19 December 2014 : 4pm : HEARTFELT SEASON 2015, Woodside CA
SINGKIL ORIGINS (or Sayaw sa Kasingkil)The Singkíl originated from the Maranao people who inhabit the shores of Lake Lanao. It is derived from a story in the Darangen, the Maranao interpretation of the ancient Indian epic, the Ramayana.
The name of the dance itself means "to entangle the feet with disturbing objects such as vines or anything in your path". It is a popular dance performed during celebrations and other festive entertainment. Originally only women, particularly royalty, danced the Singkíl, which serves as either a conscious or unconscious advertisement to potential suitors. The lead dancer, in the role of Putri Gandingan (the Darangen name for Sita), graciously step in and out of closing bamboos poles arranged in either a parallel, rectangular, or criss-cross fashion while manipulating either apir (fans), mosala (scarves), or even just their bare hands. A kulintang and agung ensemble always accompanies the dance. While often erroneously referred to by non-Maranaos as a "Muslim dance", the Singkíl is in fact secular in nature, performed by the Ummah communities of the Maranao and Maguindanao. Initially, the dance was performed with just one pair of bamboo poles, eventually adopting the use of two criss-crossing pairs. |
Steps, Styles & Spotlights has been invited to contribute a piece to a NUTCRAKER-esque ballet performance by Bravissimo Dance Studio this December. Steps, Styles & Spotlights chose to introduce to this Holiday performance our original version of SINGKIL.
We invite you to watch one of Bravissimo's Dancers, former dancer for Steps Styles and Spotlights, Krystn Noelle Janicek debuts as SINGKIL Princess in this Winter performance. 4pm; December 19 2015 at Woodside Performing Arts Krystn Noelle Janicek was recently accepted to the ASPIRANT PROGRAMME of Joburg Ballet in South Africa.
At 16, Krystn is the first Fil-American accepted to this program. She will be headed there early Jan 2016 in pursuit of her dream to dance professionally. Krystn started dancing ballet at a later age than most. At 10 years old she began her journey and was taken under the wings of world class Cuban Masters Yoira Esquivel-Brito, Maestro Jorge Esquivel and Madame Amparo Brito of Bravissimo Dance Studio in Belmont CA. This past summer, Krystn was the recipient of a full summer scholarship to the Pre-Professional division of the prestigious Alvin Ailey School in New York City. Upon completion of the Summer Intensive she was further awarded a full scholarship to their year-round program which she deferred to continue her dance education here in the Bay Area with Bravissimo. It was early in the Fall when the auditions were held in South Africa for the aspiring candidates to the graduate program of Joburg Ballet. Her video audition gained her acceptance and she heads to South Africa as the first American/Filipino to be accepted for the whole year. Established in July 2012 Joburg Ballet (JB) is the country’s largest and most prestigious professional ballet company. Krystn will be joining the Joburg Company in classes, rehearsals and productions of high professional quality. In addition, Krystn will be exposed to the world of the professional stage and professional dancers, lighting designers as well as design and costuming, and will undertake a ‘job-shadow’ in the various non-dance departments of JB which provides insight into the workings of a professional ballet company. She has one more scheduled performance in the Bay area (HEARTFELT SEASON 2015) this December before heading to Africa. Along with her ballet pieces to this Nutcracker-esque show, Krystn adds to her repertoire a Folkloric Dance choreography by ("Uncle Johnny") Johnny Veloso and will debut her performance as SINGKIL princess in Act 2 as part of the HEARTFELT SEASON (a Bravissimo Production) winter show. |