International Dance Conference: Official Press Release

The AlunAlun Dance Circle in cooperation with the Japan Foundation Manila Office, the city government of Marikina, UNESCO Philippines and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) launches the International Conference on the Conservation and Popularization of Pangalay and Related Asian Dance Cultures. The conference will be on 8-10 February 2007 at the Riverbend Hotel, Riverpark, Marikina city.

Timely set on February Arts Month, the conference aims to call attention to a major problem in cultural preservation: Many traditional dance forms are vanishing without having been properly documented. The reason is because traditional cultures in developing countries of Asia are pushed to the edge of obscurity by factors like westernization, globalization, war, poverty, environmental destruction and other threats.

Pangalay is one such dance form in Asia that is being pushed to oblivion. This little-known dance style in the classical tradition from Southern Philippines has the richest movement vocabulary among all Philippine dances. The techniques and aesthetics of the pangalay bear closest affinity to the Cambodian, Thai and Indonesian styles of dancing.

The conference is a pioneering effort of the AlunAlun Dance Circle (ADC). ADC is a non-government cultural organization dedicated to the conservation and popularization of the pangalay.

The conference will bring together scholars, researches and grassroots cultural workers from Okinawa, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Cambodia and the US who believe in dance conservation. The conference strives to give central importance to marginalized art forms like traditional dance that are the key to strengthening a people’s cultural identity. It will draw attention to the necessity of keeping alive through dance the culture, the nature and aspirations of the people.

The conference is set on February 8-10, 2007 ay the Riverbend Hotel, Riverpark, Barangka, Marikina City. Registration starts at 8:00 a.m. For more information: