World-renowned Bayanihan Dance Co. to perform at York U event on Feb. 15-17

World-renowned Bayanihan Dance Co. to perform at York U event on Feb. 15-17

Pamela Corales and Leo Lorilla, two core dancers from the Bayanihan: the National Dance Company of the Philippines will perform at the York’s Annual Dance Showcase, “Cardinal Points,” on February 15-17, 7:30pm, at the Sandra Faire and Ivan Theatre (for link to the event, see: https://events.yorku.ca/events/york-dance-ensemble-cardinalpoints/).

Anchored in the theme of global collaboration, “Cardinal Points” is directed by Susan Lee and will feature choreographic works from faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students, and the York Dance Ensemble.

Corales and Lorilla will be artists-in-residence in the Department of Dance—an international partnership among other initiatives, that is made possible by the Deed of Donation the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines gave last year to the Philippine Studies Group (PSG) of York University.

Their performance is the highlight of a two-week residency that will include a dance workshop for the Filipino community and York students and attending dance studio and studies courses at York. It is a marquee event for the series of lectures, film screenings, visits of scholars, artists, and journalists from the Philippines the PSG at York has curated for this year.

Since its founding in 1956, the Bayanihan has served as the Philippines’ cultural ambassador, having performed at innumerable government functions, diplomatic events, national celebrations, and dance festivals. To date, it has represented the Philippines across six continents, in more than 700 cities worldwide, and at prestigious venues such as Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

Starting in the early 2000s, the Bayanihan, a Tagalog word that means “working together for the common good”, ventured into joining world dance competitions. It has since won 14 grand prizes, the latest of which is another gold at the 2022 Cheonan World Dance Festival in South Korea, where Corales and Lorilla performed  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaMcaY6vuqQ).

Both Corales and Lorilla are faculty members of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) in Manila where the Bayanihan started.

This month, the PWU and York University, through the efforts of Patrick Alcedo, Professor in and Chair of the Department of Dance and a member of the PSG at York, have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The residency of Corales and Lorilla is a fulfillment of the MOA’s faculty exchange agreement and of the core mission of people-to-people relations in the donation the PSG at York has received.

During “Cardinal Points,” Corales and Lorilla will perform Paseo de Iloilo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLtt-H_jHSE), a courtship dance where a man impresses a woman through his dancing skills performed with great elan. The woman responds undaunted, partnering the male dancer with grace and equal confidence. This dance originated in Iloilo, an urban centre on the island of Panay in the central Philippines, during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines.

Hailing from Iloilo, the late Lucrecia Reyes Urtula, National Artist of the Philippines in Dance, choreographed this beautiful dance that Filipinos have made to be their own for the Bayanihan, a company where she served as its choreographer for more than 40 years. Former Philippine Senator and PWU President Helena Benitez was the company’s founder. 

 (PRESS RELEASE)