentences (or at least 90 years before parole) for triple murder.
This Is This
"They Do not Care About Us" with the intro of "Bad" was done by CPDRC inmates on January 19, 2010. The dance was especially choreographed for them by Travis Payne, choreographer Michael Jackson and associate director It Is It . Through the initiative of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Payne and two of Michael Jackson's top dancers, Daniel Celebre and Dres Reid performed with CPDRC prisoners in Cebu prison, with all the dancers in prison wearing This Is It tribute black T-shirt. Payne, Celebre, and Reid teach routine to inmates within 2 days, and all three take part with them in public performances. The video footage is part of Sony Jackson's global DVD release This is it by Sony Pictures Worldwide.
The customized mix contains dance routines and sampling from Michael Jackson's "Bad" in the intro, and a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. while audio speech is being played. Will Devaughn, a popular Filipino model and actor takes part in the routine of carrying posters of African-American civil rights activists. The king is specifically mentioned in the lyrics of the song as well ("Some things in their lives just do not want to see/But if Martin Luther lives'/He will not allow this to be"). In addition to the dance video, a feature video from Payne and MJ Dancer visits to the prison, dance exercises and visits to Cebu officials were made to document this initiative.
Payne and the company also danced to "Thriller" with the inmates. The viral video "Thriller" by CPDRC prisoners featuring Crisanto Nierre and Wenjiel Resane has catapulted the prisoners to fame. "Michael saw the inmates dancing Cebu on YouTube and really enjoyed it," said choreographer Travis Payne. "During the rehearsals, we'll watch and he'll get great joy". Fritz Friedman of Sony Pictures told USA Today , "We thought it would be a good idea to pay homage to MJ on this" It Is It "release opportunity by going to Cebu and having Travis working with the dancers to make this work from the movie. "The inmates also made special performances of Michael Jackson's homage routine.
Suspension public performance
In February 2010, Governor of Cebu, Gwen Garcia, ordered the program to be suspended, awaiting the investigation of appropriate accounting practices for donations received by admirers of the CPDRC program. The longtime choreographer, Gwen Lador also resigned. Byron's contract as a Capitol security consultant has also not been extended since 2010. Media reports speak of tensions in the relationship between Gwen Garcia and Byron Garcia, as Gwen instructed the Provincial Agriculture Service to continue reforming and intensify the program on "planting the plants inside the compound" instead of dancing, revealing fears that dance performances overshadowed the general rehabilitation program.
After a public outcry asking for the resumption of a dance program for inmates, the Cebu Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda said that the rehabilitation by dancing at CPDRC continues, but the public spectacle has been postponed. "CPDRC now operates on a regular basis - the dance continues to be one of the rehabilitation activities," Sepulveda said. Furthermore, Sepulveda said, "Public performances will resume once the full accountability mechanism for donations is in place". Also, as a sharp contrast from previous days, in March 2010, the dance has become an option. About half of the inmates said they would not take part if the show was not common. The governor sought the services of the original "Thriller" choreographer, Vince Rosales, to teach dance routines in prison facilities for inmates.
On September 29, 2012, after "urgent demand" from the public, and after months of no online releases, CPDRC dancers returned to perform "Gangnam Style", an international dance beaten by South Korean rapper PSY, in the rain.
Maps CPDRC Dancing Inmates
Dances and presentations
Here is a list of dance videos and presentations uploaded by Byron Garcia and others.
Criticism
Prisons have been criticized by prison rehabilitation experts and human rights activists who claim that the dance routine is exploitative rather than viable rehabilitation. Some former detainees have accused the violence against those who refused to join. Amnesty International notes that cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions continue to exist in other Philippine jails, prisons and detention centers. They have expressed their concern about population density, inadequate food supply, poor ventilation, and poor sanitation. Karapatan's human rights group has also filed complaints against Garcia and the guards, accusing the inhuman treatment of prisoners.
In popular culture
The Dancing Inmates inspired the launch of a stage music called Prison Dance: The Musical. The music drama was staged in New York during the New York Music Festival (NYMF) in July 2012 for a full week in St. Louis. Clements Theater. The story revolves around the lives of the eight maximum Philippine security inmates who had the chance to change their lives when the video of their dance-based rehab program became a YouTube hit. The main character, Christian Bagets is played by Philippine-American actor Jose Llana. The drama is produced by writers-directors-composers Romeo Candido and Carmen De Jesus.
