Bayanihan's grand finale

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

Bayanihan, the National Folk Dance Company of the Philippines, has been a springboard for performing careers and politicians. Its return puts a few familiar faces back in the spotlight and features its signature "Singkil," the fabled Muslim dance of bamboos.

Its return also is a source of pride for Hawai'i's Filipino community and a connection to tribal folklore that takes its name from the ancient Filipino tradition of Bayanihan, which signifies working together for the common good.

Bayanihan was the first Filipino group to perform on Broadway, the first foreign dance company to take to the stage at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and the first Philippine cultural group to perform in Russia, China and South America.

The group's history spans 44 years of worldwide performances and touches on politics that strike a chord in Hawai'i. The Bayanihan dance troupe thrived even as Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship fell and the Marcoses fled here.

"It wasn't a creation of martial law or the Marcoses. It preceded that," Belinda Aquino, director of the Center for Philippine Studies at the University of Hawai'i, said of the dance troupe that was formed in 1957.

But it was during the Marcos regime that the dance company thrived and became a cultural ambassador for the Philippines to the rest of the world.

"It's a country where dance and music are very important," Aquino said. "And this is the premier dance company."

•

Performance • Bayanihan, the National Folk Dance Company of the Philippines, will return to Hawai'i with a performance at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Blaisdell Concert Hall. • The Pamana Dancers and Pamana Foundation of Hawai'i will present the show here, in conjunction with the Philippine Consulate and the Hawai'i Community Foundation. Proceeds will benefit scholarships for the University of Hawai'i and the Center for Philippine Studies. • Tickets: $40, $30; on sale at the box office • Information: 591-2211

During her 20 years as first lady of the Philippines, the arts became one of Imelda Marcos' pet projects, and she dedicated the dance troupe's home, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, in 1969. The cultural center remains Bayanihan's base, but its members have lived on stage for almost half a century.

Founder Helena Benitez went on to become a Philippine senator, university president and United Nations delegate.

Hana Gomez-Trinidad, the youngest member of the troupe to perform at the Brussels World's Fair in 1958, settled in Hawai'i and founded the state's own Pamana Dancers.

Dancer Lito Atienza lived on O'ahu in the 1960s, where he danced with the local Pearl of the Orient company before going home to Manila and becoming its mayor.

Dancer Suzie Moya-Benitez, who was part of the group's 1973 Hawai'i tour, is back as executive director.

While the performers have changed, the spirit is the same.

"They will be treated like royalty," said Don Alverez, president of the local Filipino group Cagayan Valley Association of Hawai'i.

Alverez, who has led other Hawai'i Filipino clubs through the years, said the cultural values the dance troupe symbolizes are important to pass along to the next generation, and he encourages kids to watch the performance.

Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.