Interpretative Dance Festival History

 The Gigi Felix Velarde Dance Fuzion Studio, in cooperation with the Quezon City Parks Development Foundation, Inc. celebrated the 3^rd Interpretative Dance Workshop Festival Competition “Pandayan ng Malikhaing Pilipino” (Teaching Values Through Dance) at the Liwasang Aurora, Quezon City Circle Memorial Park, Elliptical Road, Q.C., hopefully during the Art’s Month this February 2008, the 1^st Sunday of the month at 7pm. Elimination nights were held on 4 & 5 of January 2008 at the QC Circle at 7pm.

The Interpretative Dance Workshop Festival competition is the first in the Philippines using the art of dance as a medium to educate the youth to appreciate and cultivate the Filipino Culture, to teach values through dance; values such as love of God, country, humanity, environment, peace and many others. All these values we try to inculcate to the young in order to have a better society, country, and people. The festival also aims to minimize the sensual, wild angry dance movement craze today and spread the highest form of dance and that is to dance with meaning. To be able to dance with a message that can leave food for thought for the youth to take home and ponder upon. We are hoping that there can be realization and social change.

During our 1^st Interpretative Dance Festival our judges were luminaries from the field of theatre and dance namely: Ms. Joji Velarde, Mr. Eddie Elejar, Mr. Steve Villaruz, Ms. Marissa Oreta, and Mr. Gener Caringal. And we were able to have Ateneo de Manila (Theme: Cultural Heritage and Modernity), Montalban Artists’ Guild (Theme: Environment) under the supervision of Coun. Aileen Quien, St. Joseph Foundation (Theme: Abortion), National College of Business Administration (Theme: Education), Brgy. Bagong Pag- Asa of QC (Theme: Environment), Earth savers (Theme: Corruption), Manila High School (Theme: Abortion), Buhawi Dance Artists of Taguig City (Theme: Patriotism/ Culture), Brgy. Pasadena of San Juan (Theme: Divorce), two (2) groups from Dagupan (Theme: Environment) headed by Ms. Carmen Prieto.

 Then in our 2^nd Interpretative Dance Festival, our distinguished judges were headed by Mr. Mars Cavestany (Artistic Director for Filipinas Petals, Sydney, Australia and Balintataw Film and Theater Arts UNESCO Phils, Center for Int’l Theater Inst.), Ms. Judelle de Guzman (former CCP principal Dancer and GFV Dancer), Ms. Marissa Oreta (Theater Trainer IMD- JASMS), Mr. Miguel Castro (TV, Film and Stage Actor and Commercial Model) and Mr. George Vail- Kabistante (Founder Arte Cordillera and Artistic Director for Balintataw Film and Theater Arts UNESCO Phils, Center for Int’l Theater Inst.). Participants were FEU Dance Troupe (Theme: Good vs. Evil), Quezon City Science High School (Theme: Women), Asian Academy of Business and Computers (Theme: Poverty/ Education), Brgy. Holy Spirit of QC (Theme: Drugs), Sto. Domingo High School (Theme: Humanity), Lyceum of the Philippines (Theme: Humanity), Montalban Artists’ Guild (Theme: Nationalism), Brgy. Pasadena of San Juan (Theme: Family), San Sebastian College (Theme: Environment), Brgy. Nova (Theme: Environment), Jose de Venecia Scholars of Dagupan and Brgy. Pag- Asa of QC (Theme: Anti- Abortion).

3rd Interpretative Dance Festival

 4th Interpretative Dance Festival

5th Interpretative Dance Festival

Anna Miso, one of GFV Alumni

Dancers paved their way in a dance mob in SM Bicutan

Matthew Villanueva, GFV Alumni

 Miki

It is only once a year that the youth speak their minds and hearts out through dance; this project is a youth- oriented project. All the staff and assistants are youth leaders of dance and are dancers, scholars, and alumnae of the GFV Dance Fuzion, since the project is for the youth. I, with the four older staff heads make sure that the youth members of the Secretariat work on their tasks properly. This workshop believes the Jose Rizal’s poem that the “Youth is the future of the country”