Filipinos in Brunei Learn Lapay Bantigue, Other PH Folk Dances

The Aquinas University of Legazpi Dance Troupe performing the Lapay Bantigue

22 August 2017 BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN – The Philippine Embassy in Brunei Darussalam, in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), held a Gender and Development (GAD) Workshop on Philippine Folk Dance Fundamental Steps and “Lapay Bantigue” at the Philippine Chancery on August 11.

The workshop was conducted by Ms. Marie Veronique Berdin, Acting Director, Center for Sports, Wellness, Culture and the Arts, Aquinas University of Legazpi, and members of the Aquinas University of Legazpi (AUL) Dance Troupe. It was attended by around two hundred (200) participants, mostly female teachers and students of the Universiti of Brunei Darussalam (UBD) and Seri Mulia Sarjana International School (SMIS). Dancers of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and some members of the Filipino Community organizations also participated in the said workshop. 

During the workshop, Ms. Berdin gave a brief history of Philippine traditional dances, their forms and steps.  Together with the AUL Dance Troupe, she then demonstrated the basic steps of the Lapay Bantigue, a cultural dance of Masbate mimicking the movements of the native seagull called “lapay.”

The AUL Dance Troupe represented the Embassy during the ASEAN Cultural Presentations of the ASEAN@50 Celebrations organized by Brunei’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MoFAT) at the International Convention Center from August 12 to 13.

For more information, visit www.bruneipe.dfa.gov.ph/ www.philippine-embassybrunei.org. END

Top left photo: Ms. Veronica Berdin, Acting Director, Center for Sports, Wellness and the Arts of the Aquinas University of Legazpi, and the AUL Dance Troupe demonstrate the basic steps of a Cordillera traditional dance. Top right photo: Participants learn the basic steps of Lapay Bantigue, a traditional dance mimicking the movement of a native seagull called “lapay” found in the village of Bantigue, Masbate, Philippines. Bottom left photo: Ambassador Montealegre welcoming the participants to the Workshop on Philippine Folk Dance Fundamental Steps and Lapay Bantigue. Bottom right photo: Workshop participants with the members of the Aquinas University of Legazpi Dance Troupe