The Legacy Continues
When Helen Pastor-Moreno received the Artists in Residence in the Community grant from the California Arts Council (CAC), she chose to use the grant to develop a curriculum & classroom presentation of Filipino folkdance which she offered the 2nd generation Filipino-American and taught them for free at various community centers in the South Bay. Moreno called the program the California Arts Council Dance Classes.(CACDC).
Fast forward to 2003..today Rachel, John, Allyza, Trish, Rachel, Michelle, Angela, Anna, Eugene, Angeline & Michael all graduated from the CACDC have become full-fledged members of the dance company that sponsors the classes, the Kaisahan of SJDC. Hundred other children have gone through the same program and have come under the tutelage of Helen Pastor-Moreno herself, who is the founder, artistic director & choreographer of Kaisahan. And the program that started as a community outreach project for Moreno & her dance company has gone far and wide.
The dance classes have allowed 2nd generation Filipino-American children, not only the chance to learn Filipino dances but also offered them immersion lessons about Philippine history, geography & sociology, including studies about the ancestral roots reached otherwise would have not been possible. The children can distinguish a Negrito from an Igorot from a Muslim by way of costume & dances. They enjoy an edge over the parents most of whom are Philippine born. All of the CACDC students can bet that they can dance the “Tinikling” better than their dads & moms and even better than their “Lolos & Lolas”. Above all they are proud that they are given a chance to celebrate their heritage & culture. Most of the children did not even have the chance to visit the land of their ancestors. But here they are paving the way for the continuation of Philippine heritage & culture from one generation to another, making sure the legacy continues.
In 2000 the CACDC was cited when Kaisahan was awarded the prestigious “National Endowment for the Arts” the culture and heritage preservation grant from (NEA) the nation’s highest & most distinguished body in the arts. To date, Kaisahan is the first and the only Philippine dance company to be so honored in that category. In 2002, CAC awarded the Next Generation Grant to 5 Kaisahan dancers and recognized them as master-students that allowed them to teach the CACDC, relieving Helen Moreno of the task of teaching. Rachel Moreno, Eugene Vigo, Rumar Arzadon, Voltaire Villegas & Angeline Navarro are our 5 master-students. This year the CAC was abolished due to economic reasons but the program it had funded since 1998 continues to make big news. And with excellent results.
In October 2000 the CACDC was featured during Kaisahan 2003 PAS show presentation at the Montgomery Theater in downtown San Jose entitled “Samo’t Sari” (Potpourri). The show marked Kaisahan 21st Anniversary presentation & 8th offering to PAS. As many as the 7,000 islands that comprise of the Philippine archipelago, as varied as the countries that have conquered it; as colorful as the history of the land & its people “Samo’t Sari” was an attempt to showcase in a song & dance repertoire; all the various influences & elements that make Filipino arts & culture rich and awesome.
Once again Kaisahan dazzled its audience with newly researched dances, original authentic, its collection of new wardrobes & costumes, elaborate, ornate, intricate, colorful and of course its new breed of dances. Except for 3 dancers who are considered founding members, all other dancers are graduates of Kaisahan’s CACDC program. Old or new, the dancers go through the same discipline which Moreno exacts from her wards. It is a process which one parent describes like ceramics or potter making where Moreno puts her students in a mold and kneads them into perfection – the kind that makes us proud to be Filipinos, the kind that makes Kaisahan the only group in the series to have multiple box-office performances.
Samo’t Sari also featured guest singer “Yoly Tolentino” who was voted best female performer of the 2003 Bay Area Cabaret competition and A.N.L. Brothers. Live accompaniment by the world famous Haranistas de Manila, Kaisahan’s partner in the art for the past 8 years.
The show also featured 2 sets of special presentations honoring outstanding personalities who have gone the extra mile to help Kaisahan become the premier dance company in the Bay Area. The Friday show honored former Milpitas Mayor Henry Manayan & San Jose’s Community Arts Leader Joe Rodriguez. Both acknowledge as Kaisahan’s benefactors. Saturday’s show saw the awarding of plaques of appreciations of 4 lifetime Kaisahan members whose loyalty & dedication know no measure –Ray Moreno, Daniel Tiburcio, Marvin Sabado & Marissa Hughes. They are Kaisahan champs, genuine & priceless, not fake or faux.