Oh the Wonderful Colors of Asia!

By Marivir R. Montebon

Washington, DC -- The streets of downtown Washington DC burst in colors and delectable scents with the parade and street fair of Fiesta Asia on May 18, 2013, celebrated in spring and now on its 8th year.

Community organizations showing off Mediterranean dances, Philippine tinikling dances, Martial arts, and yes, delectable unique cuisine filled the streets with fun and great spirits, despite the rain.

The Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC), a not-for-profit organization providing comprehensive social and legal services to immigrants, was one of the most active contingents from the Philippines. Major attractions were the floral parade of the Little Mr. and Miss Migrant Heritage prince and princesses, teenage brain-and-beauty queens, the interactive Tinikling dance, delectable food, cooking demonstrations by a popular Mama Sita, an array of Filipino traditional fashion, as well as Atiatihan and Igorot tribal dances, and Fil-American talents in modern entertainment.

The stage on 6th Street featured Rising Young Stars Justin Fronda and Christian Leja. There was the martial arts Eskrima and Parol (lantern) making tents which provided spectators the awesome artistry of self-defense and home-made lanterns.

A tent for immigration consultations was up for the Legal Resources Program of the MHC, headed by lawyer Arnedo Valera, in order to provide quick information on the impending immigration bill being discussed right now in Congress.

The one day event was sponsored by the Asia Heritage Foundation and brought out the different Asian cultures and tradition in Spring, aimed to foster understanding and unity among diverse cultures that make up America.

Spearheading Fil-Am community participation was MHC co-executive director Grace Valera, also original co-Founder/Board Director of the Asia Heritage Foundation's Fiesta Asia together with AHF’s Executive Director Wuiping Yap of Sutera Malaysia who first brought in the idea of putting up the festival 8 years ago. The two cultural advocates mobilized the Asian immigrant community and were later joined in by Asian- American volunteers who share a common passion for the performing arts and for propagating Asian cultures to the American mainstream and preserving Asian identity. Among them were (Chinese) Stella Choi and Mon Lau ; (Filipinos) Jesse Gatchalian, Antonio Calaro, Mike Favila, Arnedo Valera and Carl Abella; (Indian) Shruthi Mukund; (Afro-Asian-American) Sifu Rahim Muhammad; (Vietnamese) Tini Dihn; and (Korean) Christian Oh.

(Photo Credits: Elizabeth Babiera, Bel Francia, and Merlinda Weber)

MHC Tinikling Tickles at Half time of Washington Wizards vs. NY Knicks

[caption id="attachment_1823" align="alignleft" width="300"] Thrilling tinikling requires dancers to be fast and furious.[/caption]

The roaring crowd of the Washington Wizards and New York Knicks was breathtakingly entertained during the half time break by the Philippine folk dance Tinikling courtesy no less than the Fil-Am Heritage Dance Ensemble of the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, DC, Friday, March 1.

Earlier at the opening of the game, 13-year old Filipino-American Kriskatlin Zabala sung the American national anthem.

The dancers: Nicole and Kathleen Calaro, Matthew Aninzo, Joyce and Krishna Mata, Alex and John John Cabrera, Lex Crisostomo, Neng Poliquit and Julie Quitoriano, hopped in and out of the bamboo poles blindfolded.

"That was scary." "How'd they do that?" "Magnificent," were among the remarks from an awed audience.

The dancers were all youth ambassadors for peace of the MHC. MHC co-executive director Grace Valera Jaramillo choreographed the fast version of the Tinikling. The Filipino-American Basketball Association (FABA) partnered with MHC in the halftime presentation and concurrently celebrated the Filipino-American heritage night.

The tinikling dance, one of the most popular folk dances since pre-Spanish Philippines, involves two people beating, tapping, and sliding bamboo poles on the ground and against each other in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in between the poles in a dance.

[caption id="attachment_1828" align="alignleft" width="300"] Tinikling is a popular Philippine dance mainstreamed by MHC.[/caption]

The name of the dance is taken after a bird called tikling, with the term tinikling literally meaning "tikling-like" as it is an imitation of the tikling bird dodging bamboo traps set by rice farmers, or when it hops between grass stems and run over tree branches.

Dancers imitate the tikling's speed by skillfully maneuvering between large bamboo poles.

MHC is a service institution for immigrants in the US, based in Washington, DC, and providing legal assistance, education and youth leadership programs, health support services, cultural development programs, and other social and community outreach programs. (From the Migrant Heritage Chronicle www.migrantheritage.org)