If you’re a #filipinx in #newyork & want to learn indigenous dances, i’m holding a free workshop next week at Creative Cultural Center St. Veronica! (149 Christopher Street, New York, NY 10014) from 6:30-8:30 PM. If you’re interested in joining our group or just learning, please drop by and share this post! #filipino #pinxy #pinoy #pinay #filipina #nyc
me: “at sunset, i look at the leaves and how beautiful they are in the sunlight, i feel like they are so beautiful i want to come back again and again to see them, maybe the next summer and the summer after that–
i see the dying leaves underneath the trees and understand that those beautiful leaves in the sunlight will fall and die. i remember that this is how i feel about the world–it is so beautiful. even though i know it is better to leave, that it’s wiser to look for the way out. knowing that everything must end, will die…somehow i want to keep coming back. i don’t know why i want to keep coming back even if i know this. the world is so beautiful…”
nuttapanyo bhikkhu: “don’t be fooled by the sunlight. are the leaves beautiful by itself, or is there something that makes it look beautiful? without the sunlight, would they still be beautiful? is the world beautiful because of itself, or because something is making it look beautiful? as the sun sets, the forest begins to look dark, scary. is it still beautiful? does it stay good?” (at Redwood Valley, California)
this beautiful and sweet-smelling flower is called #tsampaka, sampaka, or sampaga (ᜐᜉᜃ᜵ᜐᜉᜄ) in the #tagalog language. originating from india and the himalayas, the flower was spread throughout china and #southeastasia along with #hinduism and #buddhism. in #theravada #buddhism, it is said that the #champaca tree is where the 17th #buddha called aththadassi attained enlightenment. in #tibetanbuddhism it is said that the next buddha, #maitreya/#metteya will find enlightenment under the white flower canopy of the champaca tree.
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the tsampaka, along with the ilang-ilang and sampaguita, have always been traditionally used for both medicine and worship in the philippines, in similar ways to its hindu-buddhist neighbors, as well as in india. pre-philippine #tagalogs would string jasmine (sampaguita) flowers together along with ilang-ilang or champaca flowers to create a garland that they would hang on their deities–some possibly buddhist or hindu images. when catholicism came with spanish colonization, the priests encouraged the filipinos to continue this practice with their roman catholic saints. but the roots of this #philippine practice has always been pre-colonial, has been hindu, buddhist, and animist in origin. these days i use this flower along with jasmine flowers for puja and garlands on the statues of deities that i extend honor and worship to, the way i know my ancestors did. in our process of decolonization, it’s always interesting to see what can be accurately mined from our own history without misrepresenting things. #filipino #pilipino #hindu #buddhist #magnolia #decolonize #lusung #pilipinas #🇵🇭 #🇵🇭philippines #flower (at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery - Institute for World Religions)
today i performed a #pangalay duet for the first time at #kalayaan2017 in #sanfrancisco with @parangaldancecompany! to be quite honest, before i joined this group i never saw myself as a dancer and instead as a writer–who can chronicle my people’s stories before time erases it. but these days, the more i dance, the more i understand how dancing is important, especially when telling the stories of my people. dance keeps this heritage alive, refuses the erasure of these people’s rich history. i find that i can record, at most, their actual story, or at the least: the shadow of their story, when i learn the dances & share their meanings. nowadays i find that dancing informs what i write, and vice versa. i’m beginning to understand that one can be both. i’m very honored to have been given this chance to perform a duet for the first time in my life! my heart overflows with gratitude.
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the dance being performed is an adapted for stage version of the #tausug marriage dance called pangalay pangantin. the groom and bride will usually do a pangalay before well-wishing guests who insert paper money between their fingers or between their #pissiabit, #badjuhlapi, #habultiyahian, and along their collars. the dance mimics the movement of waves and retains image-based movements related to #thai, #cambodian, #malay, and #indonesian dance. #philippine #philippines #philippines🇵🇭#filipino #filipina #pilipino #pilipina #kalayaan #igaligal #dalingdaling #mengalay #pansak #dance #decolonize (at Union Square, San Francisco)
five #tausug men and a #maguindanao noble! 😜 had fun dancing at #google’s campus in #mountainview today to celebrate #philippine independence! and on a somber note, while dancing these pre-colonial dances, i’m remembering our people in #mindanao who are suffering under martial law. we need to end martial law now–especially when it mindanao has suffered so much already. #philippines #pilipino #pilipinas #filipino #sanfrancisco #bayarea #filam #malong #badjuhlapi #pissiabit #pissiyabit #kandit #kampilan #kuntao #pangalay #igaligal #dalingdaling #pansak (at Googleplex)
interrupting my usual posting to announce this FREE tagalog language class series i will be holding! the @ihmanilatown has graciously hosted this series, and it will be my first time teaching tagalog in a classroom setting too! if you or anyone you know is in the bay area & can be available for all, if not most of the classes, email me so you can register! #sf #sanfrancisco #sfchinatown #manilatown #tagalog #filam #bayarea #filipino #pilipino #filipina #pilipina #language #philippine #diaspora #luzon #lusung (at Manilatown Heritage Foundation)
a small #kris/#kalis dagger with traditional metalwork & a bone handle from #mindanao–the details show beautiful craftsmanship. many pre-hispanic communities in the #philippines had similar daggers & blades, including the #tagalog, #kapampangan, and #bisaya. this dagger might be from one of the many different ethnic groups in mindanao like the #maguindanao, #tausug, #yakan, or #badjao/#bajau. #pilipino #filipino #philippine #southeastasian #asian #bajaulaut #weapon #sword (at Manilatown Heritage Foundation)
yesterday, during gongster’s paradise, @kulintronica on kulintang as @kimrequesto & jae tioseco dance #pangalay. they’re wearing the traditional habul tiyahian and #janggay/sulakengkeng, metal fingnernail extensions. #filam #filipino #filipina #pilipino #pilipina #tausug #pansak #asian #southeastasian #gamelan #mindanao #oakland #habultiyahian (at Oakland Asian Cultural Center)
between getting a new dog, learning kulintang, dealing with visiting family, writing my book, figuring out my next year, dance rehearsals, researching, and battling my low self-esteem, i finally graduated from my MA in creative writing last friday! it’s been 6 years in the making–from UP diliman to SFSU. for graduation, i decided to honor my ancestors & culture by wearing a baro ng tagalog in a hand-embroidered linen cloth and a mandarin/collarless style, the way it used to look before hispanic influence, along with a handwoven #patadyong from the #visayas, the nearest surviving form of the handwoven #tapis that the #lusung men–#tagalog & #kapampangan–wore along with their #baro. it’s a shame i couldn’t get sampaguita garlands–i chose orchids instead, equally abundant & used in the #philippines. #malong #sarong #barong #barongtagalog #pilipino #filipino #philippine #hablon #luzon #pilipinas #calicut #southeastasian #asean #aseanman #asian #asianguy #lei #graduate (at Embarcadero)
