♪♪♪ ♪ We say "Mabuhay," ♪ ♪ we say "Mabuhay" ♪ ♪ under the blue skies ♪ ♪ where our friends sit by.

♪ ♪ A greeting of farewell, ♪ ♪ a toast that will wear well, ♪ ♪ we raise our voices ♪ ♪ and we say "Mabuhay."

♪♪ Jay Jay Maniquis: Today we're in Mira Mesa to see a performance by Samahan Filipino American Performing Arts and Education Center.

Growing up in Mira Mesa, I truly enjoyed watching dances like these.

Those of us who live in areas with large Filipino communities don't realize what a luxury and necessity it is to engage with our culture like this.

Two Samahan leaders share their thoughts with me today about the importance of what they do.

Jay Jay: Hi, Michelle.

How are you doing?

Michelle Camaya Julian: Hi.

Doing well.

Jay Jay: Thanks for coming out and performing for us today.

Michelle: My name is Michelle Camaya Julian, and I've been a part of Samahan since I was 8 years old.

I was a junior dancer, then I became a company dancer, then I became a choreographer and a teacher.

I was vice president of the organization at some point.

Yeah, many roles, many hats.

Jay Jay: You've had many hats throughout the years so you've seen it grow.

How long has the dance group been around?

Michelle: Well, the organization is celebrating its 50 years next year in 2024, and the organization was created by Dr. Lolita Diñoso Carter.

She passed away, and so we're holding down her legacy just to help share the rich, diverse culture of the Philippines.

I mean, there's so many dance styles from the Philippines, so many islands in the Philippines.

So Samahan, we wanted to bring all the cultural diversity and traditions via the dances, the music, the costuming; even singing now to the younger generations and to the adults, whoever wants to learn and is interested.

And in fact a proud thing about Samahan is some of the dances that you saw today mothers were dancing with their sons.

Jay Jay: Yeah, I saw that.

Michelle: Yeah, it's intergenerational.

So that's a really big plus for our company.

Jay Jay: Speaking of the dances that you showed today, can you go through what you presented us?

Michelle: Well, today we presented dances from all over, dances influenced from the Maria Clara genre.

Those were the more elaborate dresses.

You also had some dances where the girls were having the tambourines, beautiful gowns.

And then we also represented dances from the rural barrio of Philippines where you saw dances like Binasuan where we're dancing with the glasses balanced atop our head and balancing the glasses on our hands, and the very well-known Tinikling dance that you learned today from the Mindanao region, the Maguindanao music, and dances from the southern Philippines as well.

Jay Jay: I was wondering, how long did it take for you to learn to keep that glass on your head?

Michelle: Well, when I was younger, we did learn with tin cans on our head balancing.

So many, many, many years.

And it's not just balancing it on the head, it's the hand movement as well trying to not knock it over with our hands.

Jay Jay: So you've been in many different types of dance.

Again, you talk about being in those different types of dance groups.

Michelle: I'm a lover of dance.

So I started when I was 4 with ballet and I went on to like tap, jazz, modern, Philippine folk dance with Samahan, ballroom, theater arts; and I made a big career with--performing "The Lion King" on Broadway, so--and a lot of other musicals.

So I always come back to Samahan.

I'm living here in San Diego now.

It just brings me back to that sense of community and pride.

And the other kind of dancing it kind of hurts my body a lot, and this kind of dancing it's joyful.

You can do it till the day I die.

Jay Jay: It's spiritual to you, right?

It just feeds your soul?

Michelle: It is, and it keeps me connected with our community.

Jay Jay: Back to what we were doing today and all the beautiful costumes and dresses and the designs, can you talk a little bit about that and elaborate about them?

Michelle: Well, as you can see--I mean, this malong that I have on, I actually got this when we went to Mindanao back in 2019, being exposed to not just like the beautiful dancing and music but the costumes and bringing that back and providing Samahan with the costumes.

It's just--it means a lot to be able to represent the underrepresented cultures and bring it back to the United States and have our young dancers really see these--this richness from the motherland.

So we like to honor that by going to the Philippines and purchasing costumes from there and bringing it back here for our company to use.

Jay Jay: I think it's really amazing to see the kids and the juniors dancing in the costumes.

