By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD City – Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez announced on Monday that the city received invitations from three countries that would like to see the performances of the MassKara Festival dancers.
Benitez said that MassKara dancers from Barangay Granada will perform in Hong Kong, while dancers from Barangay Sum-ag will perform in Taiwan in February 2024.
Benitez said that some Taiwanese saw the performance of the dancers in South Korea last year, prompting them to send an invitation for next year.
Aside from these invitations, Benitez said that there’s also an existing invitation from Italy for Independence Day.
This, after people from Italy witnessed the performance of the MassKara dancers in New York last year, he added.
“Slowly, we are now becoming worldwide,” the mayor said, adding that other countries also negotiate or communicate with the local government to bring the MassKara dancers to their places.
He said that there are Filipino communities abroad who would also like to witness the MassKara Festival in their areas.
Benitez said the budget for the trip will be sponsored by the countries that invited the dancers, but the city will also spare a minimal amount for them.
Barangay Granada was hailed as fifth time champion in this year’s MassKara Street Dance and Arena Competition last October, while Barangay Sum-ag placed second runner-up.
Early this year, Barangay Sum-ag MassKara dancers performed at the Busan International Dance Festival 2023 at the Cinema Mountain Theater in Busan, South Korea in June, while Barangay Granada together with the Barangay Singcang-Airport dancers also performed at the State Capitol of New York during the 125th Philippine Independence Day celebration on that same month.
MassKara dancers also had performances in the past at the Andong Mask Dance Festival in Andong, South Korea.
