About Kayamanan Ng Lahi :)

For Immediate Release

Contact: Ave Jacinto
Administrative Director for Kayamanan Ng Lahi
kayamanan@earthlink.net ~ www.kayamanan.org

PHILIPPINE MUSIC AND DANCE INTERCONNECT

UNDER THE STARS AT FORD AMPHITHEATRE

Four Multi-Disciplinary Folk & Traditional Arts Groups
Collaborate For September 13 Event

(Los Angeles - September 4, 2008)

The Philippines' rich and diverse culture of dance and music will be presented in celebratory fashion -- under the stars – as Kayamanan Ng Lahi Philippine Folk Arts presents MAGKAUGNAY (“Interconnectedness”), Saturday, September 13, 8 p.m. at The Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East in the Hollywood Hills just off the 101 Freeway across from the Hollywood Bowl.

Presented as part of The Ford Amphitheatre's LA Oasis Summer Series, the evening premieres a creative, rarely performed vibrant collaborative numbers featuring a mix of traditional and post-modernist dance accompanied musically by the resounding rhythms of drums and metal gongs, the spellbinding sounds of the kulintang and the splendidly sublime stringed rondalla instruments.

MAGKAUGNAY features a range of specialized works led by Kayamanan Ng Lahi, with northern hill tribe celebrations by Institute of Native Arts, lowland Spanish-tinged festivities by the Rondalla Club of Los Angeles, and the southern islands' time-honored cultural heritage represented via San Diego’s Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble.

The evening marks the first time that all four accomplished groups, rooted in tradition but inspired by contemporary movements, have interconnected to celebrate the Philippine spirit in music and dance.

“Kayamanan Ng Lahi is excited to be working with Institute of Native Arts, Rondalla Club of Los Angeles and Pakaraguian, “ Joel Jacinto, cultural program director of Kayamanan Ng Lahi noted. “These groups are the best in their genre of Philippine dance and music. Although a small island country, the Philippines is very diverse in cultural traditions. Our hope with this collaboration is to show that however different our cultural heritage between the different regions of the archipelago, Filipinos are working together to build a stronger community here in America and we are achieving it through the universal themes and through love of dance and music.”

The event will also feature special guest soloist Camile Velasco, the American Idol Season 3 top ten finalist, to serenade the audience with a Filipino love song as part of the production.

Tickets, priced at $25 for adults and $5 full-time students and children, can be purchased at www.FordTheatres.org or by calling the Ford box office at (323) 461-3673. The $5 tickets are made possible thanks to a grant from Target, sponsor of Target Dance Series at the Ford. Target strives to make the arts affordable and accessible to youth and families because the arts help foster an appreciation and understanding of various cultures and points of view. Tickets are also available by through Kayamanan Ng Lahi at 310-391-2357 or via email at kayamanan@earthlink.net.

More on the Artists:

Kayamanan Ng Lahi Philippine Folk Arts is a critically acclaimed non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, California. Under the leadership of Joel Jacinto, Barbara Ele and Ave Jacinto, Kayamanan is committed to presenting, promoting and preserving the richness and diversity of Philippine culture through dance and music.

Kayamanan's artistic approach is based on anthropological research, resulting in a strong and appropriate translation between traditional folk and folkloric Philippine dance and music forms and styles - from the village to the stage. Noted for its extensive dance repertoire, costumes and music ensembles.

Kayamanan has received numerous accolades including L.A. Times' description of one of the group's concert as " ...consistently exciting and a triumph of enlightened cultural preservation." In addition to performing and holding weekly workshops, Kayamanan also plays a leadership role in providing technical assistance, training and consultation, instruction and planning of innovative and culturally appropriate performances and programs in folk dance to many student and community folk dance groups across the United States. For more information, go to www.kayamanan.org, email kayamanan@earthlink.net or call 310-391-2357.

Rondalla Club of Los Angeles (RCLA)
Rondalla, the traditional string ensemble of the Philippines, often provides the music for Philippine folk dances and is prominent in community celebrations like fiestas, weddings, and other civic and social events serving the Filipino community. Since its inception (1991), RCLA has remained active in various Filipino social and civic functions and is recognized as one of the leading rondallas in southern California. It has been a familiar fixture in the Pilipino Cultural Nights (PCN) held in different universities, colleges and high schools like UCLA, USC, UCI, UCR, CSUN, CSUF, Troy High and Whitney High to name a few. Together, RCLA's members have decades of world-class rondalla playing experience between them, having toured, performed and taught extensively throughout the U.S. For more information go to www.rondalla.org or www.myspace.com/RCLA, email info@rondalla.org or call Tagumpay De Leon at (818) 842-8655 or Patrick Tanega, (213) 399-2117.

The Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble of the Samahan Filipino American Performing Arts & Education Center performs gong-chime music and dances from the southern Philippines. Formed in 2003 by UCLA alumnists, Peter Paul De Guzman, Bernard Ellorin, Mary T. Lacanlale, Eleanor Lipat- Chesler, and Nickki Martin-Lustre, Pakaraguian has been performing at various festivals, lectures, venues and universities around southern California.

The group’s main purpose is to accurately represent and educate its audiences on the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) cultures of the Maguindanaon, Maranao, Tausug, Sama, and Yakan ethno-linguistic groups. It is important to note that music and dances from this region are NOT “Muslim music or dances.” These indigenous Philippine cultural arts forms originating from the Muslim Filipinos in Mindanao and Sulu are a part of the Philippines’ Southeast Asian heritage. For more information, contact Bernard Ellorin at 1-619-892-2297. email: bernardellorin@yahoo.com.

Institute of Native Arts (a subsidiary of BIBAK Dance Ensemble)
The Institute of Native Arts (INA) is a cultural arts ensemble based in Los Angeles, which seeks to preserve, promote and perpetuate the indigenous arts of the Igorot hill tribes of Northern Luzon, Philippines. INA is comprised of first and second-generation Igorot-Americans with the purpose of educating the world on the colorful Igorot culture through showcases, seminars, workshops and arts exchanges. Armed with their ever-present brass gangsa, INA's upcoming projects include inventory of ancient artifacts and instruments, archiving native chants and songs, and developing their artistic knowledge to include traditions such as basket-weaving, bamboo instrument creation, tattooing, and recording ancient rites and rituals. For more information call Michael Wandag, Director: 323-378-9872 or Jennifer Catanes, Director: 310-775-1732

More on the Ford

The Ford Amphitheatre is located at 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068, just off the 101 Hollywood Freeway across from the Hollywood Bowl and south of Universal Studios. The grounds open two hours before showtime for picnicking. The Ford offers a number of dining options: a variety of food and beverages is available on site and box dinners for evening events may be ordered in advance. Patrons are welcome to bring their own food and drink. The Ford is disabled accessible. Portable wireless listening devices are available upon request.

On-site, stacked parking costs $5 per vehicle for evening. For evening shows only, FREE non-stacked parking serviced by a FREE shuttle to the Ford, for evening amphitheatre performances only, is available at the Universal City Metro Station lot at Lankershim Blvd. and Campo de Cahuenga. The shuttle, which cycles every 15-20 minutes, stops in the "kiss and ride" area.

This event is part of the Ford Amphitheatre 2008 Season, a multi-disciplinary arts series produced by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission in cooperation with Los Angeles County based arts organizations. For a complete season schedule, directions to the theater and parking information, log on to www.FordTheatres.org.

MAGKAUGNAY, an event produced by Kayamanan Ng Lahi, is funded in part by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and presented by Asian Journal, Inc.

SPEECH: The Stillness Of Me

Good evening Madam President, Fellow Toastmasters and Honored Guests.

My name is JNET and I am presenting my first speech:

Seeing me in this dress, you would probably find it hard to believe that I am an introvert. I am someone who romances silence even though I am a musician and teacher. I am someone who appreciates stillness even though I am a dancer.

I'd rather hear about you but I have 10 boxes to fill. My ambition tonight is for you to learn a bit about myself by sharing a particular day in my life that occurred, a particular day of the week in my life and how my life is colored thusly. And to also to share in such a way that connects us despite respective cultures, ages, and experience....

Firstly, a favorite quote by a wise Jesuit priest...

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

We are NOT human beings have a spiritual experience. WE ARE SPIRITUAL beings HAVING a HUMAN experience...

And what is experience to me? It's an opportunity to wear a costume and be present on stage to play with the human experience.

I think my very first human experience was a very positive one.

My mother says that on the day I was born at a tiny military hospital in the Philippines, not a single baby girl had been borne there for at least a month. I can only imagine the greeting I received then. But I know a genuine hello today really stays with me. Those passing hellos from the hospital in the Philippines, to grade school teachers, college professors, and kind neighbors, now deliver me here to Toastmasters so that I may address you and ask you to wonder about your very first human experience.

