Mabuhay! Lessons from the Philippines

From 25 April-2 May 2009, the ASWARA dancers were in the Philippines for the 1^st International Dance XChange Workshop and Festival 2009. This event was organized in conjunction with International Dance Day, which was instituted by UNESCO in 1982 and falls on 29 April each year. This event was organized by the National Committee for Dance, which is a division of the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) and is similar to the Ministry of Culture and Arts here in Malaysia. The entourage of ASWARA consisted of four male dancers and five female dancers who were students of the Year Two Diploma Programme, and myself as the Head of Delegation.

This was a trip of many firsts. This was my first visit to the Philippines and I was naturally filled with anticipation, both about the country and the actual festival. I did not know what to expect as the scope and intensity of the festival were not mentioned in the letter of invitation. As always, I called on my ‘go with the flow' mentality to deal with whatever was thrown my way. This was also the first time that all 9 dancers were leaving the country armed with enthusiasm and brand new passports, and for one of them, it was the first time on an airplane! The early morning arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport set the tone for the visit when we were met inside the airport customs by an official from the NCCA.  For anyone who is not used to traveling, this is part of visiting a new country that can fill the visitor with trepidation, as one never knows what to expect from immigration officials. It went smoothly as we left the airport with all our baggage, and the adventure began.

The first performance was held the following day at the national park in a theatre similar to the Panggung Anniversary theatre in the Lake Gardens of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After routine checks of the sound system and the lights, the dancers went through a rigorous warm-up and preparation for the performance. We were unprepared for the riotous welcome that each performing group received. When the ASWARA dancers started performing after a technical glitch, the riotous applause for the ketam mengiring movement of the Tari Inai showed that the audience was in awe. This beautiful dance that originates from Kampung Bechah Tedong, near Pasir Mas in Kelantan was almost extinct. Nevertheless, due to the research efforts of Zamzuriah Zahari from the Faculty of Dance, it has become a part of our compulsory syllabi and danced by every dance major of ASWARA and at every opportunity that presents itself. When the dancers bent over backward to pick up the money with their mouths– the ‘liuk ambil duit’ – the audience was uncontrollable! This was followed by the international performances of The Big Dance Company from England, Sri Lanka’s cultural dance troupe of the Ministry of Culture, Shenju Dance Company from Japan, Hong Kong’s Dance Mode Studio, Persadaku Seni from Singapore, Hunan Normal University Dancers and Xiamen Xiao Pai Lu Group from China, The Quezon City Ballet and Bayanihan National Folk Dance Company of the Philippines, and other local Philippine groups. The 600 or more people that swarmed the open-air theatre were given a fantastic treat of international traditional dance repertoires.

This was followed by a sumptuous dinner at the local hotel for all participants that surely would have burned a sizeable hole in the pockets of the organizers. The next day, there was more in store for us as we boarded an airplane to the city of Dumaguete on the island of Negros which was an hour’s journey. Upon arrival at the quaint little airport of Dumaguete, we were welcomed by local drummers and about 20 young dancers with traditional dance and music. The energy and sincerity of the performance truly made us feel welcome.  

We proceeded to the Hotel Bethal which was a modest guesthouse situated at the waterfront – facing the Pacific Ocean! The feeling of rapture was evident in the bright-eyed faces of the young Malaysian dancers as they soaked in the atmosphere and the environment of the fishing township on this island. Strangely though, there was also a feeling of familiarity as many Filipinos look like the Malays and there are many similarities in language and culture. The dances from the islands of Mindanao are also similar to those of the Sea Bajau and Suluk of Sabah in terms of movement, music accompaniment of the kulintang ensemble, and costumes which are heavily beaded and made of brightly coloured hand-woven material. It was fabulous to feel a kinship with the people who obviously have the same roots as some Malaysians!

There was a strong presence of Malaysia at this festival as Mohd Anis Md Nor of the University of Malaya gave the keynote address that held everyone in awe with his command of the English language and knowledge of Philippine dances. His questioning of perceptions of Filipino dances of Mindanao that are commonly referred to as the ‘Moslem dance’ and suggestions for the schools’ curricula were extremely well-received. He also spoke about dance connectivity or the making of links and connections that are useful in dance scholarship and practice.

This was followed by a workshop on the theme of the festival, "exchange and connectivity". It was attended by at least 300 participants and attempted to use the body, mind, and soul to establish and create impulses to improvise and design movement phrases. Subsequently, a performance in the evening of beautiful traditional dance repertoires of ASWARA Dancers that included the Asyik, Allarippu, Zapin and Joget. It is difficult to be objective, but it was clear that the audience was blown away by the fact that 9 young boys and girls of Malay and Chinese parentage were doing the Allarippu from the Indian traditional dance of Bharatanatyam among other works. This was a great testimony to the multicultural education that every dance student receives at ASWARA. One of the most interesting comments was that the “ASWARA repertoire did not look anything like the ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’ performance” that is commonly seen and thus more well-known through performances at international events such as food fairs, tourism promotions, and expositions. It is clear that the intense investment ASWARA makes in traditional dance reconstruction and research is worthwhile without the glitz of the state-conscripted packaged productions. However, this is replaced by the attempt to bring to the stage a greater authenticity and skillful, high-quality dancing. This belief and commitment to the dance training at ASWARA is paying out dividends with increased international invitations. Another respected scholar from the University of Malaya, Dr Hanafi Hussin who has done extensive research on the political theatre practices as well as indigenous dances of the Philippines, was also present together with the dance groups from Sarawak, which were The Dance Academy run by Mary and January Chan, and the University Malaysia Sarawak dance group led by Noor Azrul and Mohd Arif.

