Sinulog judge: Use of LED lights should be disallowed

Dancers from Lanao del Norte showcase their winning performance in the Free Interpretation category during yesterday’s awarding ceremonies at the Cebu City Sports Complex. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

For the past few years, Sinulog Grand Parade contingents, especially those placed towards the end of the order, have been using LED lights and light bulbs in their props, costumes and production design.

This year, with the stage full of LED walls, contingents have also started using visuals to aid their presentation.

They were also allowed to manipulate the spotlights on the stage – like dimming it in certain parts of their presentation when they turn on the lights on their props.

But some judges feel that this put the participants, which are usually the out-of-towners, at an undue advantage over those performing during the daytime.

“Meron talagang advantage pag gumamit ka ng lights because you are able to highlight the parts, segments that you want to highlight as compared to walang lights. While I was watching the Sinulog-based, I was asking myself, ‘will this performance and artistry with the lights look as good and as excellent without the use of lights?’” said Josefina Guillen, chairman of the board of judges for the Sinulog-based Category.

She suggested that the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) should revisit their guidelines.

The least that the foundation can do to level the playing field, she said, is for them to use only white or neutral lights even at nighttime and that dimming of the lights in certain parts should not be allowed.

Nestor Jardin, chairman of the board of judges for the Free Interpretation Category, said that it’s okay to use technology as long as it doesn’t overshadow the dance and the presentation.

“My take on all of this is, they are all contemporary expressions. They’re not really folk expressions. All the dances are created so they’re contemporary. They’re interpretation of certain things. So the use of technology is part of any dancer or any choreography because they are trying to make the dancers more attuned to the times,” he said.

Both Guillen and Jardin said they learned from the SFI that the contingents were actually offered to make use of the LED walls that were placed on stage and the stage lights to incorporate it in their presentation.

This was confirmed by SFI executive director Ricky Ballesteros who said they’ve been informing the contingents of how the Sinulog stage will look like as early as October.

He said they asked them to use the available technology since the Sinulog has to also adopt technological advancements.

“We encouraged the contingents to maximize the use of LED lights and lessen their props. We are going there (technological advancement), we have to go with the flow,” he said.

Only a few made use of the LED walls including Tangub City’s Sinanduloy Cultural Troupe which showed some visuals through the wall during their performance.

Ballesteros also said they allowed the contingents to use the available lights on the grandstand.

Tribu Katbalaugan, of Catbalogan City, 2nd in the Free Interpretation category, reprises their winning performance during the awarding ceremony at the Cebu City Sports Center. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)

“It’s their choice. It can enhance, but sometimes it can also ruin. There are times when the lights will affect their costume,” he said.

But he assured that he will take note of the observations of the judges, especially in just using neutral lights and not colored lights to level the playing field among contingents.

Judges also reminded contingents and their choreographers to invest in a good concept.

Lanao del Norte’s Land of Beauty and Bounty was declared the grand champion in the Free Interpretation Category with their concept of the Sagayan, which is a Marano war dance. The dance showcased the tradition of both Christian and Muslim religion in their community.

Out of 96 dancers from Bansarvil National High School, 16 are Maranaos.

Alcala Fatmah, 8th grade student, said that it was not a problem with her dancing for the Sto. Niño.

She said that Muslims and Christians in their province are all friends and they never had problems interacting with each other.

In Lanao del Norte, 70 percent of the residents are Christians and 30 percent are Maranaos according to Provincial Tourism officer Minda Regis.

Regis said that the concept of their dance is their way showing that their province is rich in two cultures.

This is the reason they chose Sagayan, a Maranao war dance performed to ward off evil, as their theme for this year’s Sinulog.

Regis said having Sagayan and Sinulog connect together was the concept of Gov. Khalid Dimaporo.

But Regis admitted that they have difficulty in connecting Sinulog to Sagayan, especially that they don’t want to step on the culture of Maranaos.

Governor Dimaporo said that grabbing the first place is a bonus for him in his last term as governor.

The top 5 winners in the Free Interpretation, Sinulog-based and Street-dancing Categories gave a repeat of their performance yesterday during the awarding ceremony at the Cebu City Sports Center.

Suspended Cebu City Mayor and SFI Chairman Michael Rama, yesterday thanked the contingents for joining as well as the organizers and other government agencies that helped make the Mega Sinulog 2016 a success.

Rama also asked all contingents to come back in the coming years even if they lost this year.