Pinoy dance group wins grand prize in Italy folk festival


Famed Filipino folk dance group Bayanihan won the Tempio d'Oro or the Gold Temple Award for the third time during the 60th International Folklore Festival at Agrigento, Italy, last February 22.

The Philippine National Folk Dance Company's last win at the festival was in 2005, while it first triumphed at the event in 2002, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

Bayanihan competed against groups from Bulgaria, Holland, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, and Croatia in the festival, held as part of the 70th Sagra del Mandorlo in fiore.

Executive Director Suzie Benitez received the award for the group with Dance Director and Choreographer Ferdinand Jose and Music Director Melito Vale Cruz.

Originally founded as the Bayanihan Folk Dance Group of the Philippine Women's University, the Bayanihan Dance Company has mounted 14 major tours and over 100 short tours in six continents, 66 countries, and 700 cities worldwide, according to its profile on the Cultural Center of the Philippines website

Since Congress declared the group as the Philippine National Folk Dance Company, Bayanihan has won six grand prizes in world dance competitions.

The Sagra del Mandorlo is a week-long festival held annually at Agrigento, Sicily in February and is considered as one of the oldest festivals in Italy. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News

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