Getting funky at Earthdance Manila

When you have two left feet such as I do, you can never be sure if “dancing your way to a cleaner Philippines” can lead to more pollution. 

 

Yet, even the less graceful beings like me couldn’t help but bob their heads to the beat of bongo drumming at the recently held Earthdance Manila 2012 last September 23 at the Arts in the City in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

 

Families, friends, cultural groups, volunteers and advocates alike gathered for a whole-day cultural fest, with an eco-bazaar, workshops, film showing, live performances, prayers, music and of course, a lot of dancing.  

The Earthdance Global Festival is the largest synchronized dance and peace event in the world, taking place in 500 locations in 80 countries. Organized by Earthdance International, a global network that organizes globally-synchronized events, the festival aims to spread environmental awareness, global unity, as well as to inspire creative collaboration towards building a culture of peace.

 

According to Rosanna Escudero, environmentalist and Philippine representative for Earthdance International, the festival was pioneered by music scene producer-activist Chris Dekker back in 1996. 

 

“His vision was to unite the whole world through the universal platform of music and dance, because in this platform there is no divide and all can come together speaking the same language regardless of color, creed or race,” she said.  

Less junk, more funk

 

There are a lot of issues the Earthdance International is tasked to address, such as environmental sustainability and protection, international relief, peace promotion, indigenous cultures, social justice, and welfare of women and children. 

 

For its third year here in Manila, the organizers chose to focus on environmental awareness with the theme “Less Junk, More Funk” as a response to the pressing need for a more environment-friendly and cleaner Manila. 

 

“With Climate Change and rampant flooding upon us, and as a country that is one of the most vulnerable to this, we find this to be an urgent issue to pay close attention to and address,” Escudero said.

 

If there’s anything the recent consecutive floods in the metro taught us, it’s that nature has had it with us: poor garbage disposal, deforestation and poorly designed drainage system have piled up to the extent that the effects are almost irreversible.

 

But let’s hope it is not too late, yes? For a big change to happen, we have to start with ourselves first – from reflection, realization and eventually, to action. 

 

Through arts, music, culture and bazaars, the Earthdance teaches how simple and commonsensical choosing a peaceful and green lifestyle really is. And yes, non-dancers included.

 

Eco food trip

 

It was a sunny afternoon and I was greeted with the fresh sight of an eco bazaar, with stalls selling organic food and recycled products. 

 

When I saw a stall selling tarpaulin wallets with catchy Filipino designs called “Pitaka,” I found myself doing a bit of an early Christmas shopping for my friends. You can also have the wallets customized, at no extra cost. I forgot to ask, though, whether they source out old and used tarpaulins for their wallets.

 

Lavender and oatmeal soaps were sold in another stall, where you can buy one bar of soap for only P150, a good price compared to the foreign brands that sell the same product for thrice the price. Plus, the soaps are neatly packaged in brown boxes tied with green, yellow, or purple paper bows. How dainty and organic at the same time!

 

My stomach wasn’t grumbling, yet I hopped from one food booth to another, chatting up the sellers, while taste-testing their products. I got to try coffee with sea salt that lends an interesting punch to the sweetness (I also added muscovado sugar). I dipped fresh greens and crackers in culinary nectar syrup made from coconut nectar, fresh pineapple and rattan fruit. I also couldn’t resist popping  malunggay-flavored shing-aling in my mouth. I swear the seller looked suspicious when I attempted to fill both of my hands with the crunchy snack. 

 

For drinks, not one stall sold the usual concentrated fruit drinks or iced teas we often buy in convenient stores. I had to choose between buying fresh buko juice or fresh fruit nectars. I drank both to solve my thirst dilemma. 

 

And as if food-tasting wasn’t enough, I bought a puto bumbong and brought it as “baon” in the workshops I attended.  

Self, energy and nature

 

If the eco bazaar taught me how healthy, green options are more delicious than the usual “junk” we eat, the workshops I attended made me realize the power of connecting yourself to nature.  

 

In Mike Santiago’s Basic Intuition and ESP class, we were taught that proper meditation is key to attaining ESP skills.

 

And even if you’re not keen on developing your extra-sensory perception, Santiago explained daily proper meditation can work wonders for one’s health.

 

“It maintains blood pressure, enhances concentration, and promotes a positive well-being,” Santiago said in his lecture. 

 

To show us how intuition and ESP works, we were asked to pick a partner and through meditating, visualize the body of our partners and see, by intuition and ESP, where his or her scars, birthmarks or moles are located. I wasn’t expecting much from the exercise but amazingly, my partner and I got both got it right. I absolutely have no idea where the image of my partner’s mole on her butt came from. I was half-asleep!

 

In Dr. Pam Fernandez’s lecture on “Healing the Earth through Agnihotra,” it was the first time I heard of a Vedic ritual done to attract energy to heal the earth. 

 

It is believed that during sunrise and sunset, for exactly 30 seconds, an energy can be captured through filling a pyramid copper pot with cow-dung cake and lighting it up with fire. According to Fernandez, this ritual is practiced by some Filipino farmers to heal the soil of their land. 

 

Fernandez said, “Agnihotra creates a vortex of energy from the pyramid to attract a strong healing energy.”

 

Earth’s blessing

 

Even though we didn’t light up the pyramid pots, I soon became witness to how the earth reacts to energies.

 

For during the afternoon ritual, it was as if it acknowledged us.

 

We were holding hands and praying, while the nongovernment organization Ginhawa danced in the middle of the ritual space, when it suddenly rained. 

 

We felt blessed because after a whole day of intense sun, here was a cool breeze to soothe our warm bodies. 

 

And about the dancing? Well, I managed a few awkward movements, which I hoped were funky enough. –KG, GMA News