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| Pintaflores
of San
Carlos City highlights the feast of Saint
Charles Borromeo, its patron saint, celebrated
on July 1st. It features street dancing by
"tribes" dressed in colorful ethnic-inspired
costumes, their bodies painted with flower
designs reminiscent of the tattooed Visayans
of pre-Spanish Negros. People who have witnessed
this spectacular revelry will surely attest
that the colorful ethnic-inspired costumes
and synchronized steppings keep the spectators
on their feet as they dance with the contingents
to the snappy beat of the drums and nusic
along the main artