Join us in celebrating the cultures of the Philippines! Enjoy performaces, artmaking activites, a chef conversation, and storytime for kids.
Free admission all day!
This event will present a collaboration of performing artists from Malaya Filipino American Dance Arts, Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble, and Rocksteady Rondalla. Other partners include Bone Kettle Restaurant, Barnsdall Arts, and the Philippine Expressions Bookshop.
Malaya Filipino American Dance Arts (Malaya) is a Los Angeles-based company of artists who interpret Philippine culture to educate the American public through dance and music performances. In Tagalog, malaya means “to be free” and the root word alay means “to offer or pay tribute to.” Malaya represents the freedom to choose our identity as Filipino Americans embracing our ancestral and present culture. Led by Anna Lisa De Guzman, Executive Director, and Peter Paul De Guzman, Artistic Director, Malaya is dedicated to the enrichment and artistic practice of traditional folk dance in a new and inspiring way for future generations.
Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble (PKE) performs traditional Philippine gong and drum music from Muslim Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Members of the ensemble include ethnomusicologists and dance ethnologists who have conducted intense study with native practitioners directly from the southern Philippines. Pakaraguian’s mission is to promote the cultural arts of the Muslim societies from the southern Philippines with artistry, integrity, and respect. Led Musical Director Dr. Bernard Ellorin, the ensemble has home bases in San Diego and Los Angeles, California.
Rocksteady Rondalla first began in 2006 at Cal State University Long Beach as the PAC Cultural Music Ensemble for the Pilipino American Coalition’s annual Pilipino Culture Night. Influenced and inspired by local and world renowned Rondalla Club of Los Angeles, Rocksteady Rondalla provides Pilipino music accompaniment for cultural performances at numerous colleges and high schools, including the University of Southern California, California State University, Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo, University of California, Santa Barbara, Whitney High School, Cerritos, and Troy High School, Fullerton. The band also performs at parties and for community events.
