Kinding Sindaw will introduce children and families to the rhythms, movements and shared values associated with rice planting in the southern Philippines through an interactive workshop at La MaMa Community Arts Space on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Titled Rice Planting Through Music, Rhythm, and Movement, the workshop will use music, movement and storytelling to explore how ritual dances tell the story of planting and harvesting rice.
Participants will learn movements inspired by farming activities and will combine music and dance in an ensemble activity designed to build coordination, teamwork and confidence. The workshop also explores the values of community, celebration and gratitude while introducing young participants to living cultural traditions.
Rice cultivation has long shaped daily life, communal work and cultural expression in parts of Mindanao and the Bangsamoro region of the southern Philippines. Through the workshop, Kinding Sindaw will present movement as a form of storytelling and cultural knowledge, connecting gestures associated with farming to broader ideas about land, food, cooperation and community.
Kinding Sindaw is a New York City-based, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and Black, Indigenous and people of color-led nonprofit founded in 1992 by Potri Ranka Manis. The organization preserves and shares the living traditions of the southern Philippines through dance, storytelling, kulintang music and silat.
Its programs serve the Bangsamoro diaspora and audiences of all ages, with a focus on heritage, education, wellness and intergenerational cultural connection. The organization also works to counter cultural appropriation by presenting Mindanao and Bangsamoro traditions within their cultural context.
Rice Planting Through Music, Rhythm, and Movement, presented by Kinding Sindaw as part of La MaMa Kids, will be offered in two sessions on Sunday, Sept. 27, from noon to 1 p.m. and from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at La MaMa Community Arts Space, 74 E. Fourth St. in Manhattan. Tickets are available through La MaMa. https://lamama.org/kinding-sindaw-dance-interactive-workshop/
