THE National Commission for Culture and the Arts led by chairman and National Artist Virgilio Almario – National Committee on Dance lead by Shirley Halili-Cruz is once again organizing Dance Xchange: The Philippine International Dance Workshop and Festival with the theme “Cultural Connectivity through Dance” on April 26 – 30, 2019 in Roxas City, Capiz.
Dance Xchange is the Philippine celebration of International Dance Day every April 29. The International Dance Day (IDD) was created by the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute-UNESCO which marks the birthdate of Jean-Georges Noverre, the creator of modern ballet.
The IDD aims to promote dance in all its forms across the world, to make people aware of the value of dance, share the joy of dance with others and, enable the dance community to promote their work on a broad scale, so that governments and opinion leaders are aware of the value and importance of dance and support it. Events and festivals are held all over the world to promote dance, thus, this Philippine celebration.
Dance Xchange is also held in accordance with Presidential Proclamation No. 154, declaring the last week of April as the “National Dance Week”. The program aims to enhance knowledge and skills of the dancers, dance teachers and choreographers on dances of the different countries as creative expression of their culture. With the number of international delegates participating, Dance Xchange also seeks to provide venue for exchange of ideas and showcase the unique dances of each participating country.
Artists’ forum, dance workshops to be conducted by dance directors from participating countries for teachers, festival of dance performances, outreach performances, and cultural tour shall ensue, providing platform for discussion on the global trends in dance education; and provide skills enhancement for events and festival management. The Department of Education and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges encourage the participation of teachers, choreographers and dance trainor’s in Dance Xchange through the issuance of their respective Memorandum Circulars.
International participants from Bangladesh, Belgium, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Taiwan, and Thailand join 21 dance troupes from across the country in the four-day dance extravaganza.
Dance Xchange is one of the banner projects of the NCCA made possible through partnerships with local government units. This year, the local government of Roxas City in Capiz hosts the Dance Xchange opening venues like the Villareal Stadium and Grounds and the Capiz Provincial Park for its dance concerts, while dance workshops shall be held at Don Ynocencio A. Del Rosario National High School Gymnasium, Dayao, Roxas City. There will also be outreach performances in the municipalities of Cuartero, Jamindan, Sapian, Pilar, Dumalag, Sigma, and Tapaz in Capiz as well as in the municipality of Balete in Aklan among others.
Dance Xchange will open the workshop on April 26 with registration of workshop participants at 7:30 AM at the Don Ynocencio A. Del Rosario National High School Gym and a grand opening parade and concert at 6:00 PM at the Villareal Stadium, Roxas City.
MAPEH teachers and supervisors, Physical Education instructors, teachers of the Special Program for the Arts and the Arts and Design Track, dance trainers, cultural officers of the schools, culture and tourism officers of local government units and events and festival managers and enthusiasts are also encouraged to participate.
For questions on this press release please contact Mr. Rene Napeñas, Head of the NCCA Public Affairs and Information Office through numbers 527-2192 local 625 or email your queries to ncca.paio@gmail.com.