The Soli-Soli dance workshop

Continuous — that is the process of developing, upgrading and improving the Soli-Soli street dance festival in the town of San Francisco, Camotes, Cebu.

Choreographers there have been craving for new ideas, inputs and concepts to improve their presentations for this year’s competition on March 17.

It is but common to find lapses in concept-building, movement and music improvisation, in the making of a dance sequence and, most of all, inculcating common sense into the storyline of choice. Improvement — that is their objective.

That is why the LGU purposely invited resource speakers to conduct a Soli-Soli street dance festival workshop. Held at the municipality’s gymnasium last February 5 and 6, the workshop catered to more than a hundred participants composed of choreographers, PE teachers, students and dance enthusiasts.

“The need for this workshop is a felt need of our promising choreographers and dance artists so that improvements can be felt and seen during the upcoming festival,” noted Mayor Al Arquillano.

This process and product-oriented workshop took up topics on concept building, choreography, staging the dance and costuming to help participants. Improved presentations were manifested in their storyline, choreography and performance during the culminating program.

Soli-Soli is a tall grass that grows wild in the vicinity of the famous Lake Danao.This grass is then woven into mats, hats, bags and many other handy goods. Celebrated during the religious occasion of their annual March fiesta in honor of St. Joseph, this occupational dance is married with religious articles and concepts that make it unique among the many existing festivals of Cebu.