By: Alma B. Sinumlag
www.nordis.net
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet - As a tribute to their elders, students of the School of Living Traditions (SLT) on Performing Arts in Lower Wangal of this town held their graduation ceremony during the Senior Citizen's Christmas Party on December 27, 2011.
The said SLT which is the first for this town had just finished its third level, (Phase 2) with 31 students that mastered most of the Ibaloi dances and music. In the presence of the elders who they considered as 'living traditions', they presented an Ibaloi song that they composed and the ba'diw, Ibaloi dances that includes Tayaw, Takik, Bendian and Singin.
The students danced with pride and mastery. Most of them however were nervous because of fear that they are performing the said dances in a wrong way and the elders would scold them.
Project Coordinator Maria Seraida Caga then told the elders after the performances that they are open to any comments and suggestions so that the original steps of the dances which will be passed on to the next generations will not be distorted.
She added that the students of the SLT will be the cultural masters in the future that is why they should be learning it the way it is correctly performed.
She admitted that in the preparatory phase of the SLT, they added Kalinga musical instruments specifically the Tambi and Tongatong in their lessons. Although they are teaching Ibaloi performing arts, she said, it is not bad to teach some of the good musical instruments in the region specially if it adds beauty in the song performances when it is accompanied.
In the Teodora Esteban’s response, the representative of the elders, expressed her happiness that children now have a venue to revive the cultural practices of the Ibaloi specially the dances and the songs.
They are hopeful that the cultural practices will not vanish. She was also glad at some innovations in the dances and music however, she stressed that the original way of performing the dances should be pursued. The elders, she said, will be helping the teachers and the students to learn more of these practices.
Municipal Administrator Charles Canuto who spoke in behalf of La Trinidad Mayor Greg Abalos said that it was nice to have the SLT graduation with the elders there to critique and add up to the performances.
He appreciated the said program of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) because he witnessed how it boosted the confidence of the children in the practice of their traditions.
However, he said apart from the performances, other traditional and good practices of the Ibaloi should also be inculcated among the students.
Moreover, Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan said that the students are very lucky to have availed of the SLT. A lot of barangays of this town, he said, are envious of Wangal for having been granted the project. A lot of young people today, he added, are ashamed to perform any of their traditions specially in the town centers because its either they do not know how to do it or they are not proud to perform it. It is then heartwarming, he further said, to see children with pride and mastery in performing the dances. He mentioned that since the project started, the provincial government down to the barangay unit had full support.
Caga and Cony Dangpa–Subagan, the project consultant, expressed their gratitude to the all the people who had helped in the project’s success namely the provincial government for the musical instruments, the municipal government for the devit (girls’ ethnic attire), the barangay council for never ending support, parents for allowing their children to attend the SLT among others.
Wangal SLT beginnings
According to Subagan, the project started when they discovered a young church choir of the barangay singing Ibaloi songs. They then wrote a proposal with an objective to form a cultural group from the choir that will represent the said barangay. However, when the proposal was approved by the NCCA, there was a suggestion that the students should not only come from the church choir but from the community as a whole. They then decided that the proponent will be the Wangal Elementary School thus, most of the students came from the school.
Subagan added that they formed a committee composed of the proponent, the Barangay Council as partner, cultural master Felix Taynan and the coordinator. In the preparatory phase 2009, there were only 15 students who were chosen by the committee that prioritized children belonging to the Ibaloi tribe.
Their lessons focused on musical instruments mainly bamboo and basic orientation on Cordillera culture. Subagan recounted that the students were instructed to interview elders who are knowledgeable of Ibaloi traditions.
Moreover, in its Phase I in 2010, instead of 30 students they accomodated 40 because a lot of children were interested to join. They added Solibao, gongs (pinsak and kalsa), and tiktik to the musical instruments and started teaching dances like Tayaw-Sarong.
In Phase II Subagan said, the number of students declined to 31. One of the highlights of this phase, she said, is the teaching of Ba’diw. It was harder than teaching the dances and instruments.
The students did not only represented the barangay but the municipality and the province as a whole when they took part of the Dayaw Festival held in Tagum City in Davao last October among more than a hundred tribes nationwide.
The question of continuity
Subagan clarified to the community that Phase II will be the last that NCCA will grant. According to her, in their talks with the commission’s representative, the students are already good with their craft therefore, they will no longer extend grants to give chance to other SLTs. However, the objective of the project, she said, was to form a cultural group that represents the barangay in any ocassions. The continuity is now a challenge to the proponent and partners, she added.
She said, even without the fund from the commission, Lower Wangal Cultural Group will maintain the group. With the support of the community and the local government unit, she optimistically said that they will be institutionalizing their existence by forming an organization in order to continue passing on the songs and dances to the youth. #
No comments:
Post a Comment