Getting In Touch with Our Roots: Kultura Balete 2011



All roads lead to Balete on Monday, February 21. The Municipal Tourism and Development Council is presenting to Baleten-ons of all ages Kultura Balete 2011. It is a simple event to observe the Culture and Arts Awareness Month. It showcases our heritage as a people with our own distinct identity and history. It is an invitation to highlight the memory of our race through various media: Sotis, composo, pamalaybay, crafts--just to name a few.




Sotis is kind of folk dance still being practiced by the Benitinanons and the Ilahaynon (those that reside in the upstreams of the Jal-o). It is much like the street dances of the contemporary world that the pair who takes part in it has to be agile, athletic and acrobatic while without compromising grace and artistry. In its factuality, it is not a street dance but a "house dance". Yes, a house dance. It is performed by several couples to test the structural strength on a newly constructed house. Originally, it is part of the pagpangagad and pabagti ritual where the suitor, having shown to the father of his beloved his capacity to construct a hut or a house, will now show to the public that it is well-built abode for starting off a family. But just like other dances, it becomes part of the communal celebration and anybody of sound body can dance sotis to the rhythmic, festive and frenzy beating of anything the Ilayhanon's hands can hold on to. One should hear how they improvised on bamboo poles and empty tin can of Fita and Skyflakes and turn invective phrases into joyous composo (composition).

But you need to take a grueling hike or endure sitting on bamboo craft for hours to get to see and hear those. Otherwise, just take time out and join us at the Mayor Teodoro F. Calizo, Sr. Memorial Civic Center on Monday to get a glimpse of them.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something About Tumbo (Cara y Cruz): A Hypothesis

Image
They say that mahjong is just a diversion, a recreation of some sort of the bored and the retired. But they say that cara y cruz is a different case. However you look at it--in both sides of the coin (pun intended), it is gambling and therefore those who indulged in it (read, the poor ones) are playing in conflict with law. And so, since yesteryears, people accepted those facts. Mahjong is recreational while cara y cruz or tumbo is gambling and illegal at that. An Alfonso showing its head and tail or if your prefer its "hari" & "corona" But I was amused at the scene of a group of individuals by an "island" at corner T.M. Kalaw and Taft Avenue I happened to pass by while doing research at the National Archives of the Philippines sometime in August 2010. I just alighted from the Light Rail Transit (LRT) at UN Station and was finding my way to cross T.M. Kalaw when I noticed a bunch of lot playing cara y cruz on the elevated concrete "isla
Read more

SOOTHING AS NIGHT WINDS ARE: An Interpretation of the poem by that title by Salvador B. Espinas

Image
Love is gentle, love is quiet Like any distant star; In loving by which we approximate the nature of love, we do not coerce those we love—as much as possible we give room for freedom to grow and respect each other’s independence, i.e., each other’s time of searching. In loving, the lover is like the distant star, manifesting his presence and yet quietly, not trying to obstruct or block the path of the beloved. He stands besides quietly assuring her of his gentle presence and constant attention. Love is beauty, love is music Soothing as night winds are. Lovers are enchanted by the wonders of creation. One who is in loved would often quips that everything seems beautiful and that “ life has music, rhythm and rhyme” –which actually is. Somehow, love enables man and woman to see reality as God sees it. As even in times of trouble, loves comes like night winds, soothing our weary mind and aching heart.
Read more

Maeocong, Chieftain of the Jae-o No More

Image
There was a time when the early settlers by the Jal-o regarded the river with a sense of foreboding. While it served as the main thoroughfare, their public baths and laundry pond, the river held many mysteries kept hidden among its lush mangroves and adjoining swamps and tributaries. Rumors and reports of actual sightings of monstrous amphibians wading its waters had been told in every household. The authorities had warned the villagers to stay out of the water especially at nighttime. Of those crocodiles, Maeocong was regarded as the dominant bull--the king of the Jae-o. He was long as a boroto (local banca) and heavier than an adult carabao. It was said that he was more deadly if paired with his favorite mate, Pingan Nonay . Together, they wreck terror along the Anao and Bag-ot swamps. For a time, the settlers tolerated their fear. They lived their lives by the Jal-o with that ominous awareness that they were not the masters of the river. But such fears had hounded them even in th
Read more