Sharing The Pride, Kids and Their Mommies at i-Shine 7 Recital

The annual Promil summer program i-Shine came to a glorious close last week with their grand recital, held at the SMX Aura. With all the mentors and a great bulk of the students, with their parents, present; it was iShine 7 celebrating the wealth of memories that this program creates on a yearly basis. With the executives of Wyeth Nutrition present and accounted for, the Promil team was all smiles as the program wonderfully displayed how great a success this year has been, and how it stands alongside other Wyeth initiatives in nourishing better tomorrows for Filipino children, and even their parents.

Leading the pack of mentors was Teacher Georcelle Dapat of the renowned dance company G-Force. Without a doubt, her dance classes were the most heavily subscribed of modules offered, as it’s a given that both boys and girls welcomed the opportunity to participate in something both physical and popular. And I had a great time during the early afternoon tech run, watching Georcelle instruct mentors National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, and Papemelroti’s Robert Alejandro and Kara Escay, in the production number they would be participating in later that afternoon. That Ryan, Robert and Kara were so game just shows how these mentors enjoy these summer programs and get totally behind how this Recital is played out.

Mr. Cayabyab naturally takes his students on a music & voice journey, while Papemelroti conducts exciting art classes. For children within ages ranging from 6 to 12, these classes are creatively conducted, and devised in such a manner that they open the eyes of the children to possibilities, and are done in a way so that they’re enjoyable and entertaining.

Audie Gemora was the mentor for the theater module, and none other than Lisa Macuja-Elizalde and her company took care of the ballet classes. These two are the proverbial “New Kids on the Block” as it was the first year that these mentors participated in the program. And as the recital got under way, there were great showcases from all of the mentors and their students. 

Like an abbreviated trip down memory lane of all of the modules—Dance, Music, Art, Theater, and Ballet—I was looking at the faces of the parents who comprised the majority of the audience, more than what was transpiring on stage. And for me, that was more entertaining, as these parents were beaming from ear to ear, shuffling to get better vantage points of recording on their smartphones the production numbers their respective children would come out in. If there had been any doubt as to the wisdom of investing their kids’ summer in the program, these doubts were immediately extinguished in the face of how polished and professional the production numbers were. 

Promil and Wyeth Nutrition deserve a salute for keeping this program alive for seven years now, finding ways to expand the modules and their locations. Yes, some may say they’re merely introductions to these worlds of talent and ability; but sometimes, this is just what’s needed for children to appreciate the kind of commitment required, know what they may be inclined to, and know that deep down, it’s about fun while learning.

Photos courtesy of Philip Cu-Unjieng