International Dance Day was founded in 1982 by the Dance Committe of the International Dance Institute and is celebrated every year on April 29. In honor of this celebration, a week-long festival was held at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati from April 23 to 27. I was able to take my mom to see two shows - the Folk and Traditional Dances and the Ballet Gala. Both were absolutely fantastic!
The Folk and Traditional Dances show was held on Apr 24. Performers included a mix of professional dance troupes and school dance groups. What I absolutely loved about this show was that it introduced me to many dances that I was previously unfamiliar with. These include: (1) Panulo sa Baybayon, a Visayan dance that is meant to resemble fishing at night using petroleum lamps, (2) Kabpelemba Limbay, a dance from Maguindanao inspired by the tradition of "Lemba" or the sacred act of identifying and honoring decorative heirlooms and symbolic objects, and (3) dances from Yakan people, an indigenous Muslim group from Mindanao. Learning about these dances and seeing them performed was truly breathtaking and made me feel even more connected to being a Filipino.
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| All performers of the Folk and Traditional Dances show together on stage for curtain call |
The CEU Folk Dance Troupe performed dances from Kalinga. Ragraksakan had women balance baskets on their heads. Salip was a courtship dance that imitates the movement of a rooster and a hen. And finally, the Kalinga Banga dance had women balanced muliple pots of different sizes on their heads while they danced and moved around the stage. It was absolutely impressive to see the women do this. The first group of women who performed the banga dance had about 5 pots on their heads but to close out this segment, the last two women had about 11 pots on their heads and none of them fell! Were these real pots (that would have been extremely heavy!) or were they lighter versions that were maybe attached to each other and to the heads of the women in a way that would prevent them from toppling over? I don't know. But it was really mesmerizing and thrilling to watch as you hoped the pots wouldn't fall to the ground.
We've gotten used to seeing the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe perform during the UAAP Cheerdance competition so it was wonderful to see them peform folk dances (especially since according apparently, they were originally formed as a cultural group). Their sayaw sa bangko featured what I think was three levels of benches and their amazing acrobatics drew gasps and well-deserved applause from the crowd.
I am also really happy to finally get to see the
Bayanihan Dance Company again. Our National Folk Dance Company opened the show with a very captivating and electrifying display of movement and athleticism. I saw them perform live a few times when I was much younger but I hadn't seen them perform in a long time and it is always a pleasure and a privilege to see them.
I really loved the Folk and Traditional Dances show, not just for the dances but for everything else that came with it: the costumes, the props, the colors, the instrumentation, the music, and the deeper understanding and appreciation of Philippine culture. It was just such an amazing show to watch!
A couple of days later, on April 26, we headed back to Samsung Theater to watch the Ballet Gala. This show featured dances from different ballets. My mom recognized that Fei Fei Ye and Ryo Fukuda from Hong Kong Ballet performed the pas de deux from Giselle, which we got to see last year (they also performed another pas de deux, from The Butterfly Lovers). Ballet Manila performed the adagio from Swan Lake (and we also got to see and have a photo taken with their principal ballerina and artistic director, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde). Vince Pelegrin and Sooha Park from the American Ballet Theatre performed two pas de deuxs, from Birthday Variations and Le Corsaire. We also got to enjoy excerpts from local ballets, performed by Philippine Ballet Theater and Ballet Philippines. The show ended with an explosive and exhilirating dance called "C'est la cie" from Alice Reyes Dance Philippines. (Alice Reyes is a National Artist for dance.) That finale was so good that I left the show wanting to see it again and maybe more performances from Alice Reyes Dance Philippines.
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| All performers of the Ballet Gala show together on stage for curtain call |
I also want to share how amazing and accommodating the staff was. During the Folk and Traditional Dances show, each segment began with a voice-over that shared information about the dances that would be performed. I realized that my mom and I weren't able to get a program that explained the dances. The lady sitting next us had one so when we stepped out of the theater after the show, I asked the event staff for a program but they said that they already ran out. I felt a bit dejected because I really wanted to have more information about the dances we had just witnessed. On Saturday, I arrived a few hours before the show and I headed to staff again to ask if they might still have an extra program from the Folk and Traditional Dances show. They said that they didn't. I asked them if there was someone I could contact to ask for the information about the dances performed during that show. I told them that I really wanted to learn more about what I had seen. The lady then told me that she would print it out for me and that I can come back after some time to get my copy. When I came back before the start of the Ballet Gala and after having dinner with my mom, the woman I talked to handed me two copies of the program. So cool!! I thanked her and the rest of the staff very profusely. Because of that program, I was able to write much more detailed information in this blog post. Thank you once again to the organizers and the staff for your generosity!
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| Programs from the Folk and Traditional Dances and the Ballet Gala |
Both shows were about 1 1/2 to 2 hours long and they showcased many incredible artists and very dedicated performers, both local and international. We got the most expensive tickets and they cost under P1400 each which, for me, was such a steal and extremely good value for money given the very high quality and the length of the shows. There were other performances that week as well, such as street dance and contemporary, but I didn't have the energy to watch one show each night for an entire week so my mom and I ended up choosing to see just two. Hopefully, a similar festival for International Dance Day is held next year. I will definitely watch again.
