Puerto Princesa hosts int’l dance fest

MANILA, Philippines - Puerto Princesa City, led by Mayor Edward Hagedorn, will host a grand gathering of world-class performers billed as Dance Xchange: The Philippine International Dance Workshop and Festival on April 11 to 14. Artistic director Shirley Halili-Cruz The National Committee on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) National Committee on Dance, under the leadership of Shirley Halili-Cruz, established the annual big event five years ago. Its 2013 edition will feature leading dance companies and experts from Japan, Hong Kong, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, England, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam and Taiwan. Also participating are 22 Filipino dance companies. One of the said groups, the Halili-Cruz School of Ballet, will represent the country at the Dance Excellence USA in Los Angeles, California, from March 30 to April 7, before joining the Dance Xchange at Puerto Princesa. With its artistic director Shirley Halili-Cruz, the company won the coveted grand prize Dance Excellence trophy in the international contest participated by 50 American states, 30 countries and more than 10,000 dancers. A potential National Artist for Dance awardee, Shirley’s company has brought home top honors in several dance competitions, all over the world, in the last four years. Meanwhile, on the welcome dinner alone of Dance Xchange, hosted by Mayor Hagedorn, more than 1,200 delegates are expected to attend. With dance being the new and creative form of connecting people, culture and nations, Dance Xchange, one of the biggest events of the art, has proven very effective. Only a leading tourism attraction, Puerto Princesa’s hosting the Dance Xchange will further attract more visitors to Palawan from all over the globe. One of the highlights of the dance festivals is a tour of one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, Puerto Princesa’s underground river.