Sunday, June 20, 2010

DALAGANG FILIPINA

I love watching dance presentations because I do dance simple routines as well. When I watched the two videos of Dalagang Filipina at YouTube, I was really amazed. I admire how they danced gracefully which jibe with the music at the same time. I can see and feel their emotions even though the videos were poor in quality because I can sense it through the steps they executed.  How I wish I was there to be able to watch them dance live!

The first video which was entitled Dalagang Filipina QCB was a pure ballet performance. All of the dancers were females. At the beginning of the video, there were three ballerinas focused by a spotlight. I believe that these ballerinas were symbolizing the three main islands of the Philippines namely: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.  They danced according to the culture of the island they were representing. But one thing in common among them was that their dance really showed the qualities of a typical dalagang Filipina before - conservative, lady-like and feminine. The music they used was mellow and instrumental that's why it was pleasing to hear. Their movements as well were light and refined thus it was relaxing to watch. The emotions which they wanted to convey were very visible as well.

The second video was entitled Dalagang Filipina STEPS. The second group showed variation with their dance. They did not only focus with ballet instead they incorporated jazz. They also performed different stunts with the help of the male ballet dancers. These stunts gave an exciting feeling to their performance. The music they used was also instrumental and it was pleasing to the ears. Two sides of dalagang filipina were shown in their dance. First was the typical filipina and second was the modern one. The modernized dalagang filipina wore a western inspired red costume and danced in an aggressive manner. The typical dalagang filipina wore the usual conservative clothing. Stronger emotions were shown with the help of the male dancers.

From the two dance presentations, the second one (Dalagang Filipina Steps) captured my heart more.  From a simple beginning, it gradually catches attention until the end while the first video (Dalagang Filipina QCB) started simple and i find it somehow boring until the end. I think it was because QCB focused too much on ballet which was okay but STEPS added twists in their dance by executing dances other than ballet which for me, was better. In my opinion, the part wherein there was a red lady dancing in heels was a plus point for the second presentation. I experienced dancing wearing one and a half inch high heels and it was not that easy. I also believe that males dancing ballet are very interesting and unique. That is one thing I saw in STEPS which I really liked compared to QCB (all of the dancers are females).  The “liftings” and exhibitions in STEPS also excite me. But both dance routines inspire me to pursue my passion in dancing and I hope that someday I will be able to move and groove gracefully like them too!




These pictures were taken during my second summer workshop recital. :) The  Dalagang Filipina videos made me reminisce about the whole experience I had before...I miss them so much!!








>ma. Hanna joy. c. Micu<

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