MASSKARA IN KOREA. The Bacolod City Masskara dancers (left) featured on the website of the Busan International Dance Festival. A 10-member contingent will perform during the three-day festival in Busan Metropolitan City, South Korea on June 2-4, 2023. (Image courtesy of Councilor Em Ang)
BACOLOD CITY – Another group of Masskara Festival dancers from this city will perform in the 2023 Busan International Dance Festival (BIDF) in Busan Metropolitan City, South Korea from June 2 to 4.
Councilor Em Ang said on Wednesday night that Bacolod is participating in the event for the first time by sending a group of dancers from Barangay Sum-ag led by award-winning choreographer and trainer Segundo Jesus Cabalcar.
“This is the first time the MassKara Festival dancers have been invited to the BIDF,” she said on a social media post.
Ten dancers from Barangay Sum-ag, the runner-up in the 2022 Masskara Festival street and arena dance competition, will perform in the three-day festival, which also features performers from France, Canada, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Singapore.
Bacolod had also participated in two festivals in South Korea before the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2018, the MassKara dancers performed during the Andong Mask Dance Festival in Andong City and in 2019, they were awarded Best Foreign Group in the Daegu Colorful Festival in Daegu City.
Ang, together with Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and other city officials, is currently in the United States with the Masskara dance team of Barangay Granada, the champion in the 2022 Masskara Festival street and arena dance contest, to showcase Bacolod’s colorful festival in New York City for the first time.
On June 4, the 22-member dance group will perform during the 125th Philippine Independence Anniversary Commemoration Parade organized by the Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. together with the Philippine Consulate General in New York.
Also on June 11, five Masskara dancers will be featured at the 3rd Masskara Festival to coincide with the Philippine Independence Day celebration in Long Beach, California.
Hosted by the Long Beach Bacolod Association, the Masskara dancers will perform in the event for the second time since 2019. (PNA)
