‘Shadow’ performers learned stunts from YouTube

PHOTO from AXN ASIA

TANAUAN CITY, Philippines—You could say the group had a shadowy past, when its members had to practically beg for a chance to perform in public.

But El Gamma Penumbra has since come a long way from those days, with members of the shadow play group arriving to cheers and applause on Friday night at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. There were even reports of possible invitations from Malacañang and the Senate, with the latter filing a resolution for their commendation.

The first grand winner of the region-wide talent search “Asia’s Got Talent” (AGT) were visibly overwhelmed when crowds met and followed them into the airport, with some fans holding up congratulatory banners and others taking selfies on their cell phones.

“It’s like a dream, we can’t believe it. It’s so overwhelming,” Marvin Marfa, the group’s leader, told reporters waiting at the Terminal 1 lobby. “It’s like we’re on cloud nine,” he added.

Marfa and several members of the group arrived a little past 8 p.m. on Friday, but managed to reach the lobby an hour later, slowed down by handshakes, photo requests and small talk from fellow passengers, airport personnel and tourists who had recognized them from Thursday’s grand finals shown on TV. A second batch of El Gamma members arrived about 10 p.m. on a different flight.

Two other Filipino finalists—10-year-old singer Gwyneth Dorado and hip-hop performers Junior New System—also arrived on Friday night, while the fourth Filipino to make it among the nine finalists from all over Asia, classical singer Gerphil Flores, reportedly extended her stay in Singapore.

Tableau on environment

El Gamma, which won $100,000 (P4.4 million) and a chance to perform at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, performed a moving tableau on the need to respect the environment to the music of “Colors of the Wind.”

The music group Khusugtun of Mongolia won second place, while Flores finished third.

AGT’s judges were Grammy award-winning musician and producer David Foster, Taiwanese pop icon Van Ness Wu, former Spice Girls member Melanie C, and Indonesian rock icon Anggun.

“We are really thankful…to those who did not get tired of texting and pressing buttons to vote for El Gamma Penumbra,” Marfa said. “This isn’t just the victory of (the group), but also of all Filipinos in all parts of the world,” he added.

Batangas Vice Gov. Mark Leviste, who was in the airport to welcome the group, said the city of Tanauan was preparing a “grand motorcade and a heroes’ welcome” for El Gamma Penumbra early Saturday morning, while the provincial government was preparing a prize and official recognition.

“It has not been finalized yet but we talked with (Batangas) Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto and Sen. Ralph Recto, and surely we will give them a reward, a prize and recognition because they carried the Philippine flag,” Leviste said.

On Saturday, the hometown boys woke up to a hero’s welcome, with fellow Batangueños lining the streets to cheer the welcome motorcade.

“Did we really win?” Marfa, 25, asked, still dazed at how the group has become celebrities overnight.

El Gamma Penumbra, which literally means “the ray of light or shadow,” started out as a small group of break dancers who competed regularly in local dance contests in Tanauan City in 2010.

YouTube

“Some of us met back in college. Others were introduced as a friend of a friend,” Marfa recalled, adding that the group soon realized that they needed “something different or unique” to pull away from other hip-hop dance groups.

That something unique was “shadow play,” a technique they learned from the video sharing website, YouTube. “We learned everything from YouTube,” Marfa said. “Whatever we did behind that cloth, we only improvised,” he added.

In 2011, the group joined the local edition of the talent search show, “Pilipinas Got Talent” (PGT) but ended only fourth.

“Shadow play is a lot more difficult (than hip-hop dancing),” Marfa said of their 2011 less than stellar ranking. “When someone makes a mistake on stage, his shadow reflects it. Even a single misplaced hair strand is visible,” he said.

After their PGT performance, the group started receiving invitations to perform in corporate events and product launches, with their earnings divided among the performers and used to cover rehearsal expenses.

Son of fish vendor

“We were not born to rich families,” said Marfa, the son of     fish vendor and a farmer from Barangay Natatas here. Some members of the group finished college, while others dropped out of school and opted to earn a living by dancing.

It was thanks to El Gamma performances that some members managed to put up small businesses, Marfa said, like a lambanog (coconut wine) store or a motorcycle parts shop.”

As for him, Marfa said he’d give his share to his mother for her to start a business.

Part of their $100,000 AGT prize money would go to their own dance studio in this city, the group’s spokesperson said. “We used to rent a studio for P10,000 a month,” Marfa added.

Donation to elderly, Nepal

The group is also donating part of the prize to the victims of the recent earthquake in Nepal, while a portion will go to the Santa Ana-San Joaquin Bahay Ampunan, a home care for the elderly in Tanauan City that the group has been helping since 2010.

“It’s a way of balancing off (fame and charity),” Marfa said. “We’d visit Bahay Ampunan to bring food, play bingo, and dance for (the eldery),” he said of their next stop after their warm welcome here. Also on this morning’s agenda is a thanksgiving Mass, he added.

El Gamma has 19 “senior” members and 14 “junior” members, with the eldest being 29 and the youngest, 21.

Group manager Dong Pilotos said they’re also planning to open a formal school on shadow play to train new performers and produce more talents, a goal echoed by the local government which hastily passed a resolution to formalize the city’s recognition of the group.

“We hope to produce more talents like El Gamma from this city,” said Mayor Antonio Halili.

“Talent-wise, there were others (in the competition) who performed equally well, but I think it was the support of our families that helped us win,” Marfa said, adding that El Gamma was a family as well, “a barkada and an advocacy.”

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