Filipino-American Talent Showcase 2010

In April 2009, the FIL-AM Cultural Dance Group of the association was formed consist of members of all ages of the association. Since then, the group has been requested to perform in different places and occasions. Their regular performance is during the Annual Filipino Cultural Day which this year was held on June 11th at the Oceanside Civic Center. This year, three new dances, were introduced and performed for the first time - Bumayah, Sakuting and the kids' Tinikling.

The group serves as the ambassadors of goodwill promoting the association and the culture of the Philippines. Requests and inquiries for their performances can be made through the feedback page of the association's website.

Here are the Philippine folk dances performed by the group representing the different regions of the Philippines from north to south.

Banga
Tribe: Kalinga

"Banga" literally mean pots. The Banga or pot dance is a contemporary performance of Kalinga of the Mountain Province in the Philippines. This dance illustrates the languid grace of a tribe otherwise known as fierce warriors. Heavy earthen pots, as many as seven or eight at a time, are balanced on the heads of maidens as they trudge to the beat of the "gangsa" or wind chimes displaying their stamina and strength as they go about their daily task of fetching water and balancing the banga.

DANCERS: TATIANA ROBINSON as the princess

DEE WEBBER
DULIA CANDELARIA
MITCHELLE ROTULO
CITA LIME
BELLE LIMOGE
ENRI FULMORE

Uyaoy/Uyauy
Tribe: Ifugao

The Ifugao people are said to be the "children of the earth." The term Ifugao is derived from the word ipugao which literally means "coming from the earth." The Spaniards, however, changed it to Ifugaw, a term presently used in referring not only to these people but also to their province. The Ifugaos of Mayaoyao in Cordillera have hundreds of small and large feasts called canao. Each canao has a different purpose: weddings, hope for a good harvest, success in war, or the death of prominent villagers. The grandest of all canao is the uayoy. The uyaoy is mainly celebrated by a Kadangyan or chieftain of the village in order to reaffirm his social status in the community and his possible entry to the village's council of elders. Men spread their arms to imitate the sakpaya hawk's majestic glide and stamp their feet to affirm their affinity with the cosmic earth. Uyaoy is a display of various levels of composition, form, depth, and perspective brought by inspiration and gansa-based music.

Performers:

JONATHAN ENERVA
MARK JONES
ESTEVEN GAMBIO

Bumayah

The Bumayah is an Ifugao dance of thanksgiving to the god Kabunian. In this dance, performed by both men and women, the movements mimic those of a rooster scratching the ground. This joyful dance serves as a prayer of thanksgiving for a bountiful rice harvest.

Performers:

JONATHAN ENERVA
MITCHELLE ROTULO
MARK JONES
BELLE LIMOGE
ESTEVEN GAMBIO
ENRI FULMORE

Sakuting is a Philippine folk dance that interprets a fight between Ilocano Christians and non-Christians. This mock fight between rival folks is traditionally performed during Christmas at the town plaza or performed house-to-house as a form of traditional caroling show. Dancers perform the Sakuting to receive presents or the local money called aguinaldo. This regional ethnic dance celebrates cultural heritage and national artistic pride by portraying Philippine fighting art as a ritual dance. Sakuting came from the Abra province in the northern part of the island of Luzon. During the Spanish colonization (1520 to 1898), the garrison established to protect the Ilocanos who converted to Christianity became a site for raids by the mountain tribes. And the Sakuting dance interprets this struggle between the lowland natives who became Christians and the non-Christian natives from the mountain region. Sakuting incorporates the traditional Filipino martial arts called Arnis by using two sticks as extension of the arms to fight the opponent. Before the Spanish era in the Philippines, Filipinos commonly used Arnis for self-protection. The Spanish banned its practice, forcing Filipinos to utilize it in other forms. They openly retained the practice by using Arnis movements as part of folk dances like the Sakuting. While showing the story between the Christians and non-Christian natives, the stylized fight sequence revived the use of Arnis as this dance is actually a two-stick Arnis exercise set to an upbeat music.

