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“Community!”
I’ve heard this word multiple times in the recent run of the Hudyaka sa Abatan. But, what does this mean? As defined by google, community is a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals. How does this relate to the people involved in this event?
Hudyaka sa Abatan is a show composed of the towns where the Abatan River traverses. With 5 towns involved in the Abatan River, various communities have been involved in the production of this event. From the farthest town of Catigbian, followed by the towns of Balilihan and Antequera and the downstream towns of Cortes and Maribojoc, these towns were involved in the 4-day run of the Hudyaka sa Abatan. These towns were able to show us fascinating performances. Behind the spectacular show are stories of various communities involved in this project.
Community as mentioned during the rehearsals
To give a good performance, it is important to give an interaction between the performers themselves and the audience. “Community, community!”, that was repeatedly mentioned during the rehearsal. To them, this is to give importance on the interaction among the performers while they are having their show. By doing so, it adds vibrance on their performance that extends to the audience.
Community theme on Lincod Cultural Collectiver’s performance (Maribojoc)
Maribojoc’s performance depicts the reality of how their group has been formed. Since they portray the life in Abatan, the people surrounding the Abatan River are mainly involve on this activity. Their performance shows the daily struggles of every family. Despite the financial scarceness, they offered their talents for the group performance. With the encouragement and guidance from their community members, the goal of achieving a good performance has been attained.
The Children of Balilihan Flute
The Balilihan Flute group is composed mainly of cute elementary students. According to them, they have been doing the flute and guitar acts more than a year already but the act that they performed during the show has been practiced less than a month only. Indeed their group already has the strong community involvement. Aside from their performance in the Hudyaka sa Abatan, they have already performed in other towns like Antequera and Tagbilaran City.
Newest Member – Catigbian Cultural Collective
Aside from being the farthest of the towns involved in the Abatan River production, Catigbian is also the newest member of the performers. Since the group is the newest, I was curious about their preparations on the show. I was surprised that they only had 6 days to prepare for the show but still they were able to show us an amazing performance.
Talent Exchange from Antequera Cultural Collective
Antequera’s group is composed of students from Canlaas High School. On our discussion, they have mentioned that one of the singers, the boy, is from another baranggay, Baranggay Tupas on their performance. Because they were able to perform during the founding anniversary of their town, the local government unit decided to have them performed on the Hudyaka sa Abatan. With support from various baranggays, they had the hair-raising performance.
Millennial Talents of Cortes Cultural Collective
Cortes group has given a stunning performance. I was able to witness their previous performances on the Wadji act during the BOKAG (Bol-anong Kabilin Atong Gibahandi) presentation two years ago. It was totally different from what they have shown on the Hudyaka sa Abatan. With their previous experience, they already have the great potential to polish their act. It was also mentioned by Sir Rey Chiu that they are aiming to add more members on their group.
Beginning of Loon Cultural Ensemble
Loon’s group is a definition of how community works to bring the best in them. It was mentioned by Sir Marianito Luspo that their group has experienced a lot of trials before they achieve their success. With strong community involvement, they were able to put up a group that has been known already in the entire province of Bohol. Proof of their success is their successive wins in the previous Sandugo Street Dancing and Kuradang Competition.
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller
Community involvement is very important to create the Hudyaka sa Abatan performances. Every person involved in the production has a great contribution on the show. Despite the short time for preparation and practice, still they were able to pull off the best performances. These would not be possible without the help of the local government units that has fully supported these ideas. And, of course, the people involved in the production, the people who tirelessly put all their efforts just to give us the best show.
