Dancing with Coconuts and Bamboo

After just four practices and one dress rehearsal it was time to take our Filipino Folk dancing to the stage.

Here we are trying to look cool, calm, and collected before opening the night's performances with our rendition of Maglalatik



And some actions shots of the performance





We were far from perfect, but we did get through it, and definitely enjoyed ourselves while doing it. The crowd was super nice and folks were really generous with compliments after.

Then we de-coconuted and it was time for tinikling



While I still can't quite wrap my head around the politics of displaying my Filipino-ness through "traditional" folk dancing, it was really cool to learn about the history and significance of these dances. It was also AMAZING to get together with five other queer Filipinos and collaborate to produce something. I only really knew one of them prior to our dance practices, but I did remember another one from previous queer asian social outings, and had previously randomly emailed with a third. I don't know that I'll stay in touch with them, though, now that the performance has come and gone. I hope so.

We were far from being all the same...some foreign-born, some not, differences in regional ties both in the Philippines and the U.S., varied in professions, languages spoken, interests, etc...but it sure did feel great to come together as a group, a community. And, despite all our differences, there was also a way in which they felt like "home"--whatever that is. I definitely felt more comfortable with them than I usually do among groups of queer API women. (Yeah...I know, I need to figure out what that's all about--later.) This moment is reserved for nostalgic warm fuzzies of DC's 2006 Pride and Heritage (my first, but not necessarily the last)...