SINULOG Festival dance competition veteran Tribu Lumad Basakanon gained international recognition after it won third place out of 200 teams in the World Wonju Dynamic Dance Festival in Wonju, South Korea.
Sinulog Foundation Inc. executive director Ricky Ballesteros said Lumad of Barangay San Nicolas is the only contingent to compete from the Philippines, and is the only foreign delegation to land a spot in the top 3, which was dominated by representatives of the host country. Lumad received a cash prize of 4 million Korean won, or around P180,000.
He added that this is also the first time for the Sinulog festival to be showcased as one of the competing entries.
Ballesteros said Lumad was personally invited by organizers of the dance festival after witnessing their presentation during the Sinulog grand parade last January, where they won fourth place in the Free Interpretation category.
Lumad also won fourth place in the Street Dancing category and second place for Best in Musicality in the Free Interpretation category.
For the past five days, Ballesteros said Lumad has been competing against other international contingents in a series of elimination rounds.
“They are the most unique in terms of costume, choreography and their performance was flawless during the eliminations and the concept is something new for the Koreans. They are the only group who is using live music. Even the mayor of Wonju was really impressed by their performance. It’s something we can be proud of not only for Cebu, but for the Philippines as well,” he said.
While this may be Lumad’s first competition abroad, the dance group is not entirely a neophyte in the international stage.
In 2014, they were chosen as representatives of the country by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in the Asia Pacific Festival.
The following year, they were once again selected by CCP to represent the country, this time time in the World Cultural Festival held in Indonesia. (RTF)