100 YEARS OF CASINO ESPAÑOL DE CEBU
- Jaime Picornell
- Jan 24, 2020
- 4 min read
Tradition has it that Casino Español de Cebu was founded on January 1, 1920. My Father, Santiago Picornell, was 8 years old. He recalled accompanying his father, Bartolome Picornell, to the meeting.
Time has passed and Casino Español de Cebu has survived for 100 years to become what it is today. One of its most ingrained traditions is the New Year’s Eve ball. The most recent one had a 1920s theme to evoke the era of the charleston and sweet young things.
Club president Eduard Loop was congratulated for the success of the event and the cooperation of the officers, members and guests. Foremost among them was his mother, Honey Jarque Loop. She transformed the ballroom, Salon de España, into a veritable nickelodeon with neon lights forming art deco patterns.
May Ocaba, the club’s general manager, earned her share of praise for the smooth flow of the event. At 6PM Msgr. Achilles Dakay celebrated an anticipated mass, followed by cocktails and finger food. Later, a splendid buffet dinner was served at Salon Madrid. The costume parade was much applauded and the prizes for bests were presented way before midnight.
That was a blast, but by then I had gone home. The loudness of the band was simply unbearable, and I am not comfortable if I cannot talk to the person beside me.
2020 being the centennial year of the Casino Español de Cebu, there will be more events throughout the year to highlight its observance. Honey Loop wants to bring Pilita Corrales for a show, and there’s that formal celebration on July 25, Dia de Santiago.
Speaking of anniversaries, the Arts Council is marking its 60th year with a series of cultural events, first of which is the staging by Cebu Center for Dance of The Sleeping Beauty Ballet, with music by Tschaikovsky, and choreography after Marius Patipa, Director is Johanna Mangubat.
Playdates are February 28 for the evening gala, and February 29 for the afternoon matinee. Tickets are at P1000 , P500 and P250.
For a bit of history, The Sleeping Beauty was first presented on January 19 1890 in St. Petersburg. In 1946 it was presented in London with Margot Fonteyn as Princess Auro (the sleeping beauty). In Cebu it will be Sabrina Bodart who will dance that main role.
The Arts Council’s 60TH anniversary is in many more ways than one a tangible tribute to its founder, Fe Sala Villarica who passed away in 2015. She remains a fountain of inspiration to many who knew and admired her, as well as to people who heard or read about her.
A singular event is scheduled on June 13, Dance is Life, which is the title of a book Fe published telling the story of Ballet Center which she founded in 1951.
The June 13 event program features some of Fe’s ballet choreographies which she gathered and formed a valuable archive of her body of work. It is a heritage treasure.
The 60th year of the Arts Council was the main topic on the agenda of the latest meeting of the board of directors held over lunch at Ginza. Presiding was Dr. Vivina Chiu Yrastorza.
Giving their all out support were former presidents Maia Franco (Fe Villarica’s daughter) and Petite Garcia who has texted everybody ; Allen Tan who lends his office at Cebu Center for Dance to the Arts Council ; and treasure Elvira Luym.
More : Ginza’s Elena Young , Penelop Ong who is presenting the Broadway musical ANNIE later this year , architect Maxwell Espina , Lot-Lot Neri , Kinue Castillo , and Rose Hennesy.
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As I write this the phone has rung several times with friends chiming Happy New Year with reference to January 1 , and to the new year of the lunar calendar , which is on Saturday January 25.
There was an early celebration dubbed the 2020 spring festival by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China on January 16 at the ballroom of the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel.
Hosting was Consul General Jia Li who greeted the numerous important guests and thanked them for their presence. Just the night before we had been at the Marco Polo for the launch of their yearly SUGBUSOG food festival. GM Brian Connelly officiated the opening, and we media people were royally attended by Lara Scarrow , Manna Alcaraz , Febe Compañon , and more.
For us, it is the Marco Polo once more the evening of January 24 for its celebration of the Chinese New Year. That involves the lion and dragon dances , eye dotting ceremonies, firecrackers, and the tossing of the Yee Sang salad. The attendant noise can be infernal but that’s the way it is.
Over at the Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa the Year of the Rat officially begins as auspiciously ordered by astronomers and the like : Saturday January 25 at 10:18 AM. But the whole thing starts to build up at 9:45 AM.
This we learned from the new Shangri-La manager Christian Nannucci at a dinner the resort hosted for media friends. Present were director of sales and marketing Melissa Ann Santiago , and communications executive Genevieve Cañete. The occasion served to introduce the new ala carte menu of the Cowrie Cove Restaurant. It was a fine evening beneath a starry sky, an occasion to bond, and as Genevieve nods. “to communicate.”
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