==\== Republic of the Philippines
PALOMPON INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Palompon, Leyte
COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES
MAED-P.E: PE 507 Dance Education and Production
ACTIVITY #3
Discussant:
Mr. Jeremy C. Elazegui
Presented to:
Dr. Nelson N. Enage
Professor
Date of Submission: April 11, 2021
1. Research a national famous dance (In any genre of dance) artist (any dance profession-
attach picture) accounting the following:
a. Biography
Lucrecia Faustino Reyes-Urtula (June 29, 1929 – August 24,
1999) was a Filipino choreographer, theater director, teacher,
author and researcher on ethnic dance. She was the founding
director of the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance
Company and was named National Artist of the Philippines for
dance in 1988.
She worked to translate folk dancing into the realm of theater.
She adapted indigenous dance traditions to the demands of
the modern stage, and performances of her works received
international attention
EARLY LIFE & EDUCATION
Born in Iloilo, Reyes was the daughter of Antonia Faustino, a
nurse, and Col. Leon S. Reyes of the Philippine Constabulary
(PC), who later served as a brigadier general
and a military governor. She grew up amidst music and dance. Her mother's family included many
musicians and her musician father could play many instruments. He was a regular participant at fiestas and
special occasions in his hometown of Calamba.
Reyes' father was an ardent lover of folk and ethnic art. Due to the demands of his military career, the family
moved frequently and was consecutively assigned to Iloilo, Jolo, Kalibo, Capiz, Surigao, Dumaguete,
Bacolod, Negros Oriental, Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental, Lanao and Mountain Province.
Reyes learned to appreciate the distinct cultures of the various ethnic groups and was an active participant
in the celebrations of festivals and rituals. Against this backdrop, Reyes developed an enduring interest in
the arts, music and dance.
While in Baguio, Reyes enrolled in a ballet class run by a Russian immigrant. She later obtained a degree in
Education, specializing in Physical Education. She was asked by Francisca Reyes-Aquino, a pioneer in the
revival of folk dance, to assist in documenting folk dances.
CAREER
Upon graduation, she taught at her alma mater, the Philippine Women's University. During this period,
Reyes worked to collect and document tribal and ethnic dances, which she believed were great cultural
treasures waiting to be tapped and adapted to the stage. She used her knowledge of choreography and
creative touch to transform these tribal dances into stage performances. At PWU she organized the Filipino
Folk Music and Dance Committee, which concentrated on choreographed folk dances and their performance
at fiestas and special occasions.
She enrolled at San Francisco University (graduate studies in dance drama), Martha Graham School of
Modern Dance at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and Hanyagi School of Dancing of Japan
PERFORMANCES
Her group, later renamed PWU Philippine Delegation of Dancers and Musicians, traveled to Dhaka, East
Pakistan and to participate in the International Festival of Dance and Music from December 25, 1954, to
January 7, 1955. The host in Pakistan could produce only a guitar as an accompaniment.
Reyes extended the group's repertoire and drew on native dances as a source. She compiled various Lanao
and Cotabato dances, such as the dance of the slave, the dance of the warrior, and the dance of the Muslim
princess called "Singkil". Her creative choreography enriched the program of her Bayanihan Dance
Company as it performed at the Brussels World Exposition in 1958 and at Winter Garden in New York.
Reyes earned accolades as she gave "form, substance and exciting color to what could have been simple
ethnic dances," which she translated to a theatrical art. Among the widely acclaimed dances she had staged
were Singkil, a Bayanihan signature number based on a Maranao epic poem; Vinta, a dance honoring
Filipino sailing prowess; Tagabili, a tale of tribal conflict; Pagdiwata, a four-day harvest festival condensed
into a six-minute spectacle; Salidsid, a mountain wedding dance; and Idaw, Banga and Aires de Verbena.
Bayanihan's repertoire, which had aroused the interest and admiration of both artists and art lovers, would
typically ". Start with a war dance of the Mountain tribes, followed by a festival and rites in marriage, then
changed in tempo with a presentation of the regal dances of Castilian colonization, later to pick up in a
different setting as it portrayed Muslim dances and various regional dances of different colors and texture.
All these depict the happy mixture of influences coming from Malaya, India, China, and Persia. The
choreography ended with a portrayal in dance numbers of the rural life in a barrio, planting rice, harvesting,
fishing and constructing a house.
The group toured America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
b. Dance Masterpieces
MAJOR WORKS
BOOKS:
Philippine National Dances (1946)
Gymnastics for Girls (1947)
Fundamental Dance Steps and Music (1948)
Foreign Folk Dances (1949)
Dances for all Occasion (1950)
Playground Demonstration (1951)
Philippine Folk Dances, Volumes I to VI.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
Dance workshops in Sarawak and Malaysia (1986)
UNESCO Workshop on the Preservation of Traditional Performing Arts in Modern
Environment (Indonesia, 1982)
Third Festival of Asian Arts (Hong Kong 1979)
Workshop on Philippine Dance (Hawaii 1975)
AWARDS
ASEAN Tourism Association for the Best ASEAN Cultural Effort, Pattayas, Thailand (1990)
Tandang Sora Award for the Arts (1982)
Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Man ila (1973)
International Women's Award in UNAP's Women of Distinction (1963)
Republic Cultural Heritage Award for Research in Folk Dance (1963)
Conferred a title, "Bai Kiokmay" (means, most active princess in the Arts)) in a ritual performed by
the Mandaya tribe of Davao, attended by the tribes of Agusan participated in by 16 datus. (1963)
c. Implication of his artworks to the community and to the world of dance.
Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, choreographer, dance educator and researcher, spent almost four decades in
the discovery and study of Philippine folk and ethnic dances. She applied her findings to project a new
example of an ethnic dance culture that goes beyond simple preservation and into creative growth. Over
a period of thirty years, she had choreographed suites of mountain dances, Spanish-influenced dances,
Muslim pageants and festivals, regional variations and dances of the countryside for the Bayanihan
Philippine Dance Company of which she was the dance director. These dances have all earned critical
acclaim and rave reviews from audiences in their world tours in Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and
Africa.Among the widely acclaimed dances she had staged were the following: Singkil, a Bayanihan
signature number based on a Maranao epic poem; Vinta, a dance honoring Filipino sailing prowess;
Tagabili, a tale of tribal conflict; Pagdiwata, a four-day harvest festival condensed into a six-minute
breath-taking spectacle; Salidsid, a mountain wedding dance ; Idaw, Banga and Aires de Verbena.
REFERENCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucrecia_Reyes_Urtula https://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/arts-
culture/women-of-filipino-dance
http://gwhs-stg02.i.gov.ph/~s2govnccaph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-
the-philippines/lucrecia-reyes-urtula/
