Friday, March 29, 2024

SU dance troupe concert ‘Musika Mo, Sayaw Ko’ reflects on OPM

 by Ranjie Nocete | March 1, 2022

The Silliman University Dance Troupe premiered “Musika Mo, Sayaw Ko”, an online dance concert to strengthen the appreciation for Original Pilipino Music (OPM), and dance movements. 

To join the celebration of this year’s National Arts Month, Angelo Sayson, artistic director of the dance troupe, said that the set of performances is composed of ‘creative interpretations’ of some select OPM.

Sayson said, “We wish to strengthen the appreciation for OPM and movements in this concert.”

Meanwhile, troupe member Fionbelle Cabe added, “This dance concert is basically a narrative of how we feel, how we think, and how we celebrate life, music, culture, and the arts.”

Cabe, who is also a Cultural Center of the Philippines dance scholar, said that Sillimanians and audiences should feel and understand the emotions and interpretations in the dance so they would feel “a sense of belongingness because after all, it is their stories that we tell.”

She added that the dance concert plays a big part in the troupe’s growth as artists. “In this [dance] concert, we reveal parts of ourselves that we are insecure about, some things that we are afraid to say, and interpretations that we have longed to share.“

Despite the pandemic, she said that the Culture and Arts Council of Silliman University gave them an opportunity to continue their ‘passion for dancing.’

The team started with online rehearsals as the members slowly returned to the Negros island, and had rehearsals every weekend for six months with most of the members who haven’t performed in a year.

Cabe said that it is more than a promotion of artistic expression, “It is the appreciation and continuation of Filipino artistic creations. We pay tribute or commemorate artists and their contributions to our nation, we learn, create, and compete in various art fields in order to integrate arts in the classroom and the community.”

The dance concert premiered on the official website of the Silliman University Culture and Arts Council (sillimancac.com). 

The celebration of NAM was led by the National Commission for Culture and Arts with the theme “Sining ng Pag-asa” that aims to recognize arts as a source and expression of hope as shown in the creative ways people respond to the effects of the pandemic, natural calamities, and other social realities, as well as the arts’ role in improving the Filipinos’ community life.

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