FILMIS-The Netherlands

Salidumay defines the Filipino pride at Embassy Festival in The Hague

By Jacob O. Apostol
The Hague-The Netherlands
September 5, 2017



The Hague-Sept. 2-There are many reasons why people want to dance. Some, they do it for fun; others find it as a way to lose weight. But for FILMIS group, dancing has a deeper purpose.  They love to dance, simply because they want to promote the Filipino culture and the unique history of the Filipino nation.
 
“I am proud to say that FILMIS dancers are committed to promoting our unique culture despite of many obstacles. Most of us are not really dancers, but try to be ones for this purpose, because we know that it’s part of our duty as Filipinos”, Joy shares her thought.

On the sunny day of the 2nd of September 2017, FILMIS dance group showcased a part and parcel of the Filipino history through its dance played with a song called Salidumay, an indigenous folk song associated with Igorot and Kalinga natives of the Cordillera Mountains in the northern part of the Philippines, at the Embassy Festival in Lange Voorhout in The Hague.

The song plays an important role in the lives of young natives in the Cordillera Mountains who fall in love. As part of the tradition, young women express acceptance or rejection of a man’s courting with this song. They sing it with melodies that convey their   real feelings towards the men wooing them. 

The Embassy Festival is one of the biggest yearly events in The Hague. This year, fifty-two embassies in the Netherlands participated in various activities at said event. The festival featured a wide variety of modern and cultural dances and music from different participating countries.

As observed, the FILMIS' dance performance was simple, but the dancers delivered it with passion and meaning. Apparently, you could see the expression of their faces filled with innate emotion of love for what they were doing, while they executed carefully well-choreographed steps on stage during the performance. The simplicity of hands' movement might not have dazzled the audience, but has surely created a profound impression of uniqueness and richness of the Filipino culture. 

Glis, who is one of the active members of the FILMIS dance group and the current FILMIS secretary, said, when asked about their performance,

“I think our dance performance at the Embassy Festival, representing the Philippines, was a success!  And, it was also a great opportunity for us, FILMIS dancers, to show our Filipino pride by dancing a Filipino cultural dance”. 

It was not the first time that FILMIS group performed a cultural folk dance at big event like the Embassy Festival. Last April 22, 2017, the group also represented the Philippines at Southeast Asia Cultural Event in Nijmegen. It showcased the unique Filipino culture by performing two folk dances on stage along with other groups from Southeast Asian countries.  

Surely, some of our kababayans who saw the performance would go home with pride, and would bring with them a thought that defines a precious part of our Filipino heritage that evolved from the past.

See also related article:
·        FILMIS: A Filipino Organization in Action in The Netherlands