BAYANIHAN
Couples try to outdo each other in bang-ko,
performed on a pyramid of benches.

Bayanihan maintains link
back to the Philippines

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By Nadine Kam
nkam@starbulletin.com

Of all the dances of the Philippines, the Maranao bamboo dance is the most familiar, but audiences will see much more when Bayanihan, the Philippine National Folk Dance Company, returns to Hawaii for a concert tomorrow as part of the company's 50th international tour.

Considering the Philippines occupies a vast area spanning 1,700 islands, the country's dances bear the imprint of indigenous tribes, Spanish and Islamic cultures, all of which Bayanihan aims to preserve.

As much as is known about Northern Luzon's "kayasig," a war dance demonstrating the Ipugao warrior's agility in using a shield; the "kuntao" of the Maranao nation, in which a sultan displays his martial-arts skill to his son; or the Flor de Manila, a courtship dance involving three players, there seems to be no limit to the islands' diversity, as Hana Trinidad has found in her 43-year association with the company.

She started dancing with Bayanihan as an adolescent and now is the dance director of her own Honolulu-based company, Pamana Dancers. She returns to the Philippines about every other year to learn the indigenous dances and pass on that knowledge to the next generation of Filipinos, some of whom have never set foot in the mother country.

"If I can impart some knowledge to them, well, at least that's something," she said. "There are always people who need encouragement because here we are surrounded by many ethnic groups. There are a lot of choices for young people, and of course hula is more popular. But once they understand and get into folk dancing, they stay interested.

"Bayanihan has done so much for the country as ambassadors of good will wherever they travel."

Trinidad was in the first group of school volunteers organized by Helena Z. Benitez in 1958 to represent the Philippines at the Brussels World's Fair. There they were discovered by Ed Sullivan, who invited them to perform on his TV show. In its first world tour, the company took first prize in the Theatre de Nations Awards in Paris, beating companies from 23 countries.

Several international tours followed, and in the '70s, Bayanihan was one of the first companies to dance in China.

Unlike Hawaii, where the hula was once on the verge of being lost, Trinidad said she views the connection between the Philippines' past and present as a continuous thread. "It's always been easy for us; part of Filipino culture is our love for dancing, our love for music."

Even the encroachment of other forms, like hip-hop, doesn't faze her. "There will always be something new, but we can separate what is modern. It's the nature of art that it cannot stay still, it has to grow. There will always be something stylized, and there will always be something that is pure, and it is our awareness of both that is good for the arts."

Bayanihan Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow Tickets: $40 for orchestra, $30 for balcony; $5 discounts for children and seniors Call: 591-2211

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