Maskara dance highlights Negrense induction

Maskara dance highlights Negrense induction

The new set of officers and directors of the Asociacion Negrense(AN) will be sworn into office by Consul General Alejandro Mosquera on June 17, 2006 at the Larry Taylor Auditorium n Missassauga, Ontario, Canada.

The officers to be inducted are as follows: Richard Flora, President; Nancy Salken, Executive Vice-President; Nelly Ong, Vice-President for Finance; Daniel Cajurao and Edwin Mercurio , Vice-Presidents for Communications; Sam Morales, VP for Policy and Organization; Nisa Aliko, VP for Membership; Nanette Britanico, Secretary; Lucy Villarosa, Asst. Secretary; Mila Cumbalon, Treasurer and Lorie Bajala, Auditor.

Tthe Board of Directors is composed of Shirley Acosta, Carlos Cumbalon, Leo Duarte, Edwin Nene, Edna Pahilanga, and Norditha Ronquillo.

Also to be inducted are the appointed chairpersons and members of various working committees, such as Socials and Fellowship, Membership Information and Education, Ways and Means, Inter-organization Relations, Community Outreach, and Finance and Logistics.

The said event will be highlighted by the Maskara dance session, where every participant will be wearing their respective smiling masks, as they dance with gusto to the tune of Cha-Cha, Tango, Rumba, and other Latin music. The dance session is held to reminisce the world-renown Maskara Festival in Bacolod City, the seat of the provincial government of sugar-rich producing Negros Occidental, also called the “Sugarlandia.”

It can be recalled that the annual Maskara Festival was conceptualized some 27 years ago amidst the crisis that hit the sugar industry, which is the economic backbone of the province of Negros Occidental, and the unwanted sinking of the flagship of the leading shipping lines in the province where hundreds of residents, including scions of elite families, perished. Today, this street dancing and merry making serves as a vivid aide memoire that Negrenses are resilient as they strongly withstand the adversities that beset them every now and then.

The theme of this twin event is “Strengthening Unity Towards Peace and Prosperity”.
The Asociacion Negrense is an organization of the former residents of Negros Occidental, Philippines who moved to Canada for good.

(PRESS RELEASE, DanCajurao)