FilAm artists make Christmas trip home for a cause

By Romina D. Saha
Philippine News

San Jose, Calif. – 'Tis indeed the season of giving and several Filipino American performing artists will be doing their share by delivering Christmas presents to the poor and ill children in the Philippines.

Members of the Kaisahan of San Jose Dance Company, Inc., 16 of them children, are raising money to donate to ABS-CBN Foundation's Bantay-Bata program, which benefits abused, homeless, and sick Filipino children. Meanwhile, singer Amor Ilao McGuinness, a presidential awardee, will deliver toys to mentally-disabled children in Laguna.

Helen Pastor Moreno, Kaisahan's artistic director, told Philippine News that her dancers have so far raised $1000 from their spot-show honoraria and hoping to raise $2000 more through raffles and pledges before they leave for the Philippines on December 25 this year.

Kaisahan, on invitation of the Department of Tourism, will perform in the Philippines as part of its two-week "goodwill tour". Performances are scheduled for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in Malacanang and at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Rizal Park, the Shangri-la Hotel in Makati City, and in the provinces of Zambales and Nueva Ecija.

The 30-member dance group will also put on a show at Villa Escudero, Hospicio de San Jose (a home for the aged), and at ABS-CBN for the Bantay-Bata children.

Kaisahan will conduct a workshop with noted ethnic researcher and artistic directors Ramon Obusan and Franco Velas of the Philippine Dance Society, too.

To kick off its goodwill tour, Kaisahan, noted for its repertoire of authentic, indigenous Philippine dances, will perform at the Hoover Theater at 1635 Park Avenue, San Jose on December 11.

Published on December 8-14, 2004, Page A18, San Francisco Philippine News (CA)
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