The Salinggawi Dance Troupe performed a piece set against a backdrop of the Marawi crisis for its 50th annual dance concert “Sarimanok: Tanglaw sa Panahon ng Sigwa,” which ran from April 11 to 12 at the Medicine auditorium.

Salinggawi choreographer Robert Stephen Biadoma and writer Dianne Torres conceptualized and wrote the story, taking fragments from the different Sarimanok folktales as material for the concert.

“It was only later that I realized that the Sarimanok is from the Maranao, the people of Marawi,” said Biadoma in an interview with the Varsitarian.

Photo by Maria Charisse Ann G. Refuerzo/The Varsitarian

The dance tells the story of the mythical Sarimanok taking on a human form amid the outbreak of the terrorist siege of Marawi City. The Sarimanok plays witness to the capture, manipulation, and death of the daughter of the Sultan in the hands of the terrorists. Transforming back into the Sarimanok, the mythical creature helps the people rebuild their lives and overcome the tragedy.

“The war isn’t only in Marawi. There’s a war in all of us, and we can always find a way to get back up,” added Biadoma.

The first half of the concert was a suite of Cordillera and Muslim-Mindanao dances.

Banga, the water-fetching dance of the Kalinga women, showcased the skill of the dancers in performing with several stacks of water pots on their heads.

Singkil retold an episode from the epic Darangen (the source of the Sarimanok tale), and reenacted how the Princess Gandingan was rescued by Prince Bantugan of the Maranao.

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