Click HERE for the complete feature article by Ariel Lalisan on Lyn Lambago, the Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe founder.
by Nonoy E. Lacson
January 30, 2014 Kiamba, Sarangani – A hub for culture, arts and music, the Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe, Inc. Tribal Learning Center formally opened in Barangay Badtasan, this town, Tuesday. According to Governor Steve Chiongbian, who was represented by his wife Michelle, the center – one of the schools of living traditions of the T’boli tribe – will serve as an inspiration to this entire town, and the province of Sarangani in general. “The opening of this house will help cultivate the culture and arts of our province. In the past, maraming artists ang kinukuha natin na hindi taga-Sarangani para mag-perform (we are tapping many artists who are not from Sarangani to perform). Let us be proud of this because this is where our T’boli talents will originate,” Solon said. The Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe, Inc. is founded by Lyn Lambago – a T’boli who has a strong passion and determination to train young kids to dance as well as play indigenous instruments. Lambago recalls the group’s humble beginning in 2007 when she was asked to perform during former Mayor Rommel Falgui’s first 100 days as a mayor of this town. “Nangita ko og mga bata na puwede mag-perform (That time, I look for young kids who can perform), so I teach them. During our first performance, my dancers are still kids, their ages range from five and six years old only, now they are on their teen age, and they are still with me,” she said. Adding that at present, the Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe has 12 active members – five boys and seven girls. Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/tboli-school-of-living-traditions-opens-in-kiamba/ KIAMBA, PHILIPPINES (9/26)- Edgar Sabang (left) from Lake Sebu is getting ready to share Tboli culture to the world, having been launched to the semi-finals of "Pilipinas Got Talent". According to its website, "Pilipinas Got Talent, the show touts itself as,"Filipino singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts, and other performers show their talent and compete against each other for the judges’ approval and audience support...." As Lyn Lambago puts it,"One of my members, Mr. Edgar Sabang will be joining the "Pilipinas Got Talent"...He got into the audition and he will be competing for a semi final...He played a two string guitar or known as the hegelung, a T'boli traditional guitar and mouth harp or kumbing in T'boli term..." According to Lambago,"He is a dedicated persons in terms of serving people in the community.He teaches younger generation in different community to preserve the t'boli culture and tradition. He did many things in the community and he shared his talent not just in South Cotabato province but also in Sarangani province particularly in Kiamba... for teaching the Lamuhen Cultural Dance Troupe, Inc..." Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe was organized in 2007 by Lyn Lambago. Lyn was originally from Santa Cruz Mission, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. She is married to Wilson Mapangal Lambago of Barangay Badtasan, Kiamba, Sarangani Province, Philippines and calls this place as her new home. After two years of staying in Badtasan, Lyn observed that the Tboli culture in their community is slowly diminishing and that the younger generations tend to shy away from their culture. Racial discrimination and common stereotypes also played significant roles in changing their lifestyle. This scenario challenged Lyn that something needs to change and it must start from the local Tboli people to educate the younger generation about their own culture, appreciate their own identity and share unto others the beauty of the Tboli culture. Forming a unique Tboli cultural performing arts group coming from the town of Kiamba, Sarangani Province was inspired by former Mayor Rommel Falgui. Lyn was later introduced to Mr. Allan de Lima that also extended support and technical assistance. The group started with only five (5) members. Each year the membership increases and now we have a total of 16 members composed of young performers as well as musicians from ages 10 to 14...." Pilipinas Got Talent is a Philippine talent show on ABS-CBN that began February 20, 2010. It is based on the Got Talent franchise, a British TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCO company. "Pilipinas" is the Filipino word for Philippines. Anyone can join and showcase their talents in the audition. At the sound of three buzzers from the judges, the auditionees are asked to stop their act. With at least two yes from the judges, they are automatically in the list for Judges Cull, where judges have to pick only 36 acts that will move to the semi-finals. Acts will compete against each other in order to gain the audience support to win the prize money and the title of Pilipinas Got Talent winner. - By: Jose Ricardo Bondoc Photos by Datu Acoy Source: Sfnewsfeed.us Some photonews of Lemuhen from differents events participated in Sarangani Province. Thank you Provincial Information Office and PGO-Indigenous Peoples Development Program (IPDP) for the photos. Click here for link details. Lemuhen articles by Jose Ricardo Bondoc, San Francisco Bay Area - Chief Editor at SFNewsfeed.us. Click each topic for details.
1. Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe Set to Dazzle World with Dance KIAMBA, PHILIPPINES (7/30)- In the village of Kiamba, a small dance company is aiming to make a major impression on the world through song and dance. According to Lyn Lambago,"Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe was organized in 2007 by Lyn Lambago. Lyn was originally from Santa Cruz Mission, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. She is married to Wilson Mapangal Lambago of Barangay Badtasan, Kiamba, Sarangani Province and calls this place as her new home. After two years of staying in Badtasan, Lyn observed that the Tboli culture in their community is slowly diminishing and that the younger generations tend to shy away from their culture. Racial discrimination and common stereotypes also played significant roles in changing their lifestyle. This scenario challenged Lyn that something needs to change and it must start from the local Tboli people to educate the younger generation about their own culture, appreciate their own identity and share unto others the beauty of the Tboli culture..." According to Lambago,"Forming a unique Tboli cultural performing arts group coming from the town of Kiamba, Sarangani Province was also inspired by former Mayor Rommel. Lyn was later introduced to Mr. Allan de Lima that also extended support and technical assistance. The group started with only five (5) members. Each year the membership increases and now we have a total of 16 members composed of young performers as well as musicians from ages 10 to 14...." With regards to the dances performed by the troupe,"The dance we do is more on traditional Tboli lifestyle presented with a story line (example: courtship, family life, tribal celebration, thanksgiving) using indigenous materials and musical instruments...." This reporter had a few minutes with Lyn Lombango to discuss the group. JRB: What do you hope people about T'boli culture after watching a performance? LL: First, we hope that our fellow Tboli folks especially the younger generation that tends to shy away from their tribal identity will appreciate more our own culture. Second, we would love to share our Tboli culture to non-tribal people so that they too will understand us the more, respect us and hopefully eradicate discrimination as well as stereotypes against us. We wanted to do a presentation not just for entertainment but most of all for educational awareness. JRB: What do you see for the future of the group? LL: We are dreamers and have big aspiration as a group. The young members of the group will be the future cultural teachers of our desired Tboli Cultural Training Center. We wanted our culture flourish and nurtured so that we will not become a diminishing tribe. We believe that nothing is impossible with our faith in God and that we can also share our Tboli culture not just in the Philippines but even abroad where we can get invited. JRB: Finally, what message would you liketo send out to possible viewers? LL: We are of the Tboli tribe in Sarangani Province, Philippines and we are proud of our cultural heritage. We wanted to preserve our culture through performing arts presentation showcasing our innate artistry, our musical talents and our integrity as a cultural dance troupe. You can help us achieve our dream of sharing our culture beyond the shores of the Philippines. - Jose Ricardo G. Bondoc 2. We Are Dreamers KIAMBA, PHILIPPINES (8/12)- Lemuhen Cultural Dance Troupe was organized in 2007 by Lyn Lambago. Lyn was originally from Santa Cruz Mission, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. She is married to Wilson Mapangal Lambago of Barangay Badtasan, Kiamba, Sarangani Province, Philippines and calls this place as her new home. After two years of staying in Badtasan, Lyn observed that the Tboli culture in their community is slowly diminishing and that the younger generations tend to shy away from their culture. Racial discrimination and common stereotypes also played significant roles in changing their lifestyle. This scenario challenged Lyn that something needs to change and it must start from the local Tboli people to educate the younger generation about their own culture, appreciate their own identity and share unto others the beauty of the Tboli culture. Forming a unique Tboli cultural performing arts group coming from the town of Kiamba, Sarangani Province was inspired by former Mayor Rommel Falgui. Lyn was later introduced to Mr. Allan de Lima that also extended support and technical assistance. The group started with only five (5) members. Each year the membership increases and now we have a total of 16 members composed of young performers as well as musicians from ages 10 to 14. According to Lyn Lambago,"Our current training center looks like a small nipa hut made up of light materials. The space is donated by the Lambago family and the nipa hut was constructed thru Bayanihan by community members. The space inside is actually not enough to accommodate all group members. This nipa hut serves as the gathering place for the Lemuhen members where we do most of our performance rehearsals especially when not raining. The roof is now dilapidated and needs replacement." Having a nice Tboli house designed culturual training center in the future will help us achieve the following objectives: 1. to have a decent place to accommodate all Lemuhen Culltural Dance Troupe members 2. to have a permanent storage for our musical instruments, costumes and other cultural properties 3. to serve as our training center for the skills transfer of traditional Tboli performing arts thru dance, drama, songs and even folklores 4. to preserve cultural documentation of the Tboli tribe in Sarangani Province. When asked what is the community center currently working on? Lyn Lambago stated,"The current community center is serving as our meeting place as of the moment but when it rains, we do our rehearsals in a nearby church..." When asked,"What does the community center need in order to succed?", Lyn Lambago responded,"You can help us achieve our objectives. To make this future Tboli Cultural Training Center a reality, we need partners to help us in the following areas: 1. Donation (financial or in-kind) for construction materials of our Tboli designed cultural training center 2. Volunteer your time to help us construct the building along with our community members 3. Tboli performing arts experts to provide technical assistance in trainings for cultural empowerment of the members 4. Technical support from the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA), National Commission for the Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Indigenous Peoples Development Program (IPDP) Sarangani, and other cultural support agencies for any form of grant(s) to sustain the training needs as well as participation and exposure to other cultural performances in the Philippines or even abroad when given the opportunity. - Jose Ricardo G. Bondoc |
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