Do you care that I've lived in Florida, Virginia, San Diego or Boston? Does it matter to you the things I've done along the way? How do I best give you a sense of who I am within six minutes? And how does an introvert get away with making her first speech in a ball gown anyway?

I think my friends here will agree with me that I am having a lot of fun with this thing called life. In many ways, Life is like a gala. Should I ever lose my shoe at a given moment, I am still the princess.

My family and friends are the jewels that adorn me. The education given me by professors, mentors and directors in my school of life has given me color and sound.

But I don't need this dress to explain the canvas of my life. Instead let me share with you my Sundays. This spiritual being out on a human experience has not been in church as much as she'd like these past several months. Instead, I've been at dance rehearsal at 10am every Sunday morning. My hair put up in a bun, dressed in a t-shirt or tank top with petticoats over yoga pants. My dance group is preparing to perform at the Ford this coming September 13th.

I will not deny that being able to dance in beautiful costumes thrills me. But I also get a thrill out of the arduous rehearsal. For 8 hours, we'll be taught basics to put 40 dancers into choreography about the stage. On a blank canvas of dancers in petticoats, Philipino culture, art, and history is put. We all look the same on Sunday.

We all come from busy lifestyles. We are all tired. We are all excited.

I go home by 6pm. Sometimes I'll go to a salsa dance class. Most times, I need to be home early so that I can broadcast my internet radio show.

"Good evening Los Angeles and beyond, Welcome to More Than a Headshot on blogtalkradio, and this is your host JNET, perpetual negativity slayer, bridge builder and lemonade maker, here with another episode for all you rugged angels out there.... "

Life has not been easy. Life is not easy. I've moved so much that I never kept a childhood friend. My father died while I was in grade school. I am not happy with my pirouettes. I wish I could be more focused in my writing. I wish I didn't know the thrive survive divide. My mom is about to have surgery and the challenge to take care of her between my brothers and myself ...

ahhh... that's the stage getting hot, I suppose.

Some ask in their heads... "what would Jesus do?".. I also ask... "what would Beethoven do" .. What would a perpetual negativity slayer do? How do I make something beautiful out of this?

pursue a mastered life, a masetro's life... compose beauty, passion, and possibility. i know many of you know that still place. that place where a moment to be content, sentimental, or thankful takes a peaceful stretch to heave a happy sigh before getting clobbered over the head a dozen sugar glass bottles.

From the still place of myself... I say hello and pleased to meet you... to meet you and speak to the still place of you.

JNET

Relaxing Within a New York Minute

I am living the rugged angel life in Los Angeles and it is far from the "relaxed" I'd like to live.

Car stress...

I do love my bug... unfortunately, a mysterious electrical issue has now stumped TWO specialists. My car is only happy in Los Angeles and totally drains out of juice when it travels over 100 miles.... which means visits to my family in San Diego has been accompanied by a good deal of car stress.

I am renting a car tonight instead to head to San Diego.

D's mother unexpectedly passed away and I am off to my 4th funeral within the past 24 months. (5th... if you include the little memorial I had for my beta fish at my rose bush).

I race back up to Los Angeles to return the rental, teach and go to rehearsal...

I am performing at the Ford for their family event series of "edu-tainment" on arts and culture...

I'd like to do a million other things to catch up with myself and despite the hiccups of life over car and annoyances, I find I can relax and enjoy random moments. I am not writing as much as I'd like. I have drafted so many thoughts and left them uncompleted. I am not practicing the piano as I'd like; my fingers are stiff. I am not attending to my yoga practice... my quiet moments are in the car or shower in abbreviated meditations.... but I am enjoying my students, the rigor of my dance rehearsals, Toastmasters, a weekly podcast to host, the dotting of social parties while I ache from my Pilates practice.

If I barely have time to write, I also don't have time to be upset. My quiet times are left to picking up my room ... my less than quiet times is left to E and figuring out salt shaker techniques in balancing relationship with personal pursuits.

E: "Do you want me to disappear for a while?"

JNET: "That is no use. I'm trying to figure out the balance... otherwise the final decision will have to be give up trying to fit you in my life. For now, Life is messy until I can learn to manage my time with you in my life."

Even if E is not the ONE, learning to be happy, successful and having it all is a good lesson. If he is the ONE, hopefully I'll figure this balance out...

All for practicing... happily ever after.

Back to my work :)

JNET