Orig “Sinug” dancer passes away at 88

CEBU, Philippines - At the age of 88, Estelita “Nang Titang” Diola who is referred to as the keeper of the original Sinulog beat and steps passed away yesterday due to lingering illness and old age.

Nang Titang met an accident in May 2010 that fractured her hip.

In December last year, she suffered shoulder and foot injuries after she fell inside her house.

She was admitted on December 31 and was discharged from the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) on January 16.

She had been bedridden since then until she died in her residence in Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City at 3 a.m. yesterday.

Last January 23, she was again hospitalized and was advised to go home by her attending physician on February 16.

Diola’s niece, Carolina, 52, shared that at past 11 p.m. Thursday, she felt something unusual while they were sleeping.

“I felt she pinched me and she leaned on me.  It seems like she was in my dreams,” said Carolina.

Nang Titang was born on January 4, 1925 and has greatly contributed to the preservation of the intangible tradition of the “Sinug”, now known as the famous Sinulog.

According to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) website, Nang Titang began dancing the Sinug at the age of seven.

She learned to master the steps and the song prayers from her father, Buenaventura “Turang” Diola, and studied the Sinug beat from Macario “Iklot” Bontilao.

The Sinug is a traditional dance-prayer offered to the Santo Niño de Cebu, which has a beat and choreography  that is uniquely different from the popular Sinulog street dance seen during the feast day of the Holy Child Jesus, every third Sunday of January.

Dr. Jocelyn Gerra, the executive director of RAFI Culture and Heritage said that Diola’s passing is a great loss to the Cebuano community and noted her steadfast commitment to keeping the age-old Cebuano tradition over the years.

“From the moment she said yes to her father, she took on the responsibility of seeing to it that the Sinug continues. So she has taught the dance-prayer to children,” Gerra said as quoted in the RAFI website.

This year, Diola was not able to perform with the group, but was still present, during the Sinug sa Casa Gorordo last January 21.

The Sinug sa Casa Gorordo is one of RAFI’s four house traditions, which also include Semana Santa, Pista ni San Juan and Belen sa Casa Gorordo.

“What I admire about Nang Titang are the values she upheld, especially her humility. Never was there a time that the public’s special attention and her fame got through her head, she was even uncomfortable of the media but she tried hard to still present herself warmly,” Gerra also said.

For Gerra, how Diola lived her life with dignity despite being financially challenged was also one of the latter’s admirable traits.

On the other hand, Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) Executive Director Ricky Ballesteros is also saddened by Diola’s passing.

“We are saddened by the demise of Nang Titang Diola whom we consider as one of the most important persons in Sinulog existence,” Ballesteros said.

Ballesteros shared that Diola was the very first resource person consulted to demonstrate the basic steps of the Sinulog.

This was during the time when the Cebu Physical Education Association, led by Dolly Suzara and the late Myhc Gonzales of Southwestern University, was asked by David Odilao to conceptualize the Sinulog Dance into a festival in 1980.

“She was the one who carried the tradition of the Sinulog dance from the past generations,” Ballesteros said, who visited Diola’s wake yesterday afternoon along with Suzara.

Carolina, on the other hand, said her aunt remained the only person who can perfectly play the Sinulog beat in the drum she has kept for years, which earned her the title “the heritage keeper.”

Diola’s remains lie at their residence in Mabolo and interment is scheduled next Monday, March 18.

There will be a mass at the Mabolo Church at 1 p.m. and she will be buried in the Mabolo Cemetery.  (FREEMAN)