Filipino Music and Dance Take Spotlight at PH Cultural Night in Timor Leste
Philippine Ambassador to Timor Leste Ambassador Abdulmaid K. Muin (center) joins the Filipino community during the Philippine Cultural Night on 10 June 2018 (Dili PE photo)
DILI 13 June 2018 — Members of the Filipino community in Timor Leste and diplomatic corps, and Timorese guests packed the Suai Ballroom of Timor Plaza to watch dance and musical performances at the Philippine Cultural Night, jointly organized by the Philippine Embassy in Dili and the Association of Filipinos in East Timor on 10 June 2018.
The event showcased the diversity and richness of Filipino culture through a fashion show, a medley of Filipino songs and a series of dance performances, representing Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the three main island groupings of the Philippines.
The Suai Ballroom was transformed into a colorful representation of the Philippines with festive banners and gaudy decorations reminiscent of the traditional Filipino bahay kubo and street parties. The event’s performers were joined by Filipino residents in Timor Leste when they kicked off the program by marching around Timor Plaza at late afternoon.
The gentlemen of the Philippine Embassy in Dili, led by Ambassador to Timor Leste Abdulmaid K. Muin, opened the fashion show of traditional costumes, and were followed by models showcasing the rich diversity of costumes from the traditional barong tagalog, terno, and baro’t saya to the traditional costumes of indigenous tribes in Muslim Mindanao.
The crowd was then regaled by colorful performances of traditional Philippine dances, from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Among the colorful dances performed were: Salidumay of the Igorot tribe, jota gumaqueña of Quezon province, Bulaklakan of Luzon and Visayas, Vamos a Zamboanga of the Zamboanga Peninsula, and a mixed number of the Maranaos, B’laan, T’boli in Mindanao.
Concluding the program was a medley of traditional and modern Filipino songs that covered different genres, including stirring renditions of, among others, Matud Nila, Ako ay Pilipino, Tagumpay Nating Lahat, and Anak.
Ambassador Muin, in his remarks, said that music and dance are integral to Philippine culture.
“Music and dance have proven to be effective channels for the expression of Filipino psyche. Our unique culture has served as the catalyst in unifying our diverse archipelago,” Ambassador Muin added.
The successful rendering of the Philippine Cultural Night at Suai Ballroom is a culmination of a six-month preparation conducted by the Philippine Embassy in Dili and the Filipino association. The end result was, as described by many of those in attendance, the best show conducted by Filipinos in Timor Leste so far. END
The gentlemen of the Philippine Embassy in Dili, led by Ambassador Abdulmaid K. Muin (center), showcase the traditional barong tagalog during the opening of the fashion show of Philippine traditional costumes. (Dili PE photo)
Filipino performers dance in modern Filipino songs. (Dili PE photo)
For more information, visit www.dilipe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/Philippine-Embassy-in-Dili-Timor-Leste-397812407262952/