CEBU CITY, Philippines—Pope Francis may not be able to attend the Sinulog festivities when he visits the Philippines next month, but he will see the famous dance with which the faithful venerate the Holy Child Jesus.
A renowned dance troupe in Cebu City has been tapped to perform the Sinulog during the Mass that Pope Francis will celebrate in Luneta on Jan. 18.
Sandiego Dance Company plans to showcase the Filipinos’ strong family tiesduring its performance for the Pope.
Pope Francis. AP FILE PHOTO
“The dance will have one message—the family. We want to show the Pope that the Filipinos have close family ties,” said Val Sandiego, choreographer and owner of the dance company.
To show that Filipino family ties are strong, Sandiego, his wife Ofelia, and their children Angelica Luz, 26, Andrea Lauren, 25, Andre Lester, 19, and Anna Louisa, 18, will dance for the Pope.
“I’m so happy my whole family will dance. My whole family will be complete. We will represent Cebu,” he told the Inquirer in an interview on Thursday.
Second time
This will be the second time for the dance company to dance the Sinulog for a Pope.
On Feb. 19, 1981, the troupe also performed at the old Lahug airport for St. John Paul II during his visit to Cebu City.
At that time, the dance company was headed by Sandiego’s mother, Luz Mancao Sandiego, who founded the group in 1947 in her hometown of Carcar.
Former dancers who now live in other countries like Australia, Hong Kong and the United States will join the Sandiegos in their performance for the Pope.
“They have planned ahead of time to come [home] for the Sinulog [in] 2015. This will be like a reunion, too,” Sandiego said.
He said the group was told two months ago that it would be invited to perform during the papal visit. But it was only on Wednesday that Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma announced that the Sandiego Dance Company would perform for the Pope.
Palma told reporters that if the Pope could not come to Cebu as the people of the province were celebrating the Sinulog festival, the Archdiocese of Cebu would bring the celebration to him.
Held every third Sunday of January, Sinulog is one of the biggest festivals in the Philippines in honor of the Child Jesus. Next year, the Sinulog festivities would kick off on Jan. 9 and would end on Jan. 18, coinciding with Pope Francis’ visit to the country.
Leading Sinulog
The Sandiego Dance Company usually opens the Sinulog grand parade where different dancing groups, floats, higantes, among other participants, parade around the city. The parade ends the nine-day festivities.
Since they had to fly to Manila on Jan. 18, the Sandiego dancers would have to skip the Sinulog grand parade.
Instead, they would perform during the reenactment of the First Mass at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño on Jan. 17 before flying to Manila for their performance for Pope Francis.
Sandiego said he requested the archdiocese to bring a small replica of the Sto. Niño to offer to the Pontiff.
He said the archdiocese would spend for the airfare of the group to and from Manila. But the dancers will spend for their costumes.
“We don’t ask for payment. This is our prayer dance,” he said.
The group will start rehearsing next week, as the members are still busy complying with the requirements for accreditation and passes.
Sandiego said, however, that the dance would not be difficult because it would be the basic Sinulog steps—one step forward and two steps backward.
“Planning stage is quite difficult. You have to give the best of Cebu. It will have worldwide media coverage. You have to give the best of the Philippines,” he said.
Spanish influence
Since the dance would touch on the Spanish influence on Cebu, Sandiego said, the dancers’ costumes would be designed like Spanish soldiers’ uniforms for the men and maria clara for the women.
“What people will see is the Philippines as the seat of Christianity in the Far East. You have to design the costumes, make the choreography and the dance steps something that really reflect the Filipino people’s culture and identity,” Sandiego said.–With a report from Carine Asutilla, Inquirer Visayas