Friday night we left work and drove straight to Quezon City
for a cultural show. Several Stakes (collection of congregations) throughout
the region gathered their youth to dance and sing traditional Filipino numbers.
We are glad that we were invited.
There was a visiting church leader from the United States. Elder
Russell Nelson, one of the Quorum of the Twelve. (In other words, he is about
one of the highest in the church leadership wise). It is an honor to have one
the Twelve visit. After all there are only 12 of them and a GREAT BIG WORLD to
cover. In celebration of that honor, all of these youth, 760 to be exact, spent
two weeks of their summer vacation practicing their dance numbers they would
perform. The result was amazing.
I wanted to make sure that I got some good photos, so I sat
up on the floor with all the other camera people. I could not help but be
impressed with these youth and their willingness to be here performing at a
church function, when there are SO many other things their peers are doing on a
Friday night.
Their dances ranged from the Filipino-ized versions of
Spanish dances—a result of 400 years of Spanish Colonization—to the traditional
Filipino dances like Tinikling. They had dances from each region of the
Philippines—showing how diverse the heritage and cultures each of the 7,000+
islands hold. Their costumes were beautiful and colorful—photos don’t do it
justice and the stories the dances told were fascinating.
One dance from the Northern mountain region, men danced with
their spears and women balanced 8 or 9 clay pots on their heads to show their
stamina while they danced. Another dance from the South was a blend of
Indo-Malay dancing, colors and culture. My favorite I would have to say was the
little primary kids. They did the “Duck Dance.” They came out in their little
yellow outfits and were so cute. Their ages
ranged from 5-10 years old. As they set up I had to laugh because there was one
5 year old girl, who was in the front as they were arranged by age and size.
She turned around before the music started and was adjusting all the dancers so
they were in a perfect line. It was so much fun to hear the happy-light music
start and see these little kids dance perfectly on beat. They were talented.
As I sat on the floor there ended up being a collection of
children around me watching too. There was one little girl that sat right next
to me and said, “This is the 4th dance. My sisters are in the 6th
Dance. Will you take pictures of my sisters too?” She was so excited to see her
sisters dance. When it was time for the dance she was all but jumping onto the
dance floor. “ATE!” (Name for the older sister) she yelled as the sisters as
they went by. I tried to take a photo of her without her knowing as she was
mimicking their moves. You could tell how much she loved her older sisters.
At the end of the show, a group sang a song about unity even
though there are hundreds of languages and thousands of islands and all the
performers came in to sit on the dance floor. It was amazing to see all 760 of
them sitting together. Truly a site to behold. At the end of the meeting Elder
Nelson decided to shake all their hands. They youth were so excited they
started to clap! Again I was impressed by how they had done all of this—all the
preparation, the sacrifice of time and talents—to perform for something they
believe in. That made the whole night more powerful.
The “Rising Generation” is truly a courageous and honorable
group.
