Performance poetry and chocolate, Pinoy style

Tsokolate and poetry. Why not? In fact, they blend very well together.

Dip your words in chocolate. Or let a cup of cocoa calm your soul, while you breathe out the well-chosen words that reveal your feelings.

This perfect combination might appear, on the surface, to be why Bigkas Pilipinas, a group of Filipino spoken word artists, partnered with Tsoko.Nut Batirol, a Filipino cafe that opened in 2004. But the truth is that both share an advocacy even deeper than a chocolatera.

Both are supporters of "loving our own." Mahalin ang sariling atin. With the proliferation of foreign coffee shops, Tsoko.Nut is one of few coffee shops proud to be truly Filipino. "Na-realize ng owner (Ms. Romano) na bakit hindi i-promote yung sariling atin -- yung mga Philippine products na available sa market,” says Tiffany Serrano, store manager of Tsoko.Nut branch in Makati.

Tsoko.Nut gets its supply of cacao seeds from Baguio and tablea from Leyte. Its menu boasts tsokolate ah, kapeng barako, bibingka, tablea cake, dinuguan at puto, suman at mangga, and many more sumptuous treats—everything authentically and proudly Pinoy.

On the other hand, Bigkas Pilipinas founder Kooky Tuason believes in the power of the spoken word and the ability of performance poetry to touch and change lives. "Like Tsoko.Nut, we are advocates of loving our own, specifically love of Philippine poetry," she said.

A partnership

So far, Bigkas Pilipinas has always held its BPOJ or Bigkas Pilipinas Open Jam events at Tsoko.Nut coffee shops. The first one was in November last year in the Alphaland SouthGate Mall branch in Magallanes. The event was a debut for a group of diverse poets, coming from all walks of life. Some are established painters like Poch Roco and Richard Tuason. Charms Tianzon, vocalist of University of the Philippines-based band Matilda, is an English teacher at De La Salle University. Still, some of the poets are the most unexpected individuals – bankers, call center agents, and college students -- who can spew words like fire or caress them like a gentle breeze.

Last February 12, another open jam session was held, this time at Tsoko.Nut, SM Makati Branch. It was a night of live poetry, music, and, of course, an 'open mic' for anyone who wanted to perform.

The power of the spoken word

“Naniniwala kasi ako that anyone can be a spoken word artist.”

Founder Kooky Tuason says that spoken word artists who are beginners might find themselves shaky and scared at first.

Shy as a child, Kooky knows very well how terrifying it is to let other people read your revealing works. "How much more if performed before an audience?" But exploring the world of literature introduced her to the power of performance poetry. Since then, she wanted to encourage people to get out of their safety zones. “Yung pagsusulat ko, it’s my way of healing myself. Marami akong pinagdaanan in my past…poetry is healing so I know it can also heal others."

Since 2005, Kooky has released three spoken word albums. The first two were Romancing Venus volumes 1 and 2 that featured Kooky’s poems, performed and recorded by celebrities and famous personalities like KC Concepcion, Angel Aquino, Iza Calzado, journalist Kara David, musician Barbie Almalbis, and designer Kate Torralba. Romancing Venus gave birth to a movement where women expressed themselves freely and empowered marginalized women who are victims of abuse through workshops and seminars. They called themselves Venuses.

When Kooky became a DJ for Jam 88.3, hosting her radio show called Bigkas Pilipinas, she realized men -- who are also regular performers and callers – should also get involved. From then on, Bigkas Pilipinas grew in number and in 2007, it successfully released its first album of 12 all-original tracks.

Oral tradition

Performance poetry originated in New York City and became popular among blacks in the early nineties. It evolved from oral tradition to free-style hip-hop. The spoken word is usually written with the intention of being performed. The voice or the way the word is performed adds another layer of meaning for interpretation.

Today, performance poetry is considered a new wave of performing arts, called the Post-Modern Art Movement. Here in the Philippines, for the uneducated youth who live in the slums, spoken word took the form of "poetry slams," where rappers square off in duels. Type “freestyle rap” in Youtube and you get hit with around 460 entries, featuring countless and faceless rappers in rap battles. The scenes are documented using low-resolution cameras.

This doesn’t come as a surprise considering that performance poetry is an oral tradition, which dates back to the time when poets, storytellers or bards, and troubadours traveled from town to town, reading their word and getting their poetry heard. The oral tradition was the ‘power of the press’ at that time. That’s why our very own umalohokans are considered the very first Filipino announcers.

With the advent of the printing press, oral poetry became less frequent as poets began to prefer publishing their poems and being more widely read. Today, the tradition of oral poetry is being revived as Post-Modern artists continue to look for other ways to express themselves freely. Often times, spoken words are accompanied by experimental films and instruments. And as in the case of Bigkas Pilipinas, poems that were recorded and audio-mixed can now be heard by purchasing the CDs and downloading MP3 files from the Internet.

Bless, not curse

This year, Bigkas Pilipinas is bent on spreading spoken word to people from all walks of life. It has started to teach marginalized women through Women’s Crisis centers, as well as visiting public schools and kids living in depressed areas such as squatters in cemeteries.

Kooky explains: "I want to teach them to use words to bless, not to curse." Bigkas Pilipinas believes that troubled youth who are left with no choice but to turn to crime and violence to express themselves will find the spoken word a helpful form of release and a means to find their own voice in the world.

Bigkas aims to continue writing, performing, and being heard so it can touch more lives and enlighten more Filipinos.

Photos by Alina Co. Some rights reserved.

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