Performers:
CONRAD GILES
MARK JONES
TROY TUQUERO
KEVIN TUQUERO

Cariñosa is a word that describes an affectionate, friendly and lovable woman. This dance is performed in flirtatious manner with fans and handkerchiefs to assist the dancers' hide-and-seek movements. It depicts a man courting a woman with the restriction of touching her. During the Spanish times, it was a grave scandal for a man to touch even the fingertips of a woman thus, in this dance it shows a demure lady protecting herself from the man by using scented fan and and a handkerchief as if playing hide-and-seek. This dance was originated in the Panay Islands on the Visayan Islands and it was introduced by the Spaniards during their colonization of the Philippines. It is related to some of the Spanish dances like the bolero and the Mexican dance Jarabe Tapatio or the Mexican Hat Dance that resembles the courtship through the interpretation of the dancers in the process of dancing. The dance before was a Maria Clara dance but because of its popularity it has so many versions around the Philippines.

Performers:
BELLE LIMOGE
MARK JONES
MALOU HAMTO
JONATHAN ENERVA
CITA LIME
ESTEVEN GAMBIO
ENRI FULMORE
ANTHONY FULMORE

This popular dance of grace and balance comes from Lubang Island, Mindoro in the Visayas region. The term pandanggo comes from the Spanish word fandango, which is a dance characterized by lively steps and clapping that varies in rhythm in 3/4 time. This particular pandanggo involves the presence of three tinggoy, or oil lamps, balanced on the head and the back of each hand.
After a good catch, fishermen of Lingayen would celebrate by drinking wine and by dancing, swinging and circling a lighted lamp. Hence, the name "Oasiwas" which in the Pangasinan dialect means "swinging." This unique and colorful dance calls for skill in balancing an oil lamp on the head while circling in each hand a lighted lamp wrapped in a porous cloth or fishnet. The waltz-style music is similar to that of Pandanggo sa Ilaw.

ITIK-ITIK

The Itik-Itik dance is popular among the Visayan settlers of the province of Surigao del Norte. It has many variations of steps from which the dancers choose and combine. Its steps are similar to the movements of a duck (itik, in Filipino), as it walks with short, choppy steps and splashes water on its back while attracting its mate. The dance is believed to have originated from the dance Sibay danced to the Dejado music. The Sibay is a bird dance that came from neighboring Visayan Islands.

DANCERS:
MICHELLE PAGAYONAN
MELANIE PAGAYONAN
MINA GILES
GLORIA GILES
JANINE FERRER
BELLE LIMOGE
ENRI FULMORE

Tinikling

This 'Visayan' dance was found in Leyte where this dance originated. Dancers imitate the tikling bird's legendary grace and speed as they skillfully play, chase each other, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers. Hence it is named after the bird, tikling. this version of the dance is done between a pair of bamboo poles.

The older people claim that the 'Tinikling Ha Bayo' from which the tinikling dance evolved is more difficult to perform. It was originally danced between 'bayuhan', two wooden pestles used to pound the husks off the rice grain.

DANCERS:
CONRAD GILES
MINA GILES
MARK JONES
ENRI FULMORE
JONATHAN ENERVA
BELLE LIMOGE
ESTEVEN GAMBIO

KIDS TINIKLING

DANCERS:
PERFORMERS:
ANGELINA FLEMMING
CONRAD GILES
MINA GILES

The T'boli, also known as the Tiboli or Tagabili, is one of the tribes in Mindanao, the Philippines' southernmost island. Some sources state that the term "T'boli" comes from "Tau-bili"; "tau" meaning "small human creature" and "bili" meaning "fruit of the wild vine". Others state that Christian settlers called the tribe "taga-bili" (buyers) in the course of their barter trade. According to their folklore and traditions, the T'boli are descendants of the survivors of a great flood, who were saved by their deity Dwata. Two couples, warned by Dwata to take precautions, took refuge in a huge bamboo and rode out the flood. From the first couple descended the T'boli and the other highland ethnic groups, or Lumads, of Mindanao, as well as the Muslim tribes. The second couple were the ancestors of the other Filipino ethnic groups who became Christianized. Madal T'boli literally means "T'boli dance". It is perhaps the most common of all T'boli festival dances. It may be performed by a female dancer who executes bird-like motions with her arms and manipulates her malong slung around her neck in different positions as she goes through her dance. Tiboli dances involve shuffling steps and swooping movements of the arms and hands, usually incorporating a malong or kerchief.