Michelle: To be able to share that with the younger kids these days, it just--it fills my heart.

It fills our organization's heart.

I mean, that's what we're here for, to pass on the torch and to share the beauty of our culture with the younger generation.

Jay Jay: In terms of carrying on the tradition of Samahan, how do we keep this moving like well past 50 years?

Michelle: Well, parents enroll their kids in it, right?

Find interest in it, expose them to it, bring them to performances.

We're here as a resource.

We love to share our knowledge of Philippine cultural dance with the community.

So we're here--Samahan is here for the community.

Jay Jay: Well, Michelle, thank you so much, and I really appreciate you coming out and bringing everybody here to show us a little bit of the Filipino tradition here.

Michelle: Thank you.

Our joy.

Our pleasure.

Jay Jay: Hi.

Jay Jay.

Nice to meet you.

Dorothy Parker Corona: Nice to meet you, I'm Dorothy.

I am going to show you the basic movements of Tinikling.

Jay Jay: I have two left feet, so this is going to be-- Dorothy: We will only use your left side.

Jay Jay: The Tinikling is an indigenous dance that mimics birds jumping in and out of rice fields.

The Tinkling is always a crowd favorite because it's a challenge to keep up with the rhythm and movements while avoiding being caught by the poles.

Dorothy: Loosen your arms.

In, in, out.

In, in, out.

And smile.

In, in, out.

In, in, out.

In, in, out.

That's great.

In, in, out.

In, in, out.

In, in--yeah, you got it.

That looks really good.

Just add a twist to your shoulders.

Jay Jay: Got it.

Dorothy: You want to try with some music?

Jay Jay: Yeah, let's do it with some music.

Yeah.

Dorothy: Okay.

We're not going to hold hands so you can concentrate.

Ready?

Jay Jay: Got you.

Dorothy: Tap, tap, two.

Tap, tap, three.

In, in--yeah, I just-- this again.

Yeah.

Very nice.

You did it.

Jay Jay: I had to look.

I had to look.

Dorothy: Yeah.

Good job.

Jay Jay: Thank you so much.

Dorothy: You're welcome.

Bernard Ellorin: So I'm Dr. Bernard Ellorin.

I am the music director for the Samahan Filipino American Performing Arts and Education Center and the artistic director of the Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble.

So the Kulintang ensemble that's found in the southern Philippines, it's supported by larger gong and drum instruments.

So we have the main melodic instrument here called the kulintang.

We have a goblet-shaped drum called a dabakan, and then we have these hanging gongs here called the amung, which is sort of the bass to the ensemble, the timekeepers called the babendil, and this gongs right behind you--these hanging gongs are called gandingan, which is used as a form of communication.

Jay Jay: Thank you so much for performing for us today, and we've seen so many great cultural performances and the music that you play.

When did you get into Filipino music and wanting to show it here in San Diego?

Bernard: It all started at the age of 10.

Like any Asian American, Filipino-American child, you know, their mom wants them to take piano lessons.

For our founder the late Dr. Lolita Carter, she was recruiting members to join Samahan, and my mom wanted to learn--wanted me to learn about an aspect of Filipino culture through music because she noticed I was picking up the piano.

And so she first had me try out this instrument right here called the bandurria, which is a 14-string Filipino-style mandolin.

I started learning how to play the bandurria, you know, in your traditional Filipino folk songs, for Tinikling that you saw earlier.

Jay Jay: That you guys made me do?

Bernard: Yeah.

Jay Jay: What would you rate that, about two of ten?

Bernard: I'd probably rate your performance a seven.

Jay Jay: Thanks, man.

That's a C. Bernard: Yeah.

And then following the bandurria I learned how to play this instrument right here, the kulitang, which is a row of eight knobbed gongs; and this is an instrument found in the southern Philippines that's played during special occasions.

Jay Jay: How about--for this, how long did it take you to master?

Bernard: I'm still considering myself a lifelong student, you know, just learning intensely from different native master artists, you know, living both here in the United States and in Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

The late Danongan Kalanduyan who's from the Maguindanao people, he taught me private lessons through Samahan when we had a grant to have him teach us all these different instruments in the ensemble.

Jay Jay: So you went to Mindanao?

Bernard: Yes.

Jay Jay: Wow.

So that must have been a great experience.

