Standing proud as Filipinos Kaisahan of San Jose Dance Company, Inc. captures our culture through danceWednesday, 24 June 2009 23:34 Malou Liwanag-Aguilar / AJPress San Franciosco
ALMOST 27 years ago, a group of second-generation Filipino students joined together around a common goal—to learn their culture. Looking for a role model and teacher, their paths crossed with Helen Pastor-Moreno, who was then a young teacher from the Philippines searching for students who shared her passion for the Filipino culture and the desire to promote and preserve these through dance. Imbued with a deep sense of nationalism and a passion for her art Helen brought these gifts and values to the Filipino community of San Jose. She took in the young students and founded Kaisahan—or in Filipino, oneness or unity. Since then, the group continues to promote and preserve Filipino art and culture through the development, perfomance and presentation of traditional and authentic Filipino dances.
A kaleidoscope of history, evolution and recognition
Ranging from pre-Spanish to modern times, Kaisahan’s dance repertoire is a kaleidoscope of history and evolution of the Filipino. A vibrant mix of artistic influences choreographed in an authentic way, Kaisahan’s performances symbolize the dreams and aspirations, rights and rituals, the struggles and victories of a nation.
Kaisahan first gained city recognition when it was discovered by Mr. Joe Rodriguez, Community Arts Development Officer of the City of San Jose, and then became part of the Muticultural Arts Incubation Program (MAIP), the first pilot art program of its kind. Kaisahan under the MAIP went through an intensive three-year organizational development program that included technical assistance, grants, workshops and direct consulting on board development, administration and fundraising.
MAIP also in turn, allowed Kaisahan to participate in the Performing Arts Series (PAS), bringing in the best talents from San Jose’s ethnic communities to the stage of the Montgomery Theater and providing them with expertise and technical help to be artistically and financially successful. With PAS, Kaisahan has become known in the arts scene in San Jose because of the artistic quality of its productions and its track record of multiple sold out performances—the only group to achieve such distinction.
But Kaisahan’s greatest achievement remains as being a two-time winner of the National Endowment for the Arts, a recognition given for the organization’s endeavor towards the creation and presentation of excellent artistic work, the preservation of our nation’s cultural heritage and its effort to address the concern of the Filipino community for the arts, specifically in support of its popular dance dance classes which started in 1998.
Kaisahan is celebrating its 27th year with a series of dance presentations, mostly incorporated into its Negrito and Magdaragat suites, all of which are original masterpieces. Four separate shows are in place—first, a fundraising headline performance at the Our Lady Queen of the World Church at Baypointe on July 11, then at the Casa Sandoval in Hayward on July 18 as part of their Diversity Day, the third is at the annual reunion of the International School Manila to be held at the Holiday Inn in San Jose, and lastly, to mark their 27th year, a student recital will be held at the Joyce-Ellington Library on August 22.
All performances are part of a research collaboration of Kaisahan’s Artistic Director Helen Pastor-Moreno and her brother Franco Espiritu Pastor, a dance researcher. Brother and sister are both students of the national artist Francisca Reyes Aquino at the National College of Physical Education and University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines.
The organization has been recognized and supported by grants and donations from the City of San Jose Office of Cultural Affairs, Arts Council Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Foundation, California Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, local businesses, civic and professional organizations and giving individuals.
Recently, Kaisahan was weaned from the City of San Jose Neighborhood Arts Program due to budget cuts. The organization however continues to receive funding in the form of grants for the continuation of Kaisahan’s free dance classes at local libraries like Joyce Ellington, Rose Garden, Biblioteca-Americana and at the Hoover Community Center.
Free dance classes are held every Fridays and Saturdays in different locations. For more information about Kaisahan’s free dance classes, spot shows and forthcoming performances, you may contact their office at (408) 298-3787 or (408) 365-0293.
*Special thanks to Kaisahan’s Artistic Director Helen Pastor-Moreno for her assistance.
