Speech for benefactors at the 50th Anniversary of the Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company Good day/morning/afternoon/evening.

I wish to thank everyone for coming here today to join in celebrating 50 years of the Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company. I especially wish to thank our benefactors for their support all these years. Without their generosity, this group devoted to Philippine folk dance would never have accomplished everything it has achieved for the past 50 years. In 1961, all I wished to do was plant a seed for Philippine culture and the arts. The Leyte Filipiniana Dance Troupe was merely a small group project here in Tacloban City. We had simple aims but noble ideals. We wished to dance not merely to perform in front of an audience but to showcase Filipino folk dance at its finest. Our first school performance led to invitations to perform

in other parts of Tacloban, soon the entire province of Leyte and eventually the rest of the country. At that point, we already had much to be proud of. We had accomplished more than we had ever aimed to achieve in the name of dance. Our dance group had become a vibrant sapling, a joy to behold. But it seemed God had more plans for us. In 1965, the Leyte Filipiniana Dance Troupe was named the Official Cultural Ambassadors of the

Philippines to the United States. We toured the U.S. for a year, performing in various venues, dancing for esteemed audiences throughout the country. We even appeared in the famous Ed Sullivan Show. Nourished by sunlight and the generous support of its benefactors, the once-little dance troupe grew even further and became more vibrant in the next two decades. We performed at the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, Japan. In 1971, we

danced for a month in Guam at the Philippine-Guam Trade Fair as official cultural delegates of the Philippines. In 1977, the troupe was renamed the Leyte

Kalipayan dance company. The name was changed in concert with the founding of the Leyte Kalipayan Cultural Foundation to manage the growing activities of the oncelittle dance troupe. Its new name reflected the groups mission to promote Philippine dance. Kalipayan means joy or happiness. Very appropriate, dont you think? Dance brings joy and happiness to everyone. To dance is to spread happiness. To be a dancer is to be a bringer of joy and glad tidings. To support Philippine dance is to share the gift of life with everyone. At that point in the troupes history, in 1977, we had already accomplished a lot and had much to be proud of. However, we wanted to share our shade and our fruits with more and more people.

From the rest of the 1970s to the 1980s, we performed in the Philippines for honored foreign

dignitaries such as the U.N. Secretary General and famed ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn. We also traveled

worldwide, performing in various international festivals held in countries such as Israel, Italy and Switzerland. We won the Silver Medal at the Dijon International Folklore Festival Competition in France, besting 32 other

international dance groups. We were the first Philippine dance group to perform in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, dancing for a crowd of more than 12,000 OFWs. In 1982, we performed at the Worlds Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee in the U.S. In the same year, we performed at the opening of the EPCOT Center in Disneyworld, Florida, joining the 18 Worlds Best Dance Troupes invited for the occasion. We also danced in the prestigious International Festival in Virginia and gave shows in New York.

During the 1990s and this decade, the Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company continued to tour all over the Philippines and all over the world. We performed in international folklore festivals in Southeast Asia and across Europe. Today, the Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company remains vibrant and strong thanks to its members and

benefactors who have given their support all these years. From a tiny seed planted in the rich soil of Tacloban grew a sapling. With sunlight, water and care, the sapling became a large tree with a gentle shade and abundant fruits. We became part of Philippine history as we spread the joy of dance here and abroad. Our members and benefactors were there every step of the way in the same manner you are here today to join our celebration. The metaphor of a tree is appropriate because dance is considered a living art. Our ethnic traditions flow

through our dance movements. Our colorful costumes showcase our proud culture and history. Dancers prefer not to be immortalized in stone, in paper or in

photographs. Dance lives on in each dancer from one generation to the next. Philippine Folk Dance lives through the members and benefactors of the Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company who provide us with lots of sunshine, water and tender care. You, everyone here today, and all the people who contributed to our history but couldnt make it today, are part of a living history. I humbly thank all of you for your participation and support as the Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company continues to spread the joy of dance now and in the future. I thank God most of all for without him we would have no music in our soul, no rhythm in our movements and no sunlight to share with everyone.

May God bless us all. May he continue nurturing in everyone a love for Philippine culture and the arts. May he keep Philippine Folk Dance a living reminder of his wonder and mystery. May he keep the Kalipayan Dance Company a bringer of happiness and glad tidings to Tacloban, the Philippines, and the entire world. Mabuhay to the Kalipayan Dance Company and to everyone here today. Thank you and good

day/morning/afternoon/evening.