Thursday, November 3, 2011

Kasanggayahan Festival 2011 ends with Pantomina sa Tinampo and a Mardi Grass


By Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY, NOVEMBER 3 (PIA)…… The month long celebration of the Kasanggayahan Festival  (KF) 2011 ended last Sunday, October 30 with hundreds of people lining the main thorough fare of Magsaysay and Rizal Sts.
here to witness the well-awaited  Pantomina sa Tinampo, with contingents coming from different local government units, schools and other organization as competing entities.

Pantomina sa Tinampo as well expressed in the book of Reynaldo T. Jamoralin, “Tracing: from Solsogon to Sorsogon”, speaks of this activity as a courtship dance, reflective of the Bikol's culture and usually danced in fiestas, weddings  and eventually was executed since in the streets here when the first Kasanggayahan Festival was celebrated in the province in1974.

Donning multi- colored festival costumes, highlighting a newly married couple  as main feature and lead dancers, complete with lechon (crackling pig) as add on props , participating teams  danced their hearts out not worried of the hot weather, sashaying  gracefully  and swaying to the usual rhythm of the Pantomina de Mayor music, while people watching getting photos of performers from either  their mobile phones or cameras.

This festival dance usually closes the event for the KF as it symbolizes the highlight of the celebration expressed in the merriment of Pantomina dancer.

Councilor Jun Daraman, event organizer said that there were 11 participating contenders  in the competition. All were really well prepared, have shown grace and mastery of steps, synchronized movements and were still all smiles even when some were already dancing in the dark because of the time it ended.

The competition started at 3:00 in the afternoon and lasted almost at 7:00 in the evening.

Manuel Babasa one of the judges said that 80% of the judging was based on  the final choreographed presentation of the participants which was held at the Balogo Sports Complex.

Meanwhile, an all Gay Mardi Grass preceded the Pantomina sa Tinampo with all the drums loudly beating, and the dancers some were scantily clad wearing more skimpy creative attires,some with just the out of this world fashion came gyrating in the streets, doing a truly fast- rhythmic dance.

People watching showed different  mixed reactions and according to one of the dancers interviewed, perhaps because it was the first time that this was held, and the sense of appreciation is something to be worked on as Sorsogon still is not so much exposed to this kind of show different from other provinces who are accustomed to gay participation when it comes to festivals.

Competing participants in the pantomina according to Sorsoganon Kami Inc. president Michael Sulit , the  first prize winner run off with P100,000.00 cash prize and went to Barangay Macalaya,Castilla , the second place with P75,000.00 was bagged by the local government of Pilar while the third place received P50,000.00 prize money won by the sorsogon State College while the Best in Costume, went still to barangay Macalaya, Castilla and with a pot money of P25,000.00.

The Kasanggayahan Festival 2011 was indeed according to Sulit, a shared effort of the people of Sorsogon , a unifying activity that should be made one cultural event that should gain maturity, promote camaraderie, a sense of oneness and pride as a people and finally to become an economic enterprise to enliven the business sector here and boost tourism.

Meanwhile ,  Kasanggayahn Foundation Inc., chairman, Msgr. Francisco Monje expressed his appreciation for  the support provided by the local and national officials, all sectors of the society and all the people in the province of Sorsogon who made the event a success. (PIA-SORSOGON)

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