TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: ARCHITECTURE: House of Philippine National Artist Ramon Obusan

Saturday, February 1, 2014

ARCHITECTURE: House of Philippine National Artist Ramon Obusan

Saturday, I visited the house of Philippine National Artist Ramon Obusan in Manila near the airport. The internationally acclaimed choreographer, dancer, stage designer and artistic direcor had built a cluster of three houses on land that belonged to his family. Obusan used antique pieces and designed the houses to look old.

Ramon Obusan's sister, Dulce Obusan, kindly allowed me to visit sections of the houses which are not usually open to visitors -- thank you Dulce.

I fell in love with the energy of the place! The place charmed and enchanted me. There were musicians, dancers, directors, and students around the place. The place zinged with creativity. You felt it, the second you saw the gorgeous house in front.

The pictures show some friends from high school days; the bottom picture shows Dulce standing next to the portrait of Ramon Obusan.

Read also

Beautiful Old Houses in the Philippines

Unforgettable Fountains from Around the World

tags: architecture, Philippines, Ramon Obusan, house, choreographer, dancer, dance company, National Artist

All for now,

Cecilia

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.