Pinoy summer wins over the world

MANILA, Philippines - It was the first time for many of them to travel outside the country, and to visit South Korea. But they weren’t simply tourists chasing hallyu, the sudden popularity of South Korean culture around the world.

They were the Kahayag Dance Company, and they were the Philippines’ representatives to the 2015 International Youth Fellowship (IYF) World Cultural Dance Festival.

The Dumaguete-based community dance troupe gained international traction when it bested eight finalists from other countries in the IYF dance competition last month in Jeonju.

The IYF is a youth non-government organization founded in 2001 “with the purpose of raising leaders under the Christian belief.” It currently has branches in over 80 countries, including the Philippines.

To the beat of “Pinoy Summer, Da Best Forever,” ABS-CBN’s summer station ID in 2012, Kahayag pranced in their neon costumes inspired by the country’s “festivals of fun and food” in a dance repertoire they call “Tag-araw,” or summer.

According to the group, Tag-araw is “reflective of the Filipinos’ creativity, artistry and natural high when it comes to celebrations. That no matter what age, which place, what form, what reason, one thing stands true: Filipinos are a happy people with welcoming smiles of warmth and hospitality... For all these reasons, people will always want to come back because in the Philippines, it feels like it is always summer.”

The dance was conceptualized by artistic director Engel Boen Zerna, who is also a founding member and the longest-staying member of the group, with help from dance masters Alexis Dawn Masangkay and Vic June Rich Nocete.

Kahayag started in 2004 as a dance troupe based in Silliman University. Nine years later, Kahayag became an independent dance company composed of young professionals as well as students from different schools in Dumaguete City. The group now has a total of 200 members.

Kahayag’s dance genre is a mix of folk/cultural and contemporary, while also infusing other genres, such as hiphop, ballet and jazz, explains John Paul Oira, the group’s information officer.

Oira says while most dance troupes base membership on skills, “Kahayag is unique because it is more inclined towards the heart. We move through our passion for dance and the arts... (carrying the) mission of artistic excellence and cultural leadership and a legacy of being beacons of light that uphold national pride through dance.”

He adds that the group acknowledges the gift of dance as a way of serving God and country. “This is our contribution to our society, to educate the people through our dance and to contribute to the propagation of the diverse and colorful culture of the Filipinos to our fellow Pinoys and to the world.”

According to the IYF program, competing teams were judged according to the following criteria: smile; creativity; expression; cooperation and audience response.

Kahayag won the grand prize and $5,000. Fiji took the gold; South Korea, silver and Togo, bronze.

All four teams performed throughout the celebration of the 2015 IYF World Culture Camp last month in Busan and other major cities in South Korea.

It was Kahayag’s first time to join a competition.

Oira tells STARweek they were not expecting to win. Their goal was simple: “Basta lang ’wag mapahiya ang Pilipinas.”

“We just made sure that we wouldn’t let the Philippines down with a bad performance, that we must give a great performance to be worthy of being called representatives of the Republic of the Philippines. Being world champions was secondary,” he said.

Oira says finding a common time for dance rehearsals was the group’s first challenge. Of the 27 members, eight were students while the rest were young professionals.

“We had dance classes and stricter warm-up routines and rehearsals after school/work until late in the evening,” Oira shares.

He admits that they were “not 100 percent ready before leaving Dumaguete,” catching up with rehearsals in Manila and even making adjustments in the dance routine in Korea, because they were more focused on logistics and solicitations.

They had to look for sponsors and donors to raise more than half a million pesos for their expenses, which included costs for costumes and props, domestic and international plane fares, fees relating to visas and rental fees for rehearsal venues, among others. Foreign teams were also required to pay $100 participation fee.

“Getting passports and visas in less than a week through favors from government agencies and representatives and the Korean embassy was unbelievable. One of our team member’s passport came a week before our flight and half of the team got approved visas the day before our flight to Korea,” Oira recalls.

But all the efforts were worth it. “God allowed us to feel the worth of all the sacrifices we made and He made our door to this event wider and wider and wider everyday until He granted us the ‘World Champion’ trophy. To God be the Glory,” he says.

Oira tells STARweek how their winning moment was not only unforgettable but also unique.

Only three representatives per group were allowed on stage for the announcement of winners, while the rest of the members stayed in the holding room that had a black-and-white monitor without audio.

“All we did was to follow the movements of the huge gowns of our representatives. They called the bronze, silver, then gold, until only the grand prize was left. Prior to the announcement of the grand prize winner, we were settled on accepting (that it could) not be us.

“However, upon the announcement of the grand prize winner, the three gowns moved to the center of the stage and grabbed the winner’s certificate, glass trophy and the giant $5,000 check. An outburst of happiness happened in that small room.

“The Fiji team who got the gold (second prize) also rushed to our room to congratulate us, concretizing what we saw in the monitor. That moment was indescribable – a once in a lifetime moment,” he says.

Oira says they plan to invest the prize money in “company needs, like costumes and props and perhaps a regular studio or rehearsal venue.” He shares that they currently conduct rehearsals in an outdoor stage made available by the Negros Oriental provincial government.

He adds that after receiving a significant amount of help and support, Kahayag intends to pay it forward and use the prize money for at least two outreach activities in the country.

They say first times are always the hardest, but sometimes, as evidenced by Kahayag’s recent triumph, the first time can be the sweetest.