Loyola Student Dispatch 3. 25. 2013
Loyola’s Filipino cultural group performs at Navy Pier
Posted by chwang2013 on March 25, 2013
By Cheryl Hwang
Kapwa, a Filipino cultural organization at Loyola University Chicago, performed its award-winning cultural dance Sunday afternoon at the annual Filipino festival at Navy Pier, called Piyesta Pinoy.
Every year, Piyesta Pinoy is celebrated in the Crystal Gardens at Navy Pier in March in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) month. It starts with a parade around Navy Pier, leading into the Crystal Gardens, and ending in a variety of Filipino cultural performances.
Loyola’s Kapwa Cultural was one of these performances, presenting a 10 minute dance routine.
Various Filipino vendors, organizations, and students gather together to bond as a community and this event is televised on GMA Pinoy, an international Filipino channel.
“It’s a pretty big deal…not many people can say they performed at Navy Pier and had it televised,” Alex Catiggay, 20, a sophomore psychology and social work student and Cultural Committee chair for Kapwa said.
Earlier this year in February, Kapwa Cultural took part in Chicago’s annual Filipino cultural dance competition called Battle of the Bamboo, in which they won second place. Previously, they won first place two years ago and third place last year.
Kapwa Cultural started performing for the Pyesta Pinoy last year after being noticed at the Battle of the Bamboo Competition.
Every year their dances are completely different. This year they chose a dance representing a warrior’s funeral.
“The reason why we are so successful is because our dances are so different from year to year. We try to explore a totally different kind of Filipino dance, and express it to the Midwest audience,” Catiggay said.
Their consistent award-winning numbers are a great pride in the Filipino community at Loyola.
“There is nothing like it. During our performance for Battle we spent most of our time crying. Our performers are our babies and we were so proud of them to see it all put together,” Alyssa Manansala, 20, a junior nursing major and choreographer for Kapwa Cultural said.
Though not as strenuous as Battle of the Bamboo, Piyesta Pinoy is a meaningful event for Kapwa.
“It is a big opportunity for Kapwa Cultural to showcase our talent in the Chicago community. This event is a great social networking site and we get a lot of business cards handed to us,” Mary Anne San Juan, 20, a junior health systems management student and co-choreographer said.
Julias Aguas, 22 a senior biochemistry major and president of Kapwa is sending off his organization on a high note in his last year at Loyola.
“I think of this whole event as a moving on period for me. It is just nice to see the present and future generations all in one place.”