samar is a large island, the third largest in the philippines, which lies just northeast of tacloban. it is one of the poorest and most undeveloped areas of the country. yesterday ariella and i joined a local intern, mel, on a trip to see the annual santo nino festival in a town called paranas, about two hours north of tacloban. the festival is modeled after a much more famous one in cebu, an island to the west. it is a syncretistic festival that combines elements of catholicism and the animistic religions of the area prior to colonization. the different barangays (villages/neighborhoods) of the town each prepared their own large and elaborate dance presentation, complete with ornate costumes, for a massive weekend-long competetion between neighborhoods. each troupe had a theme, examples being fishermen, birds, shellfish, and fairies of the night. each group of performers had about 50 participants, mainly children, as well as their own musical emsemble, primarily drums and trumpets.
first they had a parade around the streets of the town, which ended at the town square. everyone crowded around, folks teetering on plastic chairs, hastily constructed bleachers, and the roofs of surrounding structures, all to catch a glimpse of the presentations. the festivities began with an arduous and underwhelming 20 minute reading of the official rules of the competition in english, a language which almost none of the attendees know. then, each group presented their ten minute long, cirque-de-soliel-style choreographed dance routine. it was truly amazing!
the last group to go had a feathered theme, and their dance centered around a morbidly obese teen, evidently the town’s most popular individual. she fluttered around the stage decked out in real feathers to deafening roars of excitement from the crowd, while her physically diminutive peers danced voraciously in the background. a winning team will be declared, and will be gifted a statuette of a saint to parade around, as well as a cash prize for their neighborhood, ideally used to purchase supplies for next year’s elaborate costumes. great way to spend a day!
