This National Women’s Month, we recognize and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of our female national artists. These women have made significant strides in their respective fields, breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations of artists.

Today’s featured national artist is Agnes Locsin, National Artist for Dance.

AGNES LOCSIN
National Artist for Dance (2022)
September 28, 1957

Agnes Dakudao Locsin is a choreographer,  director and teacher considered  one of  the “most progressive contemporary  choreographers in the Philippines.” She  utilizes Filipino beliefs, rituals  and ethnic traditions in her choreographies,  concepts and direction, and calls it “neo-ethnic.” The most successful of her works  are Babaylan, which won second place in  the Tokyo International Choreography  Competition in 1993; Taong Talangka (Man-Crab);and Salome which won second  place for dancer Camille Ordinario in the  1994 Concours International de la Danse in  Paris, France. She became a faculty member of the  Cultural Center of Philippines Dance  School and the University of the Philippines  College of Music dance program and the University of the Philippines College of Music dance program and the  Jazz Tap Center and became artistic director in 1990 of Ballet Philippines II, the junior  company of Ballet Philippines. Her choreographies for Ballet Philippines helped propel the company to be one of the  country’s premiere dance companies. Locsin also contributed works to the repertoire of other groups as well as the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She broadened her scope when she choreographed for the theatrical productions of  Tanghalang Pilipino and PETA, At the turn of the century, Locsin went home to her beloved Davao where she continued to  lead the school and company her mother founded, the Locsin Dance Workshop. Among her awards are the Hiyas ng Lahi Award from the Dance Alliance and  National Choreography Endeavors in 1992; Araw ng Maynila’s Patnubay sa Kalinangan at  Sining Award, given by the City of Manila in 1994; the Datu Bago Award, given by the City  of Davao in 2000;Pilak Awardpara sa Serbisyong Pangkultura, Sining at Kumunidad, from  the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2004; Philstage’s Gawad Buhay awards for  outstanding production and original choreography for La Revolucion Filipina in 2008 and for  Encantada in 2011; the Gawad CCP para Sining from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in  2013; Ateneo de Manila University’s Gawad Tanglaw Lahi in 2014; Daigler Award for  Mindanao Culture and the Arts from the Ateneo de Davao University in 2017; Gador Award  from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in 2020; and the Gawad Buhay  Lifetime Achievement Award from Philstage in 2018,.  Her book, Neo-Ethnic Choreography: A Creative Process, published by the University of  Santo Tomas in 2012 won the Alfonso T. Ongpin Prize for Best Book on Arts at the 32 nd National Book Award.  

(Source: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/agnes-locsin/)