Parang Sabil (Sword of Honor)

Parang Sabil (Sword of Honor) is Kinding Sindaw’s newest dance and music drama, depicting the conquest of the Tausug people by the Americans, a historical event of the previous century now largely forgotten in Philippine and American histories. The story is immortalized in the “Parang Sabil” ballad of the Tausug people. Kinding Sindaw’s adaptation intertwines Tausug dance, music and storytelling with commentary by American writer and journalist Mark Twain, who was morally outraged by the United States’ brutal subjugation of the Philippines.

Twelve dancers and five live musicians perform the piece. Tausug dances depict the ebb and flow of the ocean waves, the lightness of butterflies, and the playfulness of turtles and fish. Some dances are also regal for their fluid, yet disciplined forms of outwardly curved hands, subtle head and shoulder gestures, and serene, meditative gazes. A maiden ready for marriage performs the “Pangalay,” a classic Tausug dance. Wearing long golden nails called janggay, she emulates the mythical Sarimanok bird, a reincarnation of a goddess who loved a mortal man. After completing the dance, the maiden removes her nails and drops them to the ground, hoping that a man will gather them and claim her for his bride. Kuntaw Silat, akin to Indonesian Silat, and Kali martial arts will be performed in battle scenes between the Tausugs and the Americans. Accompanying the dances are traditional chants and music, played on instruments such as the xylophone-like gabang, made of acacia and bamboo, and the kulintang, a horizontally laid set of 8 bronze kettle gongs, and various other gongs and bamboo-based instruments.

There will be no performance on Thursday, November 25th (Thanksgiving) and no 7:30pm performance on Sunday, November 28th.

For group sales (10 or more), call 212-254-6468.