Three months before the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were implemented in March 2020, the De La Salle Culture and Arts Office with Ligaya Amilbangsa and the AlunAlun Dance Circle were partners in a project titled Art in Action held on 28-29 Nov 2019. The project enabled Ms. Amilbangsa and the ADC to reach out to the young people of the digital age.
On 28 Nov 28 2019, over 500 students experienced three hours of heritage-rich experience:
First was the film showing of Ang Pagbabalik sa Tawi-Tawi (Return to Tawi-Tawi), a full-length documentary on how pangalay/igal was researched, documented, and conserved by Ligaya Amilbangsa starting in the mid-1960s when she lived in the Sulu Archipelago after marrying a brother of the last reigning sultan of the Sulu Archipelago. After the film showing, the ADC performed a lecture-demonstration titled “What is Pangalay” showing the rich movement vocabulary of the living heritage which is pangalay/igal. Ligaya Amilbangsa also gave a short talk followed by an open forum to enable the students to give their feedback and ask questions. The sessions ended with audience participation in trying out basic pangalay movements, postures, and gestures with the supervision of ADC dancers and teachers.
On 29 Nov 2019, a three-hour workshop was held to enable more students to experience the traditional dance. ADC members who conducted the workshop were Mannex Siapno, Lyndie Literal, Levi Azarcon, Arafa Biste, and Rosalie Matilac. In the three-hour workshop, DLSU students learned that pangalay is not an easy art form because learning it takes discipline and patience. The session introduced the following: warm-up exercises, basic posture, basic movement vocabulary, breathing techniques, footwork, and basic movement combinations for the group work.
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