One With The Tribe: Part 2

Written by Chrishandra Sebastiampillai

Pictures by Jonathan Lim, Sarah Chong and Melissa Chia

<< One With The Tribe: Part 1                                  One With The Tribe: Part 3 >>

   On Saturday, 26th January, we were invited by Mr. Rommel Flogen to watch the last full dress rehearsal of Tribu Panayanon. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we were not able to make it in time to watch the full rehearsals, but caught the tail end of it, and managed to interview some of the student participants.

 *****

     I first spoke to Jan Jan, one of the male dancers of the troupe on the day of their opening salvo at the Grandstand. He is shy, a little awed by the attention from these foreigners, but speaks well and comfortably after a while. He calls me “Ma’am”, which throws me off for a bit. I want quite badly to correct him, but the crowd is too loud to make the effort worthwhile. Hanging over his shoulder and mugging for the camera throughout the entire conversation is one of the street boys we entertained during the practice. 

    Jan Jan is a veteran. At 18, he is older than most of the students, and has been participating in the Dinagyang competition for his school for the last five years. This means that he has graduated, and is in fact in college, but he tells me that he will always come back for his alma mater. I am impressed by the school spirit that the Dinagyang has helped in part to foster. He tells me that he sees the same things in his juniors- school spirit, discipline, self-expression and self-confidence are things he has learnt as a dancer, and things he continues to see in new dancers from the school. He thinks that the experience is a good one for them, and that they will learn what the “real Dinagyang” is through participating in the competition. It’s from him that I get the first mention of Jesus- “If we win, we will honour Señor Santo Niño”. No mention of Singapore, travelling or school pride- just Jesus. 

Three statues of Señor Santo Niño that will feature in the performance

    At this stage, the dancers all left in a hurry, and I was forced to abort any further attempts to interview anyone else. This brings us to the school hall, six days later. A blink of an eye for us travellers, but a lifetime in terms of practice, anticipation and anxiety for the dancers. We arrive late, just in time to catch a glimpse of brightly coloured costumes whirling in time to energetic drumbeats. The music ends, and the dancers collapse to the ground where they stand, bodies glistening from the exertion of the dance. Standing in front of them on a platform, Rommel addresses them in Tagalog over a loudspeaker. 

     Jan Jan spots me, and immediately makes his way to me, waving and smiling. “Hi Ma’am!” he says, beaming. I don’t have the heart to correct him, but barely manage to hide the flinch. I greet him in return, and ask him how he’s been. Working hard, comes the answer. Very excited, but also worried. I tell him not to worry, they’ll do just fine. I ask him to introduce me to one of the girls so I can talk to her. Obligingly, he disappears into the crowd of students, and returns with Apple. 

Meet Apple, a dancer from Tribu Panayanon!

     Apple is 20 years old, and has been imported from college to participate in the competition. She is utterly delighted to be interviewed, and smiles excitedly, pulling in some of her younger friends to pose for pictures. She tells me that the Dinagyang festival helps to build the larger ‘tribe’ that is the school. Citing attitude, discipline and unity as the most important things she has learnt, Apple believes that the young people of Iloilo should take any chance they get to participate in the Dinagyang. When I express surprise at her age, she tells me that the troupe is pretty diverse in age. They range from 13 to 20, making her among the eldest dancers there. Rommel says something into the loudspeaker, and Apple is off, apologizing profusely for her leaving. 

     I want to speak to the musicians- one of the things that had impressed me most when watching them at the opening salvo was the strong rhythm the drum line had. The leader of the band tells me that he is in charge of 78 musicians playing a total of 15 different types of percussive instruments. The music has been in the works for the last three months. I ask him what came first- the music or the moves. The answer is that they came together. He and Rommel have been working together for years. He is not in any way affiliated with the school, but is a freelancer, just like Rommel. 

The dance team resting after the exertion of their practice

     The hall is bustling and noisy, and there is just one more team I would like to talk to- the props grips. I make my way to the back of the hall, where they sit on various prop pieces that they have become protective of and attached to, despite the great inconvenience of dealing with them daily. By this stage, I have become something of a celebrity, and everywhere I turn, people are staring, waving and pointing at me. A group of boys cluster around, laughing and chattering in excitement when they find out that they will be interviewed. 

Boys listening closely to Rommel's instuctions

     I turn to the one in the middle, the oldest, the leader of the group. He confirms that they are the prop team. I ask them if they work very hard, to which I get a resounding “YES!”. I ask them if it is difficult work. I am about to get an answer when Rommel gets on the loudspeaker again telling them to get to their class rooms and go to sleep. It might only be 9:30 pm, but they are due to be up at 3 am for make-up and rehearsals. My props interviewees leave reluctantly, and I smile and wave as cheerfully at them as I can manage. 

    The props remain alone in the hall as students file out to various class rooms. To my surprise, the bulk of the props remain unadorned. Perhaps Tribu Panayanon is guarding their secrets closely. But more probable, the props remain unfinished to avoid unnecessary damage to them. The snake stands in the centre, now covered in some sort of greyish material, but still unpainted. 

The snake begins to take shape

    Tomorrow, the bakunawa of Iloilo City National High School will once again ride the skies to eat the moon.

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Chrishandra graduated from Monash University’s School of Arts and Social Sciences in November 2012, determined to go far in life.  She made it exactly three floors downstairs to the Advancement department where she is currently working till starting Honours in an office called ‘Relationship Management’.  Yes. Stop sniggering.