On October 14th, the Philippine Centre Canada (PCC) hosted a dance workshop as part of the “Promoting Mental Health and Well-being Among Filipino-Canadian Youth Through Art and Music” project, which is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada through the Canadian Red Cross.

Candace Kumar, a Filipino-Canadian dance artist came out all the way from Mississauga, ON to teach different styles of Filipino Folk dances to Filipino youths and young adults. Three styles were taught: Pangalay, Fan dancing, and Sakuting. 

Pangalay is a traditional fingernail dance practiced by people from Mindanao (Southern Philippines) and is inspired by the waves of the ocean. Pangalay dancers wear brass fingernail accessories, which accentuate flowing and crashing. Candace taught our students a variety of movements including movements of the palms and shaking of the fingers. She emphasized that Pangalay dancing is not dependent on the timing of the accompanying song because ocean waves are sometimes big and fast, and sometimes calm and slow. 

Fan dancing is another traditional dance. Rather than having regional origins, it was traditionally practiced by upper-class women. Fan dancing is seen as regal and esoteric, something commoners would not understand. However, in today’s times, Candace was able to share different movements and techniques. 

Sakuting is a celebratory dance which originated from Arnis, a Filipino traditional martial art using bamboo as a weapon. Rather than using the bamboo combatively, sticks were quickly clapped against each other to the beat of the music. Dance partners also clapped their sticks together which pay tribute to the combat origins of sakuting. 

Liesel Aranyosi is a Filipino-Canadian Registered Psychotherapist based in Kanata, ON who also came out to share her expertise on mental health and wellness. Throughout the day, she led several reflections and meditations to re-ground our participants and encourage them to focus on the intentions of the day, which were to have fun, meet like-minded people, and learn new dances without strict expectations.

Thank you again to all the participants who came out to learn, and all our facilitators for traveling and sharing bits and pieces of Filipino history! 

A giant community fan was coloured by our participants. This fan was proudly presented at our finale art exhibit: EKSPRESYON, which was held at the JACKSON CAFÉ Monday, December 4.