FASA dances the night away at Barrio Fiesta

Featured performances included a martial artist and a yo-yo prodigy.

By Jimmy Hibsch

Published Oct. 15, 2010

Scents of Filipino cuisine lingered in the air as members of the Filipino American Student Association performed a variety of routines in Stotler Lounge on Thursday night as part of its third annual Barrio Fiesta.

“The purpose of tonight’s event was to spread cultural awareness of the Filipino heritage amongst the campus and local community,” FASA President Vanessa Mancao said. “We took little cultural things about the Philippines and incorporated them into the night’s show.”

The night began with Filipino food provided by the Filipino-American Cultural Society of Mid-Missouri. Shortly after, a group of members danced to Lady GaGa’s “Bad Romance,” complete with senior Ben Liu impersonating GaGa herself.

“That was just like a little spoof,” Mancao said. “We wanted to be silly.”

Following the dance, eight FASA members displayed the “Tinikling,” the national dance of the Philippines. The dance, which requires dancers to skip over poles on the floor, is meant to impersonate the movement of birds, Mancao said.

“We wanted to switch things up this year, but we also wanted to keep some things the same,” Mancao said. “The Tinikling is one of those things. It’s a big thing that everybody really likes.”

Former FASA President Jerryl Peralta did a Kali martial arts presentation. He has performed a routine the past three years for the show, but said it is different every time.

“I wanted to perform it tonight because I didn’t really know too much about Filipino martial arts,” he said. “I actually didn’t even know the Philippines had their own type of martial arts. Once I found out about it, I embraced it as a part of my culture. I wanted to bring it to light that Filipino culture does have its own style of martial arts and it’s in its own separate league.”

After, Mancao and FASA Treasurer Nicole Angeles read recent headlines in the Philippines, such as the June 30 election of Benigno “NoyNoy” Aquino as president. They ended this portion of the night by discussing and playing a game commemorating the cancellation of the popular Filipino game show “Wowowee!,” which junior Terry Yoo won. The Asian American Association also performed a hip-hop routine after the conclusion of the game.

Noel Kunz, a Ball State University student and yo-yo prodigy, displayed his talent in front of an enticed audience. Eliciting impressed screams from an audience who lined the stage, Kunz yo-yoed to three songs. He began his yo-yo career eight years ago after seeing a man perform a routine at a children’s museum.

“I thought I had to be better than that,” he said. “I talked to the guy, and things just kept going from there. A year later I started competing and eight years later I’m here.”

Mancao said she saw Kunz first perform at the Midwest Asian American Student Union Conference in Ann Arbor, Mich., a few years ago and had been hoping to bring him to MU ever since. Angeles said this almost happened last year, but things finally fell into place this year.

“We knew he wanted to come, and we wanted him to come too,” Angeles said. “It worked out really well.”

The night’s performances perfectly embodied the Filipino culture, Mancao said.

“A lot of the things that the audience saw tonight are just things that Filipinos love to do,” she said. “We are happy people, and we love to perform. I think it’s just in the culture. Whenever you go to Filipino parties it’s always just like, ‘We want you to sing, we want you to dance.’”