Dungeon Dancers: The Interactive Web Music
In 2012, Canadian Canadian singer Mikey Bustos launched a 12-episode interactive web series titled Prison Dancer: The Interactive Web Musical that was inspired primarily by CPDRC dancers. The series also features 12 original songs with music and lyrics set by Romeo Candido. The series tells the story of six Filipino prisoners whose lives changed forever when they decided to form dancing groups inside the prison and turn the maximum security prison into a world stage. Episodes titled Chronologically "Point of View", "Day One", On the Inside "," Lose Your Way "," Yow "," Evermore "," Step "," Loveteams "," Great Great Divide "," Breakout "," Finally Free "and Sensation".
Bar Dance Bar
In 2013, a film, Dance of the Steel Bars was launched through the International Film Portfolio. The 94 minute drama of action and adventure is aired in the Philippines on June 12, 2013 and is heavily inspired by Cebu's CPDRC Dance Dancers. At the urging of the directors, the first screenings were held at the Cebu Province Detention and Rehabilitation Center the previous week on 7 June. Together directed by Cesar Apolinario, a reporter for GMA News and Public Affairs and host and Marnie Manicad, the directors of the National Geographic Documentary, he stars Dingdong Dantes and Patrick Bergin. The scriptwriters are Cris Lim and Michael Villar. The film tells the story of Frank Parish (played by Bergin), a retired US firefighter and philanthropist who finds himself wrongly charged with murder against a local Filipino. Trapped in a Philippine prison, Frank befriends a dance instructor who is imprisoned by Mando (played by Dingdong Dantes) who was convicted of killing a transsexual. his passion for dancing will overthrow the corrupt system that burdens the prisoners to become better individuals. Allona, ​​a transvestite (played by Joey Paras) at the Cebu City Detention and Rehabilitation Center plays the role of a dance instructor who tries to contribute to prison reform by teaching fellow prison dance dramas. Also in the film are Ricky Davao, prison warder, Gabe Mercado, as Diaz, deputy deputy and ambitious and Thou Reyes, as Dong Mata, a crazy criminal man from the deputy warden. It was filmed on location in Cebu and Manila and some scenes actually filmed the Cebu prison filmed many inmates in various roles. Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia played a cameo as herself. Cindera Che, a famous performance coach based in Los Angeles, choreographed dance performances in the film. Edward White, a London-based composer, wrote the score for the film. the film received 4 nominations for the 32nd Luna Awards.
Implementation in another prison
Byron Garcia, the warden who created the dance program for inmates, has formed a team of former "Dancing Prisoners" to spread the message "Music and Dance Therapy" to all national prisons in the Philippines. This is a pioneering initiative to institutionalize music therapy in other prisons, similar to the original CPDRC program, with former Cebu inmates dancing to tour the three prisons initially, Manila City Prison, Makati City Prison and Quezon City Prison according to an agreement signed between Resendo M Dial, head of the Philippines "Prison and Penology Management Bureau" (BJMP) and Byron Garcia on March 26, 2010 as a collaborative effort to introduce music therapy at a national prison facility.
On the occasion of the signing of the protocol, Garcia marked the public prison facility as "living hell", as those in penology and rehabilitation "lost the essence of compassion, redemption and restoration in prison management". He added: "They are too busy looking for creative ways to punish a transgressor rather than returning him to a human being like himself.We should see prisons outside the cycle of evil and punishment and certainly look into the underlying social, cultural and scriptural implications from rehabilitation, so creative ways to punish offenders who have caused restrictive and punitive conditions in prisons have also bred the devil from detention Garcia says that the dance and music therapy protocol is intended to restore the dignity of the people who suffer the stigma of detention and restore self-esteem to the inmates as they are alienated from the community.The therapeutic music and dance is meant to help the prisoners overcome their depression and anxiety, improve their well-being as they undergo a transitional phase and return to the community Music is a protocol to cure them from emotional and psychological distress and trauma as a result of offense or detention ". He concluded that "the experience of Dance Dancers CPDRC has proven clinical breakthroughs using therapeutic music and dancing in healing, restoring and rehabilitating inmates into dignified humans," which prompted BMJP to be interested in spreading such a program.
A group of former dancing inmates will also tour the state prison for presentation in addition to a series of public performances to raise awareness for the program among the general population.
This branch of the program can be viewed at The Quezon City Dancing Inmates and the Manila City Travel exploration program, highly structured on the concept applied to the CPDRC.
Awards
In April 2011, during the 10th Tribeca Film Festival, Byron Garcia was awarded Tribeca's "Disruptive Innovator Award 2011", the second annual award of the kind that began in 2010 at the festival.
References
External links
- Byron F. Garcia channel on YouTube
- "Thriller" (original upload) on YouTube
- Jailhouse Rock Documentary on YouTube
- Movie Image Documentary Films on YouTube
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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