La MaMa E.T.C. presents
KINDING SINDAW
in
PARANG SABIL
A Dramatic Adaptation of the Ballad of the Tausug People

With Guest Performances By Reynaldo S. Galang and members of Bakbakan International.

November 18-21, 2004
La MaMa E.T.C.
74A East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003
Showtimes:
November 18-21, 2004: Thurs-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun at 2:30 and 7:30 pm.
Tickets: $20.00. Student, Senior and Group Discounts Offered.
Box Office: 212-475-7710
Online Ticketing available at www.lamama.org

New York - "Parang Sabil" (Sword of Honor) is Kinding Sindaw's dance and music drama of the conquest of the Tausug people by the Americans, a historical event of the previous century. This story is immortalized in the "Parang Sabil" ballad of the Tausugs.

"The Parang Sabil" adaptation intertwines Tausug dance, music and storytelling with the recreation of the 1906 massacre of the Tausugs, an event that outraged the writer Mark Twain. His commentaries are also part of the dance drama.

Reynaldo S. Galang, co-founder and director of Bakbakan International, plays the proud and regal Sultan in "Parang Sabil." Steven Antonsson and Arnold Provido, Bakbakan International members, appear as American soldiers. All three martial artists perform the signature movements and skills of the Filipino warrior arts organization. Kuntaw Silat, akin to Indonesian Silat, will also be performed in the production.

Some Tausug dances in "Parang Sabil" depict the ocean waves, butterflies, turtles and fish. The Pangalay dance is regal for its outwardly curved hands and subtle head and shoulder gestures. Accompanying the dances are Tausug chants and music, played on instruments such as the xylophone-like gabang and the kulintang, a horizontally laid set of bronze kettle gongs.

Kinding Sindaw (Dance of Light), a resident company at La MaMa, was founded in 1992 by by Potri Ranka Manis, the daughter of a Sultan of the Maranao people of Mindanao, a true modern-day princess and tradition-bearer. She conceptualized and choreographed "Parang Sabil." Ellen Stewart, director of La MaMa E.T.C., directed the production. Kinding Sindaw's repertory is built upon the dances, music, and orature of the T'boli, Maranao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Jama Mapun, Higaoonon, Tausug and Bagobo peoples.

Kinding Sindaw asserts, preserves, reclaims, and re-creates the traditions of dance, music, martial arts, storytelling, and orature of the indigenous peoples of the Philippines. By asserting their arts and traditions, the historical and contemporary stories of these peoples are brought to life.

See pictures of Parang Sabil cast.