This year marked the Filipino-American Student Organization’s eighteenth Fiestang Filipino production. As a part of International Festival Week, students, faculty, and community members gathered on February 25 to celebrate Filipino culture with a performance showcasing Filipino traditions.
Freshman Therese Germain was very impressed by the event.
“As someone of Filipino descent, I can honestly say that Fiestang was an authentic portrayal of the culture: dialogue, dance, food, and all,” she said.
A traditional meal was prepared by Brother Nich Perez, CSC. Over dinner, student singers performed both the Filipino National Anthem and the American National Anthem.
The skits followed the story of Armando, a young Filipino man uncertain about why he should be proud of his heritage. Until the end of the show, he believed that his culture was a part of himself that he needed to shield from the world. At the close of the show, Armando realized the importance of embracing his impressive heritage and honoring the vibrant culture of his native Philippines.
Ryan Gonzales, one of the 2012 Fiestang commissioners, described the evening as “effective.”
“The skit scenes were simple but thorough, and I loved how the closing performance turned out, with all the different dance suites coming on stage to the song that inspired our theme,” he said.
On the production process, Gonzales explained that they began planning during the summer of 2011, organizing the show, theme, and types of dances that would be featured. Dance rehearsals, however, were a different story.
“Many of the performances only began serious practices two weeks prior to the show. There was even one performance whose choreography wasn’t even made until two days beforehand. However, I don’t want to say which performances those were – and hopefully, no one could tell!” Gonzales confessed.
Other acts featured ranged from musical performances to traditional dances. One of the performances was “The Mountain,” a collection of dances showing the pagan rituals of Filipino tribes living in mountainous regions. The tribal dances captured the audience, integrating strong, simple moves with intricate flourishes.
Another dance performed, the “Maria Clara Suite,” demonstrated the Spanish influence on Filipino life in the sixteenth century. These dances illustrated love, courtship, and flirtations between young men and women in colorful traditional clothing.
The “Mindanao Suite” was a collection of Muslim dances with rhythmic, flowing movements. Throughout these dances, the women used vibrant umbrellas as props.
Rural dances were also featured. Rural dances express the joy of labor and the simplicity of life. These dances feel less structured and were traditionally performed impromptu for relaxation. One interesting dance from this segment was “tinikling.” Tinikling is a popular Filippino dance where performers step over and between two large bamboo poles as two other performers beat, tap, and slide them. The dancers modernized this traditional dance.
Project Fresh was a crowd-favorite with their upbeat hip-hop dances and great stage presence. Choreographers challenged each other to create dances that broke through comfort barriers and pushed dancers’ creativity.
The waltz and the swing were also performed beautifully by dancers.
The proceeds from this event’s ticket and shirt sales will benefit typhoon relief through Operation Blessing Philippines, a non-profit foundation focused on combating hunger, disease, unemployment, and illiteracy in the Philippines by providing disaster relief, education, and medical intervention.
Ellen Roof is a freshman business and English major. Contact her at eroof@nd.edu to see her sweet dance moves. he development of life skills and microenterprise activities, and addressing basic health and nutrition needs, OB exemplifies Christian compassion and benevolence.