Bernard: That's a humbling experience because everyone there in the village, they know the traditional repertoire and they have their own individual style of playing.

So I was humbled and honored to be in that space to learn with, you know, these cultural practitioners.

Jay Jay: And you're able to bring it here to San Diego, and I think that's a great thing because we have such a huge Filipino-American community and it's very important to keep that tradition going and the music going.

I noticed a lot of the outfits that you have on they're very colorful, and I really think that relates back to the Filipino people.

We're just--you know, we're very colorful people.

Bernard: We're colorful and diverse, and we have our own styles and genres of music.

So what we were presenting to you is just, you know, different regional genres of music and dance.

Jay Jay: And you guys did a set with just the music earlier.

Can you talk about that?

Bernard: Yes.

So that set is special because kulintang music in particular is traditionally played by women.

And so we were highlighting some of the two female performing artists in our group.

First one was Kim Kalanduyan.

She was playing some traditional pieces from her family called Duyog and Sinulog, and those are older pieces.

Followed by Kim was a piece called "Kapagonor," which is from the Maranao people that highlights a female performing artist as she does the style called Kapangolilat, which is a fancy way of twirling these decorated sticks.

Jay Jay: Is there something that like sticks out to you that you hold like near and dear to your heart?

Bernard: My proudest moments were watching my students and my apprentices succeed.

Kim Kalanduyan was one of them.

She's the granddaughter of my kulintang teacher.

And when they perform and they're successful, that's my proudest moment, seeing, you know, my students succeed on the stage; and I think doing extensive field research going to the Philippines with like a team of like my closest Samahan friends and colleagues and we're learning the material and then us immersing ourselves with master artists and like knowing that what we're doing is acceptable to them is my proudest moment.

Jay Jay: In terms of the future of keeping this tradition and the music alive, what do you think are things we need to do as Filipino Americans to keep it alive, keep it going?

Bernard: Just seeking it out; having that seeking spirit to learn, you know, aspects of your culture and heritage, whether it be the arts, the history, you know, some entertainment.

You know, Samahan is here as a resource, especially for those who are going through an identity crisis.

We're here to promote the culture and the arts and instill a sense of pride because that was--that's what Samahan was for me growing up, you know, as a child in like the '80s and '90s where I saw a lack of representation in the media.

So this was like an example of something positive for me.

So like if anyone's going through that right now, just, you know, learn, immerse yourself, dig deeper.

Exactly.

Go to your roots.

Always go back to your roots literally and figuratively.

Jay Jay: Thank you so much for doing this and performing and showing me a little bit about the instruments, and I appreciate you, Mabuhay.

Thank you.

Bernard: Mabuhay.

♪ Under the blue skies ♪ ♪ where our friends sit by.

♪ ♪ A greeting of farewell, ♪ ♪ a toast that will wear well, ♪ ♪ we raise our voices ♪ ♪ and we say "Mabuhay."

♪ ♪ Mabuhay.

♪♪ Carlo Darang: So, creatives, please I think just stick to like your guns even though it's pretty hard to like make money and make a living sometimes and then, I think, after that like everything else will follow suit.

People will like vibe with your energy and the pride that you have in your work and even just the atmosphere that you bring into every space that you're in.

So whether it's just dance or just the charisma and everything else that comes with it, keep that with you everywhere you go.

Rio Villa Ezell: Carlo Darang is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher.

Born and raised in San Diego, his performances, classes, and choreography reach international stages.

From Coachella to Singapore, we talk about his first experiences of dance stemming from his Filipino culture and how it has catapulted his passion and career.

Carlo: My name is Carlo Darang.

I'm a dancer, choreographer based out of San Diego, California, part of this group called Kinjaz based out of LA.

Choreo Cookies I'm the current director right now.

I direct with two other people.

Choreo Cookies is a competitive team.

So we compete at like the different dance competitions around SoCal, and then with Gwownups I helped found that with my significant other.

Rio: And it's for grownups?

Carlo: It's for grownups.

It's for grownups to feel like a kid.

Rio: Oh, I love that.

Dance really does that for you, doesn't it?

Carlo: It really does.

I think sometimes I'm like, "I'm 32."

And people are like, "You are?"

And I'm like, "I'm hanging out with like 20-year-olds all the time.

