Lisag: An Agusan Manobo Music and Dance Workshop will showcase traditional performing arts in a free two-part Zoom webinar lecture headlined by Agusanon Manobo tribe member and visual artist Carlito Camahalan Amalla on Wednesday and Friday, July 6 and 8, 2022.
A founder and officer of the Agusan Artists Association in Butuan City and the Balangay Artists Association in Manila, Amalla introduces the rich history and culture of the indigenous art forms and its role in enriching the identity of the Filipinos.
He presents the diverse rhythmic patterns used in Agusan Manobo music, particularly the struck bamboo zither, drum, gong, traditional drum tambol, lisag – the standard Manobo dance-rhythm played on the jaw harp. He likewise showcases fundamental steps to the binanog, the traditional courtship dance with movements that reflect that of the banog (hawk).
A performing arts educator from the Design Foundation Department of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benile, Amalla is a performer, dancer, chanter, musician, puppeteer, ceramist and researcher who participated in art exhibitions in Belgium, Wales, United Kingdom and the United States of America. His Agusan Manobo embroidery artworks were presented at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London in 2019.
He holds a bachelor degree in Fine Arts with major in sculpture and a master’s degree in Art History, both from the University of the Philippines.
Amalla was honored with the 2016 University of the Philippines Alumni Association-Distinguished Alumnus in Community Empowerment, 2015 Outstanding Butuanon Award, 2012 Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Gat Apolinario Mabini Award, 2009 United Nations Outstanding Youth Service Award and 2008 National Outstanding Volunteer Award.
Lisag: An Agusan Manobo Music and Dance Workshop is free and open to the public via Zoom.
The discussion on the traditional music and dance will be conducted on Wednesday, July 6, 2022 from 9:40 a.m. to 11:10 a.m. Meanwhile, the music and dance workshop will be held on Friday, July 8, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Interested participants may register through https://tinyurl.com/2p8ds7ca.
