'Death' rules in Philippine festival to honor Child Jesus

Dance troupe choose an unorthodox, yet possibly political theme to the 'Sinulog' contest for Cebu's Santo Nino festivities.

Manila:  Dancers from the city of Talisay in the central Philippine province of Cebu took a risk when they decided to have death as the theme for their dance in this year's Sinulog festival.

The week of festivities highlighted by dancing and dance contests, honors the Santo Nino or Child Jesus and attracts millions of people from different parts of the country.

The Sinulog is a dance ritual of pagan origin. It dates back to when natives danced to honor their wooden idols.

When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan landed on Cebu on April 7, 1521, he gifted the island's queen a wooden image of the Santo Nino after she was baptized a Christian.

The queen supposedly danced with joy while holding the image, with her subjects following her dance steps.

Local lore says it was the queen's dancing of the Sinulog that turned a pagan ritual into what it is today, a dance to honor the Child Jesus.

From then on, the Sinulog evolved from being a simple prayer to honor the Lord to today's grand festival that culminates on the feast of Santo Nino every third Sunday of January.

During the festivities Sinulog-inspired parades and presentations are held all over the province in preparation for the grand competition during the feast day itself.

For the past two year's the city of Talisay has won the "provincial showdown," giving the city the chance to compete with other dance groups from across the country.

The dance presentations always tell a story, mostly starting with a village hit by a disaster with slow music playing in the background.

As the beat gets faster the dancers leap in a frenzy as the "queen" makes her entrance with the image of the Child Jesus.

The city of Talisay’s dance presentation this year, however, was something different.

It started with a prayer for the "eternal rest" of souls in purgatory. When the lights came on, dancers wearing mourning clothes came out behind a widow and her children all dressed in black.

A coffin was then raised with wreaths painted with "In Loving Memory" on it.

Flipping the purple layers of the dancers' costumes turned them into ash-covered images standing in front of tombs, supposedly depicting souls in purgatory.

"Sinulog is a form of prayer, thus it is also a prayer for the souls of our dearly departed," explained Edgar Mabunay who helped who conceptualize the presentation.

When the "queen" came out with the image of the Child Jesus, the backdrop changed with the "souls' paying homage and finding refuge in the Holy Child.

It might be a coincidence, but the city of Talisay is one of the cities in the Philippines affected by the government's total war against illegal drugs.

In 2018, at least 33 suspected drug users and pushers were killed in the city.

Speaking before a gathering of town mayors in August, President Rodrigo Duterte warned people in Talisay that "they will all slowly fall."

Last year, Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu issued an Oratio Imperata, or Mandatory Prayer, to end killings in Cebu.

Those behind Talisay's dance interpretation, however, said it was not inspired by the drug-related killings.

They said it was meant to pay tribute to an assistant choreographer and mark his first death anniversary.

For their non-traditional interpretation of the Sinulog the Talisay City contingent, composed of 100 dancers, 50 musicians, and 800 props men, took home the US$6,700 cash prize.

Prior to the competition, Rodel Fronda, head of the board of judges, said they were looking forward to seeing the "ritual veneration" in the performances.

"It’s a dance offer for Senor Santo Nino, so we look forward to that," he said.

Source: UCAN