MANILA, Philippines—The Filfest Cultural Foundation and the always charity-oriented Insular Life Assurance Company Ltd. present with super pride Filfest 2008: A Celebration of Music and Dance.

It’s a brainchild of Filipino concert pianist Jovianney Emmanuel Cruz, no less, who is artistic director of the newly formed Filfest Cultural Foundation. For this season, dahlings, Filfest will have 11 performances, ranging from chamber music concerts, solo piano recitals, dance, chamber orchestra concerts and minimalist operas. The pilot season establishes Insular Theater as the new Cultural Center of the South and, if moi may say so, palanggas, it’s about time.

The Filfest Cultural Foundation, in cooperation with el simpatico Vicente Ayllon, hotshot chair and CEO of Insular Life, was established by superwoman of substance Vicky Zubiri, no less, together with a group of other hardworking cultural pals like feminine beauty Triccie Sison, Bubut de los Santos, adorable Denise Mañosa, always-with-a-smile Bettina Pou, Marilen Espiritu, executive director Tinky Cruz and Pilina Racho, all of them residing in the south of Cosmo Manille.

“The vision of this foundation is to bring culture in places like Alabang, Hillsborough Zapote, BF Homes, Sta. Rosa, plus other neighboring areas.

“Part of their goal is to educate children and adults on classical music and cultural shows. During the second performance, the balcony was filled with children from an orphanage who truly enjoyed the songs from Brahms, Schumann, Gershwin and Porter. It was truly a great moment for me as I watched how they loved the concert,” said a super enthusiast Vicky Z.

Moi was told that at the end of each season, the foundation aims to grant a scholarship to a talented child.

Vicky also said that Jovianney Cruz, an international awardee, presented a series of 10 excellent programs for the year.

Naturellement, all shows for the entire season is sponsored by Insular Life, and co-sponsored by the brand that’s known for quality and style, BMW. During the grand gala, BMW hosted cocktails at the popular Bellevue Hotel in Alabang, where the performing artists reside. The second show was sponsored by Brittany, no less.

Last Saturday, moi had a chance to enjoy the last season sponsored by Kawayan Cove. This July, see the incredibly mind-boggling performance of Latin Heat by the renowned Ballet Philippines, palanggas.

Next will be the Chamber Series. Nena del Rosario Villanueva, pianist, and Resato Lucas, cellist, will perform on Aug. 16; Filharmonika with the winners of Ultimate Pianist 2006 and 2008, Aug. 30; and recital pianist Alma Labra Makk, Sept. 13.

Chamber Series follows with the Clarion Ensemble on Sept. 27. Mozart’s Most with three incredibly brilliant individuals, Alfonso Bolipata on violin, Jovianney Cruz, piano, and wonder-boy Gerard Salonga with the Filharmonika Orchestra, Oct. 11; and finally on Oct. 25-26, The Opera Miniscula.

More info? Call 6664095 or 0918-9419474. Thanks to Ayala Westgrove Heights, Smart Infinity, The Bellevue Hotel Alabang, LG Electronics, Lyric Pianos and Air21, plus, plus.

Applause to the lady who cares and wants to give everyone a chance to enjoy the natural gift of our race, Vicky Fernandez Zubiri, palanggas.

French Spring fest

Didn’t you know Cosmo Manille had a third season, dahlings? It was during the super interesting French Spring Festival.

As this yearly awesome celebration continues, Alliance Française de Manille and the Embassy of France brought us an array of world-class artists and cutting-edge productions, covering the fields of dance, music, food, visual arts and even the circus. A stunning three-month-long festival of the best of French creativity, palanggas.

The festival had a grand opening with “Déguste,” an aesthetic fusion between gastronomy and art. Artists Stéphanie Sagot and Emmanuelle Becquemin, together with executive chef Christian Werdenberg of Sofitel Philippine Plaza and Nokia, created an excellent journey of divine taste.

Starting at Ayala Museum, invitees were amazed at the different artworks.

At The Floating Buffet, balloons supported the lunch boxes that held the buffet’s content. The fun Glory Holes is a wall of hands that offered sweet treats to the invitees.

For culture aficionados, it was time to listen to the fantastic sounds of classical quartet Quatuor Diotima, jazz brothers Boulou, and Elios Ferré and Parisian DJ Didier Sinclair.

Aprés that week, it was the acrobatic act “O Ultimo Momento” that left us breathless. Etha Dam’s awesome, dazzling movements of hip-hop, Brazilian Capoeira and African dance gave them a standing ovation. Wow! The finalé was Manille’s first-ever Lobby Party. French house music sensation DJ Christophe Monier aka “The Micronauts” rocked Sofitel Philippine Plaza’s exquisite lobby into a unique club atmosphere, electrifying our town’s creamiest of la crème, dahlings. More? Yes! There was the cinéma français at the French Film Festival in Shangri-La Cineplex and the extravagant contemporary ballet company Hervieu-Montalvo at the CCP.

Naturellement, beaming with pride over these fab happenings were ma cheri, press attaché Carolle Lucas and trés charmante Marie Weckerle, cultural officer of Alliance Française.

Yes, mes cheris French Spring was definitely in full bloom. Bravo!

Old Spice challenge

All the best happenings are taking place in Boracay. This year was different, palanggas.

Beachcombers of Stations 1-3 witnessed a challenge where three teams with 20 players led by four celebrities had to go through the grueling tasks in the Old Spice High Endurance Challenge.

Believe me, with the hot weather and hot bodies, Old Spice cooled the temperature down, dahlings.

Aside from the adrenaline one gets from the race, it’s the increased palpitation of running alongside celebs Polo Ravales, Nina José, Joseph Bitangcol and Maui Taylor that really spiced up the atmosphere, palanggas.

There were tons of other obstacles like swimming and kayaking, natch!

And the winner was Joseph and his team. After all, palanggas, only one takes home the glory! And naturellement, the cool P50,000 prize!

On the last night, Old Spice High rocked the summer place, dahlings, with Maui and Nina dancing without a care in the world. Go, gals, go! Now, who’s to say where the party begins and stops, di bala?

Old Spice’s awesome new cool products for men and women are available in all leading supermarkets, drugstores and select specialty stores near you.

Check it out, palanggas, and be cool. Old Spice and Secret products are exclusively distributed by RPG Distribution Services Inc. and licensed by Procter & Gamble Distributing Philippines Inc.