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Showing posts from September, 2016

Maglasig-lasig kitabi! (Pesta lgal 2016): Celebrating Sama-Bajau Music and Dance

The Pesta lgal concert series returns to the GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium stage, University of the Philippines Diliman on 22 October 2016. This year’s theme is Maglasig—lasig kitabi! (Let us all celebrate together!). The concert enjoins audiences to partake of the rich performance traditions of the Sama-Bajau people of the Southern Philippines. This rare festival-concert features igal and pansak dance pieces and kulintangan ensemble music pieces from four Sama-Bajau performing groups from Semporna, Malaysia; Bongao, Tawi-Tawi; Apalit, Pampanga; and, San Andres, Manila. lgal and pansak are two dance labels used by Sama-Bajau groups to refer to their traditional dances. These dance forms are characterized by fluid and graceful arm movements that evoke the swaying of palm fronds, the drifting of see grasses, and the curling of the waters of the ebbing and flowing tides reflecting the marine environment of its birth place. The kulintangan ensemble (aka tagunggo‘an ensemble) is compose