CELEBRATION OF THANKSGIVING AND GOOD HARVEST IN CHICAGO

 

17 December 2007 – The Philippine Consulate General in Chicago reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that a cultural presentation at Chicago’s St. Scholastica’s Auditorium entitled “Amulaan Kaligaan”  - A Celebration of Thanksgiving and Good Harvest delighted Chicago audiences.

The presentation was sponsored and organized by Hataw Pinoy Chicago in celebration of its 4^th Anniversary on 1 December 2007. Hataw Pinoy is the first locally produced Filipino American musical variety show in Chicago. It is a volunteer-run organization of young talents who are provided training in singing, dancing, hosting, acting, interviewing, and working behind the camera. The Hataw Pinoy television program has been on the air since 2003.

Amulaan Kaligaan featured a live kulintangan - a set of brass instruments accompanying the songs and tribal dances derived from the rich heritage and traditions of the Lumad, the indigenous tribes on Mindanao. Among the tribes presented in the musical theater production are the Maranao, Maguindanao, Tausug, B’laan, Talaandig, Bukidnon, Manobo, Subanon and T’Boli.

Performing the traditional songs and dances in Amulaan Kaligaan is the Sining Kambayoka Ensemble, founded in 1974 by Frank G. Rivera, a multi-awarded Filipino director, playwright and author, Kambayoka is taken from “bayok”, a Maranao word for chant. The “bayok” is often compared to the very similar balagtasan. The need to promote the kambayoka theater form to the global audience has caused the creation of the Kambayoka Arts Outreach, Inc. in the  United States. The not-for-profit group- founded by Sining Kambayoka alumni and supporters– is inspired by their belief in the active role of theater and cultural activities in the development of the global Filipino community, especially in the formation and cultivation of Filipino identity among the young generation of Filipinos in the United States. Sining Kambayoka’s goals were to experiment, evolve and develop a theater form based on the diversity of the Philippines’ indigenous people, blended with the Filipino’s current experiences.

For the Chicago show, Kambayoka Arts Outreach performers were joined by Hataw Pinoy artists.

The show was also featured in Chicago Public Radio’s “Eight Forty-Eight” show on November 29 and narrated by Blair Chavis. END.