How Does Your School Experiment with Creativity?

Lab experiments are nice but can often confine you to a world of microscopes, Petri dishes and boring partners.  But what if as alternate experiments, you can test how people react when you suddenly quietly break dance inside the library or sleep, complete with pajamas and pillows, in the middle of a school cafeteria?

In the very first user-generated youth online show, Teazperiments brought to you by TANG Fruit Teaz, all of these have been made possible. An initiative to combat boredom among tweens, the TANG Teazperiments brought together participants from 7 school organizations and had them give their unique rendition of a flash mob. A rapidly growing international phenomenon, flash mob performers assemble in a public place, display a unique action – much like in the famed Grand Central freeze where 200 people suddenly froze in place for 5 minutes— and finally disperse. 

So how did Filipinos give a local twist to the flash mob? Here are the young participants who each experimented with their uniquely fun and creative antidotes for boredom

UP Theater Council

“It was a test of creativity,” shares Patrick Valera when asked about their TANG Teazperiment. “Here, we had no lights, no production crew or special effects – the crowd’s reaction will only depend on us and how we perform.”

And as expected, the UP Theatre Council rose up to the challenge. The group staged a ‘Human Spelling’ routine in hallways of the UP Diliman’s high school (UP- IS) and performed a ‘harana’ number right on the steps of Palma Hall. He adds that through the TANG Teazperiments, their organization, which originally

aimed to produce high quality productions, mold new talents and improve the skills of its members, found a fun outlet to break out of the theater routine.  

Ateneo De Manila University’s Dulaang Sibol and Tanghalang Ateneo

From one theatre group to another, Ateneo’s Dulaang Sibol (Sibol) together with Tanghalang Ateneo (TA) also took on the TANG Teazsperiments challenge. Considered as one of the country’s leading school-based theatre companies, Sibol and TA has long been proving themselves unique and original in the field of arts.

“We don’t want to be known solely for producing excellent theater plays – we’re also a group that knows how to have fun,” quips BJ Crisostomo. And their teazperiments stunts, Fan Mob and Dance Like Nobody’s Watching, which the group performed along the high school walkway and inside the hallowed halls of the Ateneo Library, proved their claim.

San Sebastian Theater Arts Guild

Composed of only the most dynamic and artistic students of San Sebastian College, the Theater Arts Guild exists as a venue where individuals with theater inclinations can have the chance to educate and develop their talent to the fullest.  Their Teazperiments entries, Sleeping Beauty and Megaphone, showed just that.  “Our organization takes pride in creating top quality productions and stories that’s why we made it a point that our entries are no less than excellent,”says Jerico Mañalac.

FEU-FERN Theater Society

A budding theater group, the FEU-FERN Theatre Society was recently established in 2008 with the goal of forming a creative outlet for the students who are inclined in the performing arts.  That’s why when they heard of the Teazperiments project, the members as well as their advisers got excited.  “Even though we were not as experienced as the other groups, we were very proud of how our outputs turned out,” says Erryel Valmonte.  FEU-FERN Theater Society was able to produce fun and creative teazperiment stunts such as Kamot and Eating While Standing.

La Consolacion College Manila’s Arté.Comm

Now in their fourth year of productive existence, Arté.Comm is an organization in La Consolacion College Manila that is geared towards developing and enhancing the skills and creativity of the students.  Reflective of its tag line, “The Order of the Creative Minds”, Arte.Comm was able to produce two original teazperiment stunts, Zombie and Ballerina.  “The organization believes that education and experience are in sync in molding the members to be better professionals,” says Thereze-Lou Sison  “The Teazperiments are great opportunities for us to practice our creativity and talents.”

Defining Creative Moments

“Teens naturally want to explore things around them, hoping to discover something fun and interesting that would cure their boredom,” says Cindy Abella, Brand manager for Tang Fruit Teaz.  “Through Teazperiments, we thought this natural curiosity can be geared towards creative and exciting outputs.”

Abella further explains that the best part about this show is that the tweens themselves can judge who created the most fun and creative flash mob presentation.  They vote online by logging on to www.teazperiments.com.

So the equation for tween fun is really simple–combine school orgs, teazperiments and creativity, you get the best antidote for boredom.