Performances highlight Pilipino culture
By Denisse Santa Cruz
April 20, 2010 9:00 p.m.
In hopes of educating viewers about political issues concerning the Philippines, the Pilipino Performance Night at the Fowler Amphitheater will be highlighting a variety of talents and individuals dedicated to a cause that is close to their roots. With participants that span across campus and beyond, the event is largely a collaborative effort to inform students about the many injustices that are currently occurring and manage to escape mass knowledge.
Organized by Lorenzo Perillo and Rachelle Alcantara, the Fowler Out Loud Concert also includes the aid and participation of Nico De Jesus, Melissa Roxas, Terrie Cervas, Eric Tandoc, and Diane Valencia, among others.
Including about half of the dances from the upcoming Samahang Pilipino Culture Night, Alcantara, a fourth-year political science student and the SPCN coordinator, has a lot of time and effort invested in many of the performances that are to take place.
“The entire process began last May; it’s a year-long process,” Alcantara said. With numerous routines already well-practiced by the group’s members, Samahang Pilipino was a perfect candidate for contributing to the performance’s growing repertoire of acts.
One of the dances that the Samahang Pilipino members will be performing is called Sayaw Sa Bangko, meaning “dance on a bench.” The dance involves a great deal of precision as dancers stack benches and jump atop them from one to the other in acrobatic fashion.
“You’re supposed to naturally look like you’re falling, but you don’t,” said Josh Guano, a third-year civil engineering student and a dance coordinator for the night. “It’s a very difficult and major dance; we practice four hours a week. The other dances we practice between one and half and two hours.”
While the participants have put a lot of time into their performances, there is also a great deal of dedication toward the human rights cause of the Philippines. This is especially true of one of the event coordinators.
“There is no better time than now. One of the main reasons to bring Filipinos together right now is because in the Philippines there are currently 43 health care workers that have been illegally arrested since February 2010,” Perillo said.
With a story similar to that of the health care workers, Melissa Roxas, a human rights activist, was abducted in May last year while helping in the Philippines. Her time spent as a captive allows her to speak out against the injustices taking place and relate her first person experience to those willing to listen.
Roxas will be speaking at the performance, which hopes to accomplish a variety of tasks as it informs the audience as well as educates about the Pilipino culture itself.
“Due to the lack of visible Pilipino studies on campus, SPCN strives to introduce the UCLA community to what is Pilipino culture,” Alcantara said. The Fowler Out Loud performance will include a variety of traditional Pilipino dances that include a variety of props like benches, candles and malongs, or sashes resembling sarongs.
There will also be modern Pilipino hip-hop dances performed by Samahang Modern and the Dance and Spirit Club. Along with the dances, SiGAw, an organization for Filipinas, will be performing a few theater pieces. While there will be many performances taking place, it is important to consider the larger picture that is at stake.
“isn’t just meant for entertainment; it’s meant to raise awareness and promote and provoke an action about these injustices especially since U.S. taxpayer dollars are going toward military aid to the Philippines,” Perillo said.
In order to further demonstrate the heavy political issues, there will be a second performance in Moore 100 that is linked to the Fowler Out Loud performance and will follow it from 8-10 p.m. This segment, called Power in Numbers, is aimed at of the election fraud that goes on, which is especially important due to the upcoming election on May 10 in the Philippines, Perillo said.
Power in Numbers will include a 40-minute documentary called “Sounds of a New Hope.” which follows a Pilipino-American artist as he works to make a positive difference in the Philippines. There will also be rap artists and DJs to help present the issues and appeal to the students.
Pilipino Performance Night is a collaborative effort as groups and individuals come together to produce a multi-faceted informational and instructional event. It crosses boundaries as it brings little-known issues to the students at UCLA in hopes of.
“The performance at is something that really demonstrates the transnational politics of the Filipino community but speaks beyond the UCLA community,” Perillo said.
