THE colourful and vibrant MassKara Festival street dance and arena hall-of-famer Barangay Granada together with the Brgy. Singcang-Airport dancers wowed New Yorkers during their performance at the State Capitol of New York, June 2, on the occasion of the 125th Philippine Independence Day celebration.
Meanwhile the Barangay Sum-ag MassKara festival dancers performed at the Busan International Dance Festival 2023 at the Cinema Mountain Theater in Busan, South Korea on the same date.
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo "Albee" Benitez led the delegation along with his fellow city officials councilors Jason Villarosa, Celia Flor, Em Ang, Simple Distrito, former Councilor Caesar Distrito and Granada Punong Barangay Alfredo Talimodao, Jr.
The said delegation went to New York upon the invitation of Assemblyman Steven Raga for the Bacolod delegation and the Masskara Dancers to perform inside the State Capitol of New York. Barangay Granada was the 43rd MassKara Festival grand champion.
Mayor Benitez said," It's time to smile in New York. Our Masskara Dancers had their various performances here in New York."
Mayor Albee Benitez, together with some city councilors presented a token of appreciation to Assemblyman Raga for his invitation for Bacolod to take part in the historic celebration of the country's independence.
Furthermore, the MassKara festival dancers have been travelling abroad to perform in various festivals.
The Barangay Sum-ag MassKara dancers performed in the Busan International Dance Festival 2023. The delegation was led by choreographer Segundo Jesus "Panoy" Cabalcar.
"The stage is impeccable, it's huge, the lighting and sounds are amazing and the festival is well organized with amiable staff," Cabalcar said.
Before their gala performance, the group also visited Sinjin Elementary School for a dance workshop.
"I taught them some basic steps of street dancing and explained what is the real essence of the MassKara Festival, the students were very participative, curious and eager to learn about our festival" Cabalcar added.
Dancers from Canada, Kazakhstan, Argentina, Taiwan and many others were also invited by the Korean government to perform at the BIDF 2023.