Cosumnes River College hosted the Filipinx American History Celebration Closing Ceremony on Oct. 29 in the quad.
The event featured three performances showcasing Filipino heritage.
“This event means a celebration of my culture and being able to share it with all sorts of people on campus and creating a community together,” said 21-year-old biology major Khrizza Manalastas.
The first performance was by a guitarist who sang in Tagalog. The crowd swayed to the music and some of them turned on their phone flashlights to sway them in the air.
“It always amazes me how good someone’s vocals can be and how many love songs are made in Tagalog,” 18-year-old biology major Maya Moreno said.
The second performance was a dance called Cariésa which is a flirtatious dance between a couple.
“Cariésa is a traditional Filipino dance that originated during the Spaniard colonization, and what’s interesting about the dance is that they never touch each other during the dance and tease each other flirtatiously with a handkerchief,” Manalastas said.
The last performance was another traditional dance known as Tinikling where the dancers dance between two poles that two other dancers are moving.
“Tinikling is a folk tale dance that’s based on how rice farmers would set bamboo traps to capture tikling birds, the dancers represent the birds trying to escape from the traps,” 20-year-old kinesiology major Timothy Hernandez said.
After the last performance, the dancers asked the audience to get on stage and learn how to do the Tinikling dance.
Much of the crowd had gotten up out of their seats and proceeded to dance with the dancers on stage.
“The event was very welcoming and there were a lot of good vibes around. It was also just a really good way to learn more about my culture,” 18-year-old biochemistry major Abdullah Amingadeto said.
The children from The Child Development Center at CRC showed up during the second performance and got up and danced. Overall, the event drew a large turnout.
“I feel very proud and welcomed when other people come and want to experience my culture,” Moreno said. “It’s always so cool to see that the community here is so engaging and so open to each other.”