Festival, Fil-Am Style (Part 1)

This past weekend, our parish held its 4th annual church festival. The local community came out en masse to partake in the festivities. There was a variety of ethnic fare, game booths for those who dare, vendors hawking their wares, and music and entertainment to take away your cares. In keeping with past tradition, the Filipino-American (Fil-Am) youth group, including Danielle and Joseph, performed folk dances as part of the entertainment program. This year, our choreographer chose to showcase a suite of dances from Mindanao, the second largest island group in the southern-most tip of the Philippine archipelago. Although eighty-five percent of the people in the Philippines are Catholic Christians, Muslims in the Mindanao region make up the largest cultural minority group. Their music and dances are renowned for their mysticism, beauty, and royalty. Filipino Muslim dances are characterized by intricate hand and arm movements, and colorful, shimmering costumes.

The Fil-Am dance program was a runaway success! Much of the credit goes to our choreographer, whose patience, perseverance (and sense of humor) set the standard of excellence. Equally deserving are the Fil-Am dancers who worked tirelessly and selflessly, and devoted every weekend over a three-month period to learning and mastering the Mindanao suite. Amateurs though they were, the Fil-Am youth group performed with undeniable skill, talent, discipline, grace, and professionalism. We are extremely proud of our young dancers.

Among Filipino-Americans, there is an adage: "You can take the Filipino out of the Philippines, but you can’t take the Philippines out of the Filipino." In some ways, the church festival has become, for us, a reaffirmation of our Filipino identity and pride.

Stay tuned for video footage of the Fil-Am dance performances on Part 2 of Festival, Fil-Am Style. For now, enjoy these photos courtesy of Dan Howell Photography.