Since August, the Filipino Student Association has been hard at work, planning what will be, perhaps, the most exciting cultural event that Saint Louis University has ever seen.
"Kailanman: The Tradition Lives On," will take place this Saturday, April 2, in the lower ballrooms (Rooms 170-173) of the Busch Student Center.
The event will commence with a buffet dinner featuring authentic Filipino cuisine. This will be followed by a two-hour performance, which will be performed entirely by SLU students.
The Filipino population at SLU is "…such a small culture that you have to make it apparent on this campus.
There are so many diversity groups, and it's because FSA cares so much about the culture, and because it's so important, that we have been working for eight months on this show," said FSA President Jen Prudencio.
With the event, the FSA aims to present to the SLU community the many facets of the Filipino/American identity through the performing arts.
The variety of dances that the students will perform reflects the cultures of the several countries that have settled in the Philippines in the past.
"Filipino culture is unique since it has been colonized so many times by Spain, by America…there are so many different bloodlines: We are Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Polynesian, everything, because of so many settlers," Prudencio said.
Each of the styles of dance that will be included in the show are distinctly different.
The Maria Clara, an elegant dance with a distinctly Spanish flavor, originated when Spain invaded the Philippines in the 1500s. The Muslim population of the country is represented in a stiff, serious style of dance.
Tribal dances will reflect the culture of the outskirts of the Philippines, where colonization never occurred. Other dances will reflect the traditions of the Philippines' rural communities, celebrating the typical events of everyday life.
The show will also include a style of imperial swing, which originated in St. Louis.
"Ballroom dancing is very inherent in Filipino culture, so we had to include that," Prudencio said.
Prudencio, who choreographed all but one of the dance numbers, said that the show will also have some of the "best hip hop in the world." She "…definitely added a touch of young, Fil/Am flavor" to the performance.
"We've built upon the mistakes we had in the past" to make the show the best in the FSA's history," Prudencio said. The organization began in 1996, and has been putting on a show each year ever since.
Because the event is held in the BSC, there is a requisite that it be catered by Chartwells.
This proved to be a problem for the FSA in the past, as the Chartwells chefs are not necessarily familiar with the cultural significance involved in the preparation of the food.
This year, the FSA enlisted mothers to go shopping with the Chartwells employees, ensuring that they got the best ingredients, and spent an evening with the chefs, showing them how to prepare and serve the food.
"The day of the show, a mother is going to facilitate the cooking to make sure that everything is the way it is supposed to be," Prudencio said.
Filipino cuisine typically consists of very meaty dishes, but the menu will include dishes prepared without meat, such as "pancit," a noodle dish prepared with vegetables.
Also on the menu are roast pig-the skin of the pig is a delicacy in the Philippines-and "lumpia," Filipino egg rolls.
The show will be presented by two emcees, whose script has been tested to make sure that audience members who are not familiar with Filipino culture will be able to follow along.
"The focus of the show is to educate people. Usually, when you put on a cultural show, it is easy to assume that people understand things," Prudencio said. "We have made our script culturally sensitive to our audience, so we are educating them about everything we are saying…so people aren't going to be lost."
While the performers are mostly Filipino, several of the dancers represent different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
"I think that is the most beautiful thing about FSA, is that there are so many non-Filipinos who are so interested, and care so much about the Filipino culture," Prudencio said.
"That is one of the things that [shows] how FSA is so successful, is that we don't only appeal to Filipinos: It's an effort for everyone in the SLU community to learn about the culture," she said.
Tickets for the event are $15 for adults, $10 for students and children. FSA members will be selling tickets in the BSC on Thursday and Friday, or they can be purchased at the door the night of the show for $15.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m., at which time the buffet dinner will be available. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m.
