Sinanduloy Cultural Troupe, which won the grand prize in the Sinulog 2020 street-dancing festival in Cebu City, headlined the Mindanao leg’s opening ceremony of National Arts Month (NAM) at Sinanduloy Cultural Center in Tangub, Misamis Occidental on Feb. 15.
Composed of young dancers and musicians in Tangub, Sinanduloy Cultural Troupe has been in existence for 27 years and become a prominent performing arts group in Mindanao. Aside from the Sinulog, it has won awards in the prestigious National Music Competitions for Young Artists.
Jojin Pascual, Sinanduloy artistic director, said that for the NAM Mindanao kickoff celebration, the dance group employed ethnic-based instruments so that NAM “will [have the] sound [of] Mindanao.”
The Subanen, the indigenous group of Misamis Occidental and the Zamboanga Peninsula, meanwhile performed a traditional ritual to open the festival.Sayaw Pinoy, the NAM flagship project of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) National Committee on Dance, also joined the celebration, showcasing production numbers from different performing arts groups in Mindanao, such as Dles Su Dance Company, Milky Mitch School of Dance, LSU Green Dynamics, Saint Michael College of Caraga Tesaw Performing Arts Guild and Hinugyaw Cultural Dance Troupe.
Pascual said that the Tangub festival inspired the locals and gave them the opportunity to see performances from artists outside their city.
“One benefit of this event is exposure for the youth of Tangub. Most of the time, they only see the shows of Sinanduloy,” he said.Prior to the formal opening, select students and artists of Misamis Occidental joined workshops on sculpture, music, dance and theater arts.
“The workshops were a nice experience for the young people because we were encouraged to dance, play a different instrument and join theater plays,” 15-year-old Ivan Dagamac said. “I participated in the music workshop and we learned how to play the drums, guitar, laud and bandurria.”
For NAM in Mindanao, the NCCA mounted Sayaw Pinoy events in Ozamiz, Butuan and Dumingab. The National Committee on Literary Arts organized a forum of regional writers reading from their latest works in “Readings from the Regions” in Davao City.—CONTRIBUTED