So like they share the secrets of being young."

They just give you young energy.

Rio: I love your San Diego hat, and I noticed that you wear a San Diego hat in a lot of the videos that you have.

Can you talk about like being from San Diego and taking kind of like your dance style from San Diego to LA or wherever you go?

Carlo: In San Diego we just like to do things a little bit differently.

I think we take pride in that.

Might have to do something with not being near the industry, and then we kind of have to create our own version of what that is.

It's just a specific flavor.

It's hard to put a finger on it, but I definitely wear the San Diego cap a lot.

I have a lot of other friends who are from San Diego that we work together in LA and they kind of do the same thing.

We try to rep and just try to also just do a good job on any set we're at with this hat on for sure.

Rio: And so how did you get into dancing?

What were your first experiences?

Carlo: I was always into dancing when I was younger I think just being Filipino, family parties.

I think I was like 5 or 6 years old.

My cousins wanted to dance in front of everybody.

Like, all the aunties were like, "They're going to go dance in the garage.

Let's go."

And then we'd watch them, and I was like, "Oh my God, this is amazing.

Like you can just do that, like just dance for everybody and it's super cool?"

And then went home and like tried to do it.

When I formally got into dance was Pilipino Culture Night in high school.

Rio: I loved culture night.

Carlo: Yes.

Just learning even like Tinikling and like all these other cultural dances, and then it's also like, "Hey, we got to do hip hop."

I think to explore different sides of our cultural identity was really cool, whether it be the traditional part or even like what resonates with us today.

Yeah.

There was just something about being around people I was very comfortable with that have kind of the same family values and energy and like--it just made dancing and like learning all these things like a little bit more familiar.

Rio: One of the dance groups that I saw a lot as a high schooler was Jabbawockeez, and they wore masks; and I heard that part of the reason why they wore masks was so that race didn't play any part in them being seen and growing in their popularity so that they could just be anyone behind the mask.

And then we find out that a lot of them are people of color, a lot of them are Filipinos.

How is it being a Filipino in the dance world?

Do you feel supported or do you feel like there are obstacles?

Carlo: I do feel a little bit of both.

I think growing up in San Diego we were surrounded by a lot of Filipino dancers, but there was also that same sentiment of like--I feel like we have to kind of prove that we can do this because obviously with like hip hop and all that stuff that's coming from black culture.

You know what I mean?

So it was like, "You know, we're here--we're guests in here, but at the same time like, you know, we enjoy this and we really love it and we want to like give to it."

With Jabbawockeez I do remember watching like "America's Best Dance Crew" in high school in which I found out like, yo, a bunch of them are Filipino.

Like it was that pride of like, "Yo, like, you know what?

Like I don't have to feel weird for wanting to dance."

So I think just even feeling that connection 'cause some of my mentors, a lot of them were also like Filipino or even Vietnamese or just people of color as well.

And I think just to be able to share that and like take pride in what we do and seeing somebody else on TV like be that face like--yeah, you don't see brown faces like that on TV.

And this was what, 2000, 2008.

And then now it's--you see it all the time.

So I think Jabba definitely set the precedent for things like that to happen and like empower a lot of us to be like, "Yo, you know, we can work hard and like see ourselves somewhere like that."

Rio: Yeah.

It's amazing that once we saw who was underneath the mask we felt empowered because we realized, wow, they were--some of them were Filipino.

So it's amazing that at first with the mask everyone could relate to them 'cause they didn't know what they looked like, but once we saw that they were Filipino and they unmasked themselves it was empowering.

Carlo: Yeah.

Like, "I'm Filipino."

You know what I mean?

Because before people were like, "What are you?

What is that?"

Like at least when I was growing up.

Rio: How was that for you growing up Filipino?

Carlo: At least in like elementary and middle school I feel like it was one of those like trying to find like where do you belong.

Like, "I don't even know."

Wasn't until high school when I joined the Filipino club and there was like wearing that like Filipino badge with pride, and I think just understanding that a lot of the things that we do and how we carry ourselves is the reason why we can be very sociable or it's easy for us to gravitate towards that energy or our love for music and dance and even just our hospitality and stuff like that.

Like you just--that familiar energy just feels like home no matter if you're in San Diego, LA, or wherever.

