24 Sunday, April 16, 2017 Hawaii Tribune-Herald 2017 Merrie Monarch Festival Proud Supporter Of Our University Contact Us For All Your Real Estate Needs www.DayLum.com RENTALS SALES (808) 935-4152 | (808) 935-0399 Monarch Festival president. Parangal Dance Company of San Francisco will perform indigenous Filipino tribal dances. This the first time in Hawaii for the troupe, under the artistic direction of Eric Solano and musical direction of Major Julian. “Parangal” is a Tagalog word meaning “tribute,” said Solano, who was born in the Philippines. “The word became fitting for the work that we do and the advocacy that we do for the indigenous people in the Philippines,” he explained. “The Philippines has 118 indigenous groups. They have really rich cultures and traditions. It’s beautiful; it’s majestic. And we always show that part. But this time, we’re going deeper into what’s really going on there. This is not just important to us as a dance group, but also to the indigenous people, to show the world that they’re still there and they’re dealing with these kinds of things that are happening today. Tribal leaders are being killed because they’re educated and they have knowledge. This shouldn’t be happening today but it is. And we hope that with the power of dance, we can bring the message of what is going on with them today.” The troupe will perform dances from indigenous peoples in Luzon to the north, Visayas, in the center of the island chain, and Mindanao in the south. One dance in particular, a tribute to the Ata Manobo of northeastern Mindanao, should have a special resonance, according to Solano. “If you’re aware of what the indigenous people of Hawaii are dealing with or the indigenous people (of the mainland U.S.) are dealing with the Dakota Access pipeline, there’s a parallel with what’s happening with the indigenous people of Mindanao,” he said. “That includes mining (in ancestral domains), to their rights being taken away from them, to being pushed out from their lands. So we’re using the Ata Manobo piece to relay the message of how they take care of their land, what they teach their children and how the corporations or the paramilitary will come in and cause turmoil. It’s political, but it’s important for people to see here in the Bay Area and also for the Merrie Monarch. It’s a diverse audience and we’re really grateful that we can show this piece.” The American-born Julian studied traditional kulintang music from an acclaimed master, Danongan “Danny” Kalanduyan, who passed away late last year. The form employs a series of horizontal and suspended gongs tuned to different pitches. Julian, whose education includes woodwind instruments and Western notation, said he first saw the native Philippine instruments, which include gongs, drums and bamboo percussion, when he was 19. “I would see these instruments and they were kind of cool, you know,” he said. “But how do I relate to it? I don’t even speak Tagalog. But I speak music. If you cut me, I think I would bleed music. And that’s how I connect to the culture; I connect to it musically.” Julian said the dances and music the group will bring to the Merrie Monarch are largely unknown outside their areas of origin. “Usually, when you go to the festivals, you’ll see a dance that everyone has heard of and seen, like tinikling or sayaw sa bangko, these rural folk dances that have been popularized by the Bayanihan (National Folk) Dance Company, a group from the Philippines. I think what sets us apart is that when Eric goes back to the Philippines, his mission is not to learn another tinikling, learn another dance that everyone has seen. He asks, ‘What is it that you want to be seen? What do you want everyone to know?’ “If we didn’t do it here, to many, it would never have existed. We can bring a bit of culture of an indigenous tribe from a hillside in the Philippines to an audience in San Francisco, or here at the Merrie Monarch. What’s rewarding to me is that we’re getting the message across. We’re the voice of a group that no one’s ever heard of.” Email John Burnett at jburnett@ hawaiitribune-herald.com. Ho‘ike From page 23
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