Bounty and unity

This year’s 20th Dinagat Festival of Cordova, Cebu is another proof of unity at its best—strong community involvement, government support and solid cultural base. The barangay leaders, choreographers, and dancers braced both the heat during the parade and cold of the night as the contest ended past midnight.

This year’s artistic expression has gone so far from its humble beginnings. Such level of excellence is what the Cordovanhons can be proud of to showcase worldwide. And so for this year, Mayor Teche Sitoy-Cho has arranged for a performance in Korea for a selection of great dancers from the 13 barangays, as the town would receive recognition for its promotion of tourism and culture.

In her welcome speech, the good mayor likened the five-kilo weight of her gown to the problems she carries in her town but she continues to face like dancing with poise and grace. She led the production dance number manifesting purity and tranquility, such essence of the festival as depicted by the eel’s gliding moves, and offering of thanks to patron saint San Roque.

It is worth noting that the festival started as a reflection of the simple living of this coastal town. It draws inspiration from the bountiful marine resources, something that the local folks can very much relate with and appreciate for. Nature indeed provides the wonderful elements driving people to be inspired, and be moved.

In many cases in our bustling lives, we seem to underestimate some of the significant things for granted. It is by all accounts that increasingly more every day, the association among us and our planet earth floats further and further apart. Not exclusively does the earth give us all that we have to endure, similar to the air to inhale and material to manufacture our shelters, yet it likewise furnishes us with motivation for artistic expression.

The motivation for dance making originates from numerous sources. The characteristic world gives various prompts that push us into improvisations and creative dance compositions. Such motivations can prompt move "tone ballads" of the sort as Debussy's and Ravel's melodic motivations caught in sounds the substance of the subjects they were enlivened to depict. Why not likewise depict the pith of a characteristic subject in motion and in dance?

When numerous researchers are battling with how best to speak with the general population, it is reviving to see the issue drew nearer from the heart. Building up the mind-heart partnership consolidates our best decision-making assets and enables us to clear a space where we can see our choices with greater clearness and heart discernment.

A tree’s beckoning sway and the trickling motion of a stream can inspire our body’s capacity to move. These entities are also sentient presences ready to share a relationship with us. The natural world offers a level of generosity and replenishment that most of us forget is possible in our overstretched lives.

Nature is so powerful, so strong. Capturing its essence is not easy - your work becomes a dance with light and the weather. It takes you to a place within yourself.

After all, life is like dancing. Just like in a festival, if we have a big floor, many people will dance. Some will get angry when the rhythm changes. But life is changing all the time. Making the most out of life as if living like we'll die tomorrow, working like we don't need the money, and dance like nobody's watching.

Dinagat Festival is an inspiring story of the Cordovanhons expressed with jubilation. Mabuhi ug padayun sa pagkayab, Cordovanhons!