So yeah, I just feel like it was just a benefit being Filipino.

It sounds really weird.

Rio: I would definitely say it's a benefit of being Filipino, you know.

And even though we weren't born in the Philippines, like it's in our blood, it's in our DNA to be that way.

Have you worked in the Philippines?

Carlo: I've taught in the Philippines.

My dad's family is from Baguio, so we were able to organize a class out in Baguio in the mountains, which is really cool.

I think even to be able to teach in the Philippines and they also share that like, "Yo, like, it's so cool to see like a Filipino like doing their thing, you know, and like making it out there."

Yeah, we feel that support every time we go out there as well.

Rio: Do you want to go show us some of your dance moves?

Carlo: Yeah.

Rio: Let's go as long as you don't make me dance.

Rio: So how do you come up with your choreography?

Carlo: Do I want the audience kind of like ride with me, or do I want the audience to kind of like be taken aback, or even from the perspective of a dancer do I want the dancer to feel like they are--what are they saying to the audience?

Are they a little bit more aggressive?

Are they kind of like--kind of taking it easy and being more conversational and how can I use my movement to just invoke that feeling?

I think I like to incorporate like a lot of silliness and a lot of like character within what I do, like not being afraid to like showcase.

Like it doesn't have to be too serious.

But then when we get serious, that contrast of like being silly and then getting into that like serious or maybe more like swaggy, for lack of a better term.

I think that contrast just kind of provides like a more like complete feel of character for me, at least.

Rio: So you're performing at Coachella?

Who are you performing with?

Carlo: Artist named Jackson Wang.

Yeah.

Rio: I'm a big K-pop fan.

So--oh my God.

Okay.

What's that like performing at Coachella?

Carlo: Right now we are in the middle of rehearsals every day.

It's kind of like an 8-hour day warming up, making sure my body can keep up, massage guns, foam rollers; all of the recovery stuff.

Rio: Yep.

Rest is important.

Carlo: And rest.

Yeah.

When I come home, it's like, "Hey, you want to play basketball?"

"No, we're not playing basketball until after Coachella."

Definitely a lot of like taking care of myself and just prioritizing like how can I make sure that I am fully primed in the best when I enter that studio everytime.

Rio: Yeah, 'cause as a dancer your body is your medium.

Right?

So you have to take care of yourself.

So dance was actually one of my first experiences with being creative as a kid, and I was really like shy and soft spoken.

So it just gave me a way to express myself that didn't require speaking.

So obviously I didn't pursue dancing professionally, but it was like my step into being a creative person.

So I'm just curious like what is your advice for creative people, people who want to pursue dancing professionally or just using it as a way to express themselves.

Carlo: I think as creatives like we have to--yes, we have to explore and do certain things, especially when we're commissioned for work, but like what's that thing that like isn't going to change or that thing that's going to keep you going 'cause--especially as a dancer that--I've been dancing for like 15 years and I've had those points where like you are going to get burnt out and even something so fun can be like, "I kind of don't want to do this right now.

But how do I re-evaluate and make sure that like what's that thing that I fell in love with, what's that reminder?

Okay, I have to make sure that that flavor is still in there."

So, creatives, please I think just stick to like your guns even though like it's pretty hard to like make money and like make a living sometimes and then, I think, after that like everything else will follow suit.

People will like vibe with your energy and the pride that you have in your work and even just the atmosphere that you bring into every space that you're in.

So whether it's just dance or just like the charisma and everything else that comes with it, keep that with you everywhere you go.

Rio: Well, I just think it's amazing that your choreography, your art is literally traveling the world and you get to sit back and watch that and enjoy that.

So props to you for the work that you do.

I just think you're really cool, and I'm really happy to have been able to talk to you.

Carlo: Happy to be here.

Rio: It's no wonder dance is such a big part of Filipino culture with the way it allows us to translate our pride, creativity, and history into movement.

My takeaway is that dance celebrates our shared humanity, inspires future creatives, and unites people across continents and cultures.

What a gift.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ male: Your favorite flavor is orange flavor?

male: You know the orange drink?

Rio: Oh my God, you guys said that the same time?

♪♪♪ female announcer: Support for this program comes from the KPBS Explore Local Content fund, supporting new ideas and programs for San Diego.