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Sunday, September 11, 2005
Up the contrast
By J.A. Bacalso
Part 1
YOU do know about contrast. You cannot see the white unless it is set against the black, and all that jazz. The same way I could not see how Visayan I was until I was confronted with how Tagalog I had become.
After a decade of living in Laguna and Makati, I still craved for the clear comfort of utan bisaya, I still preferred my adobo served crispy dry, and whenever I was asked for patis, I still passed the soy sauce. But I had also acquired a Southern Tagalog accent, and in true Los Baños style, would say “bago” instead of “tapos”, a certain quirk I would not have noticed until I had become a Makati denizen myself a few years after. Without contrast, there is no seeing the richness of different patterns.
In the heart of Intramuros, over the weekend, the tapestry that contrast made indelibly clearer unfurled for everyone. Central Visayas, in droves of Cebuanos, Boholanos, Oriental Negrenese, and Siquijor natives flew and floated into the nation’s capital, filling the historic walled city with the proof that it was only in seeing how different we were, that we understood the inherent sameness.
Look closer: Bantayan Island’s Palawod festival’s beat and steps are a clear, conscious departure from the so-called mother of all festivals, Cebu’s own Sinulog. Everything became clearer as, in the grandiose finale, Garbo’s creative director Junjet Primor had each dance troupe--silhouetted against the ruins of what was once a handsome building--dancing the eight signature step as each festival was acknowledged.
These steps were crafted to be different. But it sure looked like just one dance to me.
(Garbo sa Central Visayas, with booths showcasing the best of Region VII, is an ongoing expo at the clamshell of Intramuros until September 14. Exclusive footage of the event will be shown over ABS-CBN's Jud Morning! today at 10:30 a.m.)
(September 11, 2005 issue)
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