Isabela, the province named after La Reyna Isabela la Catolica of Spain, will host Dance Xchange 2017, the Philippine International Dance Festival of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), to be held in Ilagan City on May 8-11.

There will be 42 participating dance companies, including 12 international groups from nine countries.

This was announced in a recent press conference in the NCCA in Intramuros, Manila.

The dancers will come from Indonesia, India (two groups), Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia (three groups), England, Brazil, South Korea and China.

There will be a total of 1,500 dancers and an expected audience of 25,000.

The theme is “Cultural Connectivity through Dance.” Activities include performances, workshops, master classes and a cultural tour of Isabela.

There will also be outreach performances in Cauayan City and the towns of Roxas and Echague.

The festival seeks to promote greater awareness of, and appreciation for, dance; discuss global concerns on dance; and uplift the art in the country through exchanges, exposure and education.

Speakers during the press conference were Marichu Tellano, NCCA deputy executive director; Shirley Halili-Cruz, Dance Xchange founder and head of NCCA’s National Committee on Dance; Mayor Jonathan Calderon; Vice Governor Antonio Albano (representing Governor Faustino Dy); and Nilo Agustin, cultural consultant of the province.

There were pas de deux performances by members of the Bayanihan and Halili-Cruz School of Ballet.

“It is usually our dance groups that go out to the world to perform but now it will be the reverse,” Tellano said. “It will be the foreign dance companies that will come here. We will showcase the different treasures in the different provinces. Isabela has something to offer to the world.”

Albano observed: “There are a lot of cultural things in Isabela. I myself am an IP [indigenous person]. We have preserved our language and our culture as well. There are a lot of indigenous peoples in Isabela: Ibanags, Itawis, Kalingas, Apayaos. They have their own dances. Some have been Christianized and they have incorporated Spanish customs [in their dances]. The Ibanags have adapted Spanish customs, but we do have our own cultural dances.”

“There are cultural diversities in the province, and we have our own arts and crafts,” Calderon said.

“Folk dances have been incorporated into the street dances [in festivals],” noted Agustin. “Our goal is for Isabela to be the Performing Arts Capital in the North.” —CONTRIBUTED