Sanghiyas Pangkat Mananayaw (SPM) is the resident Folk Dance Troupe of the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA); PHSA-SPM was formed and founded by its present choreographer, artistic director and PHSA resident dance faculty – Victor E.L. Flor on February 1992.
The PHSA is a government-run secondary school for the artistically gifted Filipino youth. The inclusion of folk dance as one of School’s major art disciplines goes back a few more years; it was in 1986 when the School, realized the need to offer the course to its young arts scholars. Ms. Josefina Guillen, the present Dance Division Director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, PHSA visiting instructor and consultant, initiated the program and handled the first batch of students.
“Sanghiyas” was derived from the words “isang” and “hiyas” which in English literally means “one gem”. One of the most valuable gems, which we consider precious, is the pearl. Metaphorically, the student-artists are the pearls and the School as the mother pearl. After four(4) years of honing their individual talents and skills, they will then have to separate from their “mother pearl”. Highly skilled and motivated, they are expected to continuously strive to better themselves and become the future socially responsible cultural leaders of the country.
For more than two decades, the troupe has been continuously performing folk dances in pursuit of their mission of preserving, promoting and propagating traditional folk dances through its repertoire. The troupe also ventures in Contemporary, Modern, and Popular dance (CMPD) and Philippine Creative dance (PCD) such as Choreographed Folk Dance, Folk Dance Theater, Modern Ethnic, Retro Folk, and Neo Pinoy Dans. The “Katutubo Perspective” of CMPD and of PCD that is closest to the discipline and genre of Folk Dance.
The troupe’s primary vision is to provide its very young folk dance students with necessary skills, training and discipline needed to make them equipped and empowered dance artists. PHSA Sanghiyas also aims to consistently showcase outstanding performances for audiences here and abroad.
Dulaang Sipat Lawin, the official theater company of the Philippine High School for the Arts, has been in existence for 29 years. The company was established to provide young theater scholars training in directing, acting and production aspects of the craft. This name was derived from the freely roaming hawks of Mt. Makiling whose wide range sight reflects the company’s liberal and open-minded atmosphere. At present the company has twenty-four members who regularly participate in annual performances at the National Arts Center’s Tanghalang Maria Makiling and at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. They have also participated in several theater festivals such as the Philippine Educational Theater Association’s Dula-Daluyan, National Children’s Arts Festival 2000, ANAK-ANAK Asia: Children’s Arts Festival 2001, the Fifth Asian Arts Festival in China 2002, IDEA Congress in Hong Kong, Cultural Exchange Program with Regent Secondary School in Singapore and the Pasinaya Festival in the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
The Maquiling Ballet was formally organized as the official organization of ballet scholars of the Philippine High School for the Arts (PHSA) in 1977. Thirty-five (35) years since its inception, the organization has graduated 131 individuals, most of who are working silently as dance therapist, educators, choreographers, artistic directors, art managers, and performers in various dance companies, schools and universities locally and internationally. Aimed at producing excellent classical and modern ballet performers, choreographers and cultural leaders for the country, the Maquiling Ballet has done numerous outreach performances in Manila, Laguna, Baguio, Mindoro, Pangasinan, Bicol, Davao, Bacolod, Batangas Nueva Ecija, Silay, Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, Midsayap and General Santos City. The troupe has also been invited to perform in countries like Brunei, Monaco, Belgium, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Singapore. The Maquiling Ballet is a work in progress. Since 2003, it has dedicated itself on research – based choreographies and productions to help conserve our vanishing tradition and folkways in dance and to underscore the role of a carefully planned dance education in national economic development.