We don’t have to go to coffeehouses and bars to enjoy an open mic night—we’ve got them right here in the Ateneo!
Since 2003, one of Heights’ special projects every semester is an open mic event, where the passionate performer in the Atenean reveals itself in its untrained, unrehearsed glory. Organizer Petra Magno (II BS HSc) describes it as “a venue for members of the Atenean community to share their gifts with an appreciative crowd.”
Last September 7, Heights had its first open mic for the school year. The theme was Academy Awards and old-school Hollywood glamour, and it shone the spotlight on Ateneans and their attempts at performing arts. There were song numbers, poetry readings, and a drum solo—a fun mix of the usual and the unpredictable.
First-timer Diane Guillamon (II AB LitEng) was up first that afternoon and sang “Someone’s Watching Over Me” by Hilary Duff.
“I had a feeling [the audience was] required to be there,” Guillamon muses after her song. “Because it was like they were there physically, but not mentally. But then I enjoyed their reactions too. They were smiling.”
She was not the only one worried about audience reception. Open mic veteran Fidelis Tan (III AB Psy), who has been participating at these events since freshman year, is also concerned about what the audience would be doing while she’s up on stage.
“I just always get a bit worried that no one might listen, or understand what I’m saying,” she says. “But it always ends up being a fun experience.”
While acoustic performances are what people usually expect at open mics, most of the performances here are readings of poetry and fiction. This is Heights, after all, where its members appreciate the intensity, the new dimensions, and the interesting interpretations of the text that are brought out by reading aloud.
“When deciding what to read I try to pick texts that have strong topics, because those immediately catch the attention of the people who listen,” Tan says. For this open mic, she read some chapters from Lolita, captivating the audience right from the start.
It is Ninoy Julongbayan’s (II AB Hi) third open mic and this time, he’s on double duty. He read an original poem and then later, sang with his friend on acoustic guitar.
Although it’s exciting every time he reads a poem of his own, he admits that he sometimes gets nervous thinking about audience reactions, whether they’d understand and appreciate his work. “As a performer, dapat ma-satisfy ko sila with my works; ‘di lang sa tula mismo, pati sa pagbabasa nito (As a performer, I have to satisfy them with my works, not just with the poem itself, but also with how I read it).”
He says, “the connection between the performers and the audience is key.”
The organizers and most of the other performers agree.
Magno says, “The most successful open mics are the ones where the audience visibly connects with the performance.” Especially since the readers are usually the authors of the works themselves, success comes in the form of a full understanding of their work’s impact.
“The best open mics are the ones where you see people getting genuinely affected by what they hear, and talk about it long after the performances have ended,” Tan adds.
For those who have always been curious but a little shy about performing—and judging from how performers usually don’t sign up until during the event itself, there are a lot out there—Tan says that there’s no harm in trying.
“You just have to try it once or twice, and you get used to it and start enjoying yourself,” she says. Julongbayan adds that one has to “ditch the shyness,” and share and develop talents the way they were meant to.
Newbie Guillamon has no regrets after her first performance, agreeing that open mics are a good venue to “unveil your talent.” She says, “It’s fun and it’s worth it!”
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