On March 9, the Andrews Filipino International Association (AFIA) had its annual Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN). With every year being a little different, this year focused on the theme Salika, which means “Come and join us.” PCN started in 2002 to help “embody and convey the Filipino culture.”
This year, stories and traditions were told through the art of a play. The story follows a Filipino family as the eldest daughter, Love (played by Kendall Cautiver [sophomore, digital communications]), surprises her family when she brings home her non-Filipino boyfriend, Robert (Jeffrey Woods). As the plot continues, we meet more and more of Love’s family members, including Tita (which means aunt) Jane, who disapproves of Love having a boyfriend before she is done with college.
In between the scenes were songs and dances detailing Filipino culture. These were displayed through various flashbacks and done in a very smooth and clever way. For example, the Bulaklakan Dance was introduced through the family showing Robert a video on their phone of Love dancing when she was little. Then, the dancers came on stage to perform as if we (the audience) were watching the video. This dance is performed with a half-moon flowered garlands. Other performances included an acted YouTube ad for a teledrama, a Wish 107.5 radio program, a fashion show, and a Lumpia cooking video.
Though this play had many hilarious moments, such as the older uncles playing basketball with the younger guys, there were also many heartfelt moments. Nanay, Love’s mom, (played by Peter Tumangday (junior, physical therapy) in a wig), told Tita Jane how Love’s business was not Tita Jane’s, and she needed to leave if she was going to keep commenting on Robert and Love’s relationship. This resulted in Tita Jane returning to apologize for being so judgmental towards Robert, which mended the relationship in the family.
Reagan Westerman (sophomore, psychology) was one of the audience members. She said, “PCN had good food and snacks. It looked like the cast had a lot of fun putting this on with the different dances and skits. My favorite part would have to be the teledrama ‘ad’ of the girl and the guy writing on the chalkboard. There was really good editing of the videos and the choreography. Everyone really seemed to pull off their part, especially the mom. Making the mom a guy with a wig was the highlight of the night. I’m not sure if this was an original script or not, but if it was, it was very good!”
Jeffrey Woods (sophomore, psychology), who played Robert in the play, said, “To me, being a part of PCN meant continuing a long legacy of portraying culture in an entertaining way once a year. My favorite part was watching it all come together at the end, especially “5 Stack’s” (a singing group) section. PCN helps show Filipino culture by presenting it in an entertaining and captivating way and welcoming people to try it for themselves through the delicious food!”
I applaud everyone involved in PCN! This beautiful representation of Filipino culture helped me and the audience learn a lot. The dancing was beautiful, and all the performances were very well done. The program included a mini Tagalog dictionary defining words that were frequently used throughout the play. The audience was regularly asked to participate as we learned the culture along with Robert. At intermission, we were given a delicious box of snacks and a drink of our choosing. After the performances, Andy’s Eats was open and served lumpia, empanadas, buko (coconut) juice, and taho (which are all traditional Filipino foods). Very delicious! I always look forward to PCN and thought this year was phenomenal!
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.