Gabe Igtanloc

Acting and Contemporary Performance Making, MFA

Gabe Igtanloc (any pronouns) is a Filipino-American theater and dance artist from San Francisco, California. He has trained in many performance disciplines ranging from Musical theater jazz dance, sword fighting, and devised theater making. He is currently studying at Arthaus Berlin in the second year in the MFA Acting and Contemporary Performance Making program at Columbia College Chicago.
Website: https://www.gabeigtanloc.com/
Instagram: @Gabe_FI

TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING BEFORE YOU CAME TO COLUMBIA.

I came to Columbia immediately after I graduated from San Diego State University where I majored in theater performance and musical theater. During my time at SDSU and in San Diego, I was featured in mainstage and student productions on campus, established the Musical Theater Club and sat as its president, and worked as a professional actor and choreographer. Recently, I have been working with the Verdon-Fosse Legacy over the past couple summers to study the work of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. Some of my favorite shows and movies are by Mr. Fosse and Gwen and having the opportunity to learn the steps is such an honor.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE COLUMBIA FOR YOUR GRADUATE STUDY?

After my time at SDSU, I was looking for programs that had two things: a focus on an area of performance that was outside of my current training and schools that were outside of California. Once I found Columbia’s MFA program in Acting and Contemporary performance making, I thought it was a great next step in my education. Check off both of the things!

TELL US ABOUT A PROJECT YOU’RE WORKING ON THAT YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT.

Aside from a lot of the performance I am doing in classes, I am currently developing a book of poetry and short stories about my time in Chicago. I lived downtown during the first year of the program, and I had access to a lot of the major theaters, restaurants, and bars that Chicago had to offer. When I would go to these places, I would write about what I was experiencing at the moment in the form of poetry and prose.. This acted both as a writing exercise for me, as well as documentation of my time in Chicago. I am hoping to get it published by the end of November!