FISDU’s Annual Barrio: Lola Coco’s Barrio

(Photo by FISDU)

Mabuhay!

Barrio or ‘baryo’ in Tagalog means village. And it seems very appropriate for FISDU’s annual cultural show to be called barrio because this show takes a village to produce. Everyone in FISDU helps out. There’s props, voice overs, video commercials, dances and more! This kind of show doesn’t happen overnight. For the past 8 months, FISDU has been working diligently to make their cultural show a success. From weekly dance meetings to prop sessions to overnight run throughs, FISDU members put their heart and soul into barrio. So it’s not surprising that it’s always such a huge success.

(Photo by FISDU)

In addition to their cultural show, FISDU provides sit down dinner for all their guests. Each year they cater Filipino food and it’s always delicious. Friends, family and of course FISDU Alumnis come to show their support and this year was the biggest crowd I’ve seen in my five years at Drexel.

Lechon at FISDU's Dinner (Photo by FISDU)

Various Filipino food served at the dinner (Photo by FISDU)

Inihaw - Filipino BBQ (Photo by FISDU)

FISDU’s theme for Barrio this year was “Lola Coco’s Barrio.” It was based of the Disney movie “Coco.” The plot of their show follows a boy named Miguel who loves to dance. He was accidentally sent to the land of the dead and in order to get back to the land of the living he had to gain approval from his family. In his quest to gain this approval, he encounters many different types of dances and learns more about his family. The cultural aspect is incorporated in the show through the singing of the Philippine's national anthem, Filipino language and jokes and of course, the traditional Filipino dances.

Pagapir - Traditional dance performed by ladies of the court, usually done with fans to accentuate their hand movements (Photo by FISDU)

Cariñosa - Philippine folk dance that places each couple in a romantic scenario by using fans and handkerchiefs (Photo by Nicah Aguila)

Maglalatik - Indigenous dance from the Philippines where coconut shells are secured onto the dancer's body. Throughout the dance, the dancers hit those coconut shells mimicking the sounds of battle (Photo by FISDU)

Sayaw sa Bangko "Dancing on a Bench" - Philippine folk dance in which the dancers must use good skill and balance as they dance on top of a narrow bench (Photo by FISDU)

Barrio is also the official event in which FISDU recognizes and honors their graduating senior members. FISDU highly values family and sees every member as part of their big family. So during Barrio they take the time to call up the seniors to the stage and give thanks for their continued love, support and dedication to FISDU.

FISDU Honoring the graduating seniors (Photo by FISDU)

With all that said, I can’t wait to attend next year’s Barrio! Keep up the amazing work FISDU!

Click here to watch the full production of Lola Coco’s Barrio!

Hangaan sa muli,

Nicah