PH Headlines Cultural Show in Ellis Island New York

Kinding Sindaw Heritage Foundation performs an excerpt from the Meranao epic Derangen - proclaimed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005 – at the Great Hall in Ellis Island, New York on 6 May 2018. (New York PCG photo)

NEW YORK 25 May 2018 — In celebration of Asian-American Heritage Month, the National Park Service, in cooperation with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company presented the Ellis Island Asian American Heritage Festival at the Great Hall of Immigration at Ellis Island on 6 May.

Filipino cultural group Kinding Sindaw Heritage Foundation headlined the show, with a 15-minute dance interpretation of an excerpt from the Meranao epic Derangen. Derangen was proclaimed by the UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2005. Darangen encodes customary law, standards of social and ethical behavior, notions of aesthetic beauty, and social values specific to the Meranao people of Mindanao Southern Philippines. This epic dates back to the 4th to 10th century.

Five other groups from China, Vietnam, India and Hawaii performed their traditional and indigenous dances and music.

Vice Consul Khrystina Corpuz Popov and Cultural Officer Olivia Osias-Magpile coordinated with the National Park Service on the Philippines’ inclusion in the program, and represented the Philippine Consulate General of New York at the event. END

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