The grant the Philippine Studies Group at York received made it possible for Leo Lorilla and Pamela Corales, core performing artists of Bayanihan: the National Dance Company of the Philippines and faculty members of the Philippine Women’s University (PWU) in Manila, to be artists-in-residents in the Department of Dance at York University from 10 to 21 February 2023.
In this capacity, they accomplished the following:
- performed the dance “Paseo de Iloilo” during the Department’s Annual Showcase, Cardinal Points, at the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre from 15 to 17 February;
- delivered a folk dance workshop for the Filipino community in the Greater Toronto Area at the Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre on 13 February;
- gave a courtesy call to Consul General Orontes V. Castro at the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto on 13 February; and
- assisted in organizing a choreographic dialogue with members of the Benguet diasporic community at the Accolade East Building, Studio E at York University.
To enrich their transnational cultural exchange, Lorilla and Corales participated in a series educational activities and exposures that would benefit both the Bayanihan as a professional dance company and PWU as an institution that is known for its dance education. These activities were: an educational tour with cultural anthropologist Dr. Lynne Milgram on how to care for fragile costumes held at the Textile Museum of Canada on February 12; observation of studio dance classes in and the auditions process of York’s Department of Dance from February 16 to 17; and another educational tour this time with archivist Amy Bowring on best practices in preserving dance on video, stills, and print at the Dance Collection Danse on February 21.
Image courtesy of Rechie Valdez.