UMS Concert Program, February 29, 1988: Bayanihan --

Season: 109th
Concert: Thirty-second
Power Center For The Performing Arts Ann Arbor, Michigan

Presentations
THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
PHILIPPINE DANCE COMPANY
Monday Evening, February 29, 1988, at 8:00
Power Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Dancers
Cristina Marie Cabili Johanna Cabili Maris Stella Cruz Ma. Katrina Gomez Ma. Rosa Pilar A. Gomez Ma. Rosalie Masiddo Nadja Masiglat Candelaria Molina Ma. Lourdes Ortiz
Ma. Celeste Pineda Annabcllc Judith Ramos Azila Kathcrinc Sabilc Ma. Rosario Sanchez Ma. Sosima Sanchez Elizabeth Villacscusa Vicente Gomez IV Ferdinand Jose
Juanito Isabelo Montecillo Oscar Monies Delfin Novencido Raymundo Rausa Carlos Reyes Gerardo Sanchez Gregorio Carlos Sanchez Rene Seballos Melito Vale Cruz
Singers Johanna Cabili and Mclito Vale Cruz
Rondalla Musicians
Ruben Azarcon III Christopher Calum Mario Abel Cruz
Evangcline Fernandez Edwin Gcronimo Josef Radcl Lopez
Helena Z. Benitcz, President Leticia Perez dc Guzman, Executive Director Isabel A. Santos, Company Director and Costume Director Lucrecia Reyes Urtula, Choreographer and Dance Director
Jose Lardizabcl, Artistic Director Alfredo R. Gomez, Jr., Technical Director Lucrezia R. Kasilag, Music Director Lourdes B. Guillermo, Public Relations
Cameras and recording devices arc not allowed in the auditorium. Thirty-second Concert of the 109th Season Seventeenth Annual Choice Series
PROGRAM
UMBRALES EN FLOR
For older civilizations, the past, made remote by time, has passed on to become history. For younger nations, memory lingers over what seems like yesterday. There are people alive who -believe it or not -took part in the dances performed here: Paso de Cuatro, Paso Doble, Danza, and the culminating, lively Panderetas.
Hence, Umbrales enjlor-a flowered threshold through which a dreaming child of today enters into a world of not so long ago.
WILD PLUMAGE
For the first time, Bayanihan's tribal suite (the section dedicated to primitive evocations) is based not on the visual, but on an acoustical key. The sound of wings is hard to capture, but the tweetering, chirping, and whistles of bird life pervade this entire segment -from the ominous voice of the Idaw, the noises of the woodpeckers or Kiling, and finally, the Banawol or Hawk Dance. In between comes the vigorous Pinayegpeg and, departing from the avian motif, Banga Salidsid, a courtship dance of Kalinga origin.
SA NAYON
Next to the church and its plaza, the market place is a small town's center of communal life. But other aspects of that life are vividly represented here, from the frolics of Maglalatik with its staccato beat on coconut shells, to the moonlit serenades of the young people. There are competing feats of dexterity, a bamboo band and, of course, the nimble, climactic tinkling that invariably brings the first half of the program to a rousing end.
INTERMISSION
HALINHINAN
This suite is a potpourri -one dance or song succeeding another in diverse but fitting patterns. Ending the intermission, the audience is summoned by a lone shell-horn (the tambuli).
Highlights of this suite are the austerely beautiful Dugso with its plumed head?dresses, and a beguiling songdance medley celebrating the life of the islands' fisher-folk, all 7,000 of them!
PARAW-PARAW
This is a colorful salute to the Muslim culture prevalent in the Southern Philip?pines. The paraw is a boat, a proud symbol of a people whose lives have been linked to the sea from time immemorial.
Langkat-Silat is mostly about combat, giving way to the languorous Manalay danced by the girls with graceful hand movements.
The Kalilang is festive in its use of banners, a typical, distinctive feature of the culture. The suite ends with the spectacular Singkil, with the Sultan and Princess leading the company in a rousing climax of sound and movement.
About the Artists
The Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company consistently captures the imagina?tion of its audiences through their theatrical portraits in motion of the Philippines' Arabic, Malayan, Chinese, and Spanish heritage. Now on its eleventh tour of Amer?ica, the company first performed in Ann Arbor in 1961, with re-engagements here in 1970 and 1973. The dancers have performed around the world -in Japan, New Zealand, Israel, Scandinavia, Eastern and Western Europe, China, the Soviet Union, and North and South America. The last tour of the United States included per?formances in 53 cities in the spring of 1984.
The Filipinos experienced a revival of interest in their country's folklore during the 1920s, when considerable research led to performances of native dances by school groups. At the same time, the staff of the Philippine Women's University devoted' time and effort to an informal program of collecting and preserving indigenous folk dances, folk music, regional costumes, and other native crafts and costumes. Occa?sionally, folk dance competitions were held at provincial sports events. Following Philippine independence in 1946 came a renewed interest in "things Philippine" and, in 1956, Bayanihan was presented for the first time in a recital before an international convention being held in Manila. The next year, the Bayanihan Folk Arts Center was established for the dual purpose of research and presentations, the first such organiza?tion in the Philippines. Teams of students and teachers were sent to all parts of the country to tape-record, photograph, learn dances, and collect authentic costumes and musical instruments. The dances were taught to the Bayanihan company members, resulting in monthly performances for the public.
