Ember of hope: ‘Dances of Lights’ sparks joy amid Kanlaon adversity

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — La Castellana in central Negros Occidental has been the worst-hit locality amid the current Kanlaon Volcano crisis. 

Since the volcano’s staggered major and minor eruptions from June 2024, residents from the villages located within the extended 6-kilometer danger zone in Kanlaon remain in evacuation centers.

Yet the locals still celebrate any good news, especially when it’s one of their own who makes Negros proud. 

Bailes de Luces or Dances of Lights — the town festival conceptualized in 2000 to honor the hard work of La Castellahanons toiling the sugarcane fields — recently received yet another accolade. 

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), citing La Castellana’s world-class show, bestowed the Ani ng Dangal award to Bailes de Luces in the field of dance. 

The citation, given to Filipino talents who earned honor in various international tilts, came months after Bailes de Luces emerged overall champion in the dance group-world category of the World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Long Beach California, USA.

“This will really boost our spirit to continue to be resilient despite the many challenges we’ve been facing,” said La Castellana Mayor Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilumutan, adding that the latest honor has been a “morale booster.”

The 25-man Bailes de Luces performers are locals, some still college students and town scholars. 

Even the group’s alumni, some public school teachers, still serve as trainers to the new members. 

They all remain dedicated, powering through amid the town crisis, thus making the recognitions even more meaningful. 

PHILIPPINE PRIDE. La Castellana, Negros Occidental’s Bailes de Luces performers win big in the United States.

Apol Embang —  who, alongside the late La Castellana mayor Enrico Elumba and Ali Guanzon, conceived the festival in 2000 — recalled how Bailes de Luces started as mere street dancing to add color to the town’s founding anniversary celebration every 5th of January.

Embang, a teacher-turned-couturier, said they were inspired by the men in the field who toiled the hacienda lands in La Castellana and celebrated like there’s a fiesta every time they get paid for their hard work. 

The farm workers in La Castellana used bamboo torches, or sulo in Hiligaynon, to illuminate the path, usually parading from the payout center to the town proper to buy their weekly needs, including food.

So during its maiden editions, the Bailes de Luces featured performers using bamboo torches in street dances. 

The show evolved over the years, with LED (light-emitting diode) lights now being used both in costumes and props, making the performances even more colorful and bright.

The Bailes de Luces first copped an international plum in 2022 when it won Best Foreign Performer during the Chunjang World Festival of Recollection in Wganju City, South Korea.

Last January, it also shone during the ILOmination Festival of Lights as part of the famed Iloilo City’s Dinagyang Festival, where Bailes de Luces won the crown and also swept other awards including Best in Costume, Lighted Costume Design, Light Design, and Production Design.

“We will not lose sight. We will not lose track,” said Nicor-Mangilumutan. “We will not succumb to whatever situation we have right now.”

And rightfully so as it’s the essence of Bailes de Luces — finding light amid the darkness. – Rappler.com