The Philippine experience opened my eyes to new learning and knowledge. It is obvious that the people of the Philippines are great art and dance lovers. There were 850 people who registered for the dance workshops at Dumaguete. Every single performance was filled to the brim with people young and old. The joy and love for dance and music were clear in their presence and appreciation through applause and boisterous shouting of their approval. The pride in their own culture was apparent when they saved the most thunderous applause for the home groups such as the Spanish-inspired dancing of the Philippine Normal University Kislap Sining Troupe and Lahing Batangan Dance Troupe, the indigenous repertoire of the Jambangan Dance Company, the Helobung Community Dance Troupe, and the professional Bayanihan Dance Company. Post-performance, there were throngs of people who asked intelligent questions about the dance, its origins, costumes, music, and rituals, and were eager to take photographs as well! It was clear to me that the grassroots method of promoting arts and culture is extremely successful in giving people access to performing arts and ample opportunities to absorb the indigenous culture of the Philippines.

It was also fascinating that the majority of the performing groups with incredibly high standards were in fact community-based dance groups such as the explosive PowerDance of Manila that featured two 12-year-old dancers who were stunning in their physicality and acrobatic ability. These groups are not state-funded and people of all ages gather together two to three times a week in the local stadium or park to dance. There are no fees charged to the participants and the teachers have regular day jobs. What makes this amazing is that this level of synchronicity and technique can only be achieved by intense practice that is fuelled by passion. It became understandable when I realized that some of the teachers of these groups are themselves highly-trained dancers who had moved back to the provinces after their performance careers. Therefore good dance training is becoming less urban-centered in the Philippines and driven more by artists with passion and knowledge.   

That this Philippine government-sponsored  festival which was opened only to local groups for 19 years, and which was finally opened for the first time to international groups was phenomenal. As Festival Director Shirley Halili-Cruz, who is also Artistic Director of her Halili-Cruz School of Ballet and the Quezon City Ballet mentioned, all the participants are now a part of the annals of dance history in the Philippines. Working together with the very able and sincere NCCA team, this woman who possessed great enthusiasm and passion (and love for Coca-Cola) managed to pull off the seemingly impossible. Every single detail of the comfort and needs of the invited groups was taken care of. From delicious meals and transport that was always available to the enthusiastic explanation of the locale and attractive anecdotes about the environment and Filipino history and culture, nothing was small or unimportant to the wonderful tour guides and liaison officers. As festival director of the TARI series here in Malaysia, I have an insider’s knowledge of how immense this task is especially when dealing with international guests who can be difficult. The beauty of it is that everything was done with a smile! My heartiest congratulations to the committee!

A suggestion for improvements involves the preparation time allocated for the performance. The dissemination of information regarding the repertoire and requirements of each performance was not given with enough detail or was delivered too late. This is especially difficult for choreographers who like the luxury of sufficient rehearsal time. This is particularly true when working with traditional dance material that has elaborate costumes and accessories and cannot be altered at the eleventh hour. Furthermore, one of the functions of an artistic director is to decide on repertoire. Therefore it is critical to select the most suitable dances for each occasion as some of them work better in certain venues than others, which in turn will affect the public perception of standards and satisfy individual artistic needs. Still, this was manageable and as participants, we dealt with all the curve balls with a smile in the spirit of camaraderie of the festival.

Malaysia could do well to take some lessons from the wonderful week-long festival organized by the NCCA. In our country, we need to make greater efforts to inculcate a love for the arts, and the best method is by making the arts available to the average person on the street and not an elitist exercise. It must become a part of the fabric of Malaysian society and not be reserved only for those who live in gated communities. Education is the key while community-based activities in the arts is the way to go to reach out to the young and the less privileged. Although this kind of work is being done by Teater Muda in Penang under the custodianship of Janet Pillai, and while Five Arts Centre celebrates its 25^thanniversary this year has been at the forefront of these types of projects, and despite the fact that KLPAC also has a similar program now, there are still too few players to have a broad impact. The Philippines has learned the value of arts and culture in the organic development of creative individuals who are confident, friendly, proactive, and who love to play music, sing and dance! What a wonderful society to be a part of – thanks to the organizing committee for these lessons learned and salamat po!

The ASWARA team for Dance Xchange 2009.