Turang Dance Troupe to Present Sinug Again at Casa Gorordo

The Turang Dance Troupe will perform once again the Sinug at the Casa Gorordo Museum grounds in Parian Cebu City at 3 p.m. on January 16, or the day after the Sinulog grand parade.

For decades, the dance had been led by Estelita “Nang Titang” Diola, the Sinug’s “Keeper of the Beat”, before she passed away in 2013 at the age of 88. Now, the tradition has been passed on to her descendants, with Nang Titang’s niece Carolina “Carol” Diola and Carol’s son Rommel Borja leading the dance ritual this Monday.

The Sinulog is one of the country’s biggest celebrations. But before it became huge it, or the original Sinug, was a simple yet solemn ritual – a combination of dance and prayer offered to the Santo Niño.

The Sinug, though, is different from the more popular Sinulog dance in several respects.

“The Sinug has a fixed format and unique beat different than that of the Sinulog dance step. It also doesn’t have a “reyna” or a female lead dancer. The image of the Child is instead placed in an altar in front of the dancers,” said Florencio Moreño, Casa Gorordo Museum curator.

“The Sinug dance narrates the coming of Christianity to the Philippines, the conflict between the natives and the Spaniards, and the peace between the two factions through the intercession of the Santo Niño,” he said.

Another difference is that those who would witness the Sinug also have the unique opportunity to offer prayers for their departed loved ones through the dance prayer, whose dance steps Nang Titang managed to pass on to Carol and the original Sinulog drumbeat to Rommel.

Nang Titang, at seven years old, learned the Sinug dance from her father Buenaventura ‘Turang’ Diola and the beat from his friend Mariano “Iklot” Bontilao. She named the group, composed of participants from their neighbourhood in Mabolo, Cebu City, after her father.

The Gorordos – original owners of the Casa Gorordo, along with other Parian families, used to invite the Sinug dancers, including Turang’s group, to pray for departed relatives and loved ones. After buying the house and converting it into a museum in 1983, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. sustained the tradition as part of its commitment to conserve local heritage.

The Sinug is one of the Gorordo family’s house traditions that the museum continued as part of the pledge to conserve aspects of local heritage that contribute to Filipino cultural identity.

For this year’s Sinug, the museum is inviting guests to take part in the dance. There is a P100 fee, which will include merienda and drinks and viewing of selected entries from past Sinulog film festivals.

For more information about the Sinug, contact Casa Gorordo Museum at (032) 411 – 1767.