In 1958, the 28 dancers and 12 musicians made dance history at the Brussels World's Fair, the company's first international engagement, and Bayanihan was on its way to worldwide acclaim. October 13, 1959, proved to be a landmark day when the company opened a three-week run at New York's Winter Garden Theatre on Broad?way to virtually unanimous critical praise. Other highlights through the company's three decades of performing include appearances at the Seattle and New York World's Fairs, a command performance for the King of Norway at the Oslo Opera House, and another royal appearance before the King and Queen of Thailand in Bangkok. The year 1982 was one of celebration for Bayanihan, when it was officially designated the resident folk dance company at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
The Company is represented on seven Monitor phonograph records, in both stereo and monaural recordings. The listener can hear the "beat of the feet" and all sounds that are part of the dances, as well as music of the rondalla (native string band), the nose flute, various gongs, bamboo Jew's harp, Muslim court instruments, chants, and vocal selections by the Bayanihan performers.
Historical Notes
The Republic of the Philippines was a United States dependency from 1898 until 1946. Prior to the Spanish-American War in 1898, the Philippines had been a Spanish colony for nearly 400 years. During that time, the archipelago of over 7,000 islands had been unified as a political entity and its people converted to Christianity. Discov?ery of the Philippines by the Western world was in 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan landed in Mactan Island off the coast of Cebu; he was subsequently killed by the local chieftain, Lapu Lapu.
The Filipinos are of mixed Malay-Polynesian-Chinese blood lines, with an added mixture of Spanish and American strains. English is one of the three official languages of the country and is the most widely spoken. The other languages arc Spanish, which is dying out, and Tagalog, the major indigenous language. Principal export products are sugar, lumber, coconut oil, desiccated coconut, abaca, and various metallic ores.
Coming Concerts
English Chamber OrchestraJeffrey Tate .................. Mon. Mar. 7
Frank Peter Zimmermann, Violinist
Mozart: "Marriage of Figaro" Overture; Mozart: Violin Concerto in
G major K. 216; Gordon Jacob: Mini-Concerto for Clarinet; Haydn:
Symphony No. 101 ("Clock")
Hubbard Street Dance Company .................. Sat., Sun. Mar. 12, 13
Belgrade State Folk Ensemble ............................. Sun. Mar. 13
Christopher Parkening, Guitarist ..............................F"Mar. 18
Music of Bach, Mozart, Granados, Albeniz, Torroba, Sanz,
Villa-Lobos, Rodrigo, and Falla Faculty Artists Concert (free admission, 3:00 p.m.) ......... Sun. Mar. 20
Schumann: Song cycle, "Dichterliebe," Leslie Guinn, baritone,
Martin Katz, pianist; Schubert: "Trout" Quintet, D. 667 Andre Watts, Pianist ...........................................Sat. Apr. 2
Haydn: Sonata No. 58, Hob. XVI48; Mozart: Sonata in F, K. 332;
Brahms: Piano Pieces, Op. 119; Schubert: Sonata, D. 784 (Op. 143),
and "Wanderer" Fantasy
Bonn Woodwind Quintet .................................... F"APr8
Steven Masi, Pianist
Haydn: Divertimento No. 1; Reicha: Quintet, Op. 88, No. 2;
Beethoven: Piano Quintet, Op. 16; Mozart: Quintet, K. 406;
Hindemith: "Kleinc Kammermusik"; Poulcnc: Piano Sextet
Monte Carlo PhilharmonicLawrence Foster ............... Fri. Apr. 22
Katia & Marielle Labeque, Duo-pianists
Berlioz: Overture to "Benvcnuto Cellini"; Bruch: Concerto for Two
Pianos, Op. 88; Paul Cooper: Double Concerto (violin and viola);
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Suite No. 2 95th Annual May Festival .......................... Wed.-Sat. Apr. 27-30
Pre-concert Presentations
Complement your concertgoing with these presentations designed to enhance your musical experience via the expertise of the following speakers. The place is the Rackham Building at 7:00 p.m., open to the public at S3, tickets at the door; complimentary admission for Encore and Cheers! members and faculty and students with valid I.D.
Saturday, Mar. 12, preceding Hubbard Street Dance Company -The Dance of Theater and Cinema: Making Entertainment Art Peter Sparling, Associate Professor of Dance, U-M
Saturday, Apr. 2, preceding Andre Watts -Being Critical: Observations on the Role of the Music Critic Paul Boylan, ProfessorDean, U-M School of Music
1988 Ann Arbor May Festival -April 27-30
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Michael Tilson Thomas and Zdenek Macal, Conductors
The Festival Chorus and The Boychoir of Ann Arbor Valdimir Feltsman, Pianist Janice Taylor, Mezzo-soprano
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberc;, Violinist
Linda Kelm, Soprano Jon Frederic West, Tenor
Myrna Paris, Mezzo-soprano John Ostendorf, Bass-baritone
David Hart, Organist Wednesday, Tilson Thomas -Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral"; Rachmaninoff:
Third Piano Concerto (Feltsman) Thursday, Tilson Thomas -Mahler: Symphony No. 3 (Taylor, Women's Chorus and
The Boychoir of Ann Arbor) Friday, Macal -Wagner: Prelude to "Die Meistcrsinger"; Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto
in E minor (Salcrno-Sonnenbcrg); Ravel: Suites I and II, "Daphnis and Chloe" Saturday, Tilson Thomas -Dvorak: Symphony No. 8; Janacek: Glagolitic Mass (Festival Chorus, Kelm, Paris, West, Ostendorf, and Hart)
Series tickets still available; single ticket sale begins March 7.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1270 Telephone: (313) 764-2538