Digital Bayanihan

The Bayanihan Folk Arts Foundation is reaching out to a techno-savvy generation.

"We’ve put in high-tech sounds and laser lights to attract the student market," said Bayanihan executive director Suzie Benitez. "So far, it’s working. During a performance of Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Co. at St. Scholastica’s College, the auditorium was full and the word went around that it was a performance that everybody should watch."

Using digital technology to enhance a very Filipino and conservative performing arts medium and to widen its market base is a big gamble. Bayanihan Foundation is taking another large step in this direction with the formal launch this month of its first video cassette disk. A tie-up between the Foundation and Ivory Records, the VCD is an instructional series on 20 works of the dance company.

Proceeds will go the upkeep of the Bayanihan Foundation, which maintains the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Co. Other revenue sources are donations, sponsorships, and ticket sales from live performances of the dance company.

The VCD had a soft launch in New York last June 10. "They’re selling like hotcakes and are always out of stock," said Benitez, who plans to market the VCD in other cities of the United States with huge Filipino communities.

The Foundation is also eyeing the European market, both for its VCD and for the live performances of the dance company. Aside from the captive market of overseas Filipino workers, Bayanihan intends to ride on the increased interest in folk dancing from all parts of the work.

"During the 47th International Folklore Festival in Sicily, Italy, last February, where we won the Golden Temple Award and the Absolute Gold Award for overall excellence in dance, music, costume and production, the children who watched the performances knew the names of the dances. Much of their knowledge came from the Internet," she said.

Repertoire

Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Co . is known for its Cordillera, Spanish and Mindanao dance sequences. It intends to introduce more tribal and rural country dances into its repertoire.

"We just don’t make a dance number. We do quality research. We go to the tribes themselves and learn their dances. There is a story in every dance and we carry that into our dance numbers," said Benitez.

Government has recognized Bayanihan’s efforts to give Filipinos pride in their cultural heritage. The 10th Congress enacted R.A. 8626 declared the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Co. as the Philippine National Folk Dance Co. Subsequently, Proclamation No. 138 declared May 27 of every year as National Day to commemorate and propagate the bayanihan spirit as a unique way of working together as a people.

"We dream of having our own home, a place where people can go and watch and appreciate our own dances. Hopefully, Filipinos can make watching a Bayanihan performance part of their lifestyle similar to those in Europe where theaters are packed every weekend," said Benitez.

It’s a dream the country’s premier national dance company intends to make a reality.