FILIPINO PERFORMING ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO
spring 2008
USF is host to one of the longest-running student-led Pilipino Cultural Nights (PCNs). PCNs are widespread across campuses with Filipino-American students: typically, they consist of skits and traditional folk dances, and often include other more contemporary dances. This semester USF’s Kasamahan (Filipino student organization) hosted their 35th annual PCN, better known on campus as “Barrio Fiesta.”
In addition to regular rehearsals, students enrolled in Barrio Fiesta were required to periodically read, discuss and write about assigned texts from time to time. Students learned the history, technique, and meaning of the different Filipino folk dance suites, and learned common themes, techniques of performance, backgrounds and philosophies of Filipinos in performing arts. They participated in the complex planning system behind barrio, and contributed to a richer critical dialogue on Filipinos in the performing arts.