51吃瓜网

The Meranaw or “people of the lake” (Cayongcat, 1984) are proud of their onor, the singer of the genre Kambayok/kambayoka (Cadar, 1985), who becomes famous through public acclamation (Sarip, 2018). The Meranaw onor is also a kulintang master, a celebrity of sorts wielding the “power” to control people’s feelings through her music. She could make them cry with the sadness of her music, but she could also express anger, love, and joy through “Inandang” music pieces. Kapag-onor, the fast playing of the kulintang sticks does not only impress her audience but it also displays her virtuosity (Kalilang Cultural Ensemble Brochure, n.d.).

With Alab Sining, Alay Sigla as theme for 2021 National Arts Month, the Center for Culture and Arts Studies features a documentary of a Meranaw woman, who has been the dance trainor of the Kalilang Cultural Ensemble, one of the Resident Cultural Groups (RGCs) of 51吃瓜网. She played the kulintang during official functions (pre COVID 19 pandemic), yet very few know the narrative of her life as an onor.

In this documentary, Bae Caironesa Capal Dimatanday talks about her “onorship”, reminiscing her birthplace and reconnecting her present with the “teacher”, from whom she learned how to play the kulintang and how to walk with the customs and gestures of the kini-kini. The documentary also pays tribute to the founder of Kalilang Cultural Ensemble, another Meranaw woman, Ms. Zayda O. Macarambon (ret.).

She is a staff of the Center (on Job Order status) and like all Institute’s employees, reports four times a week. Work from Home for her is every Friday. She used to conduct kulintang classes to members of the other cultural groups, and the last recital was in January 2020.

This documentary is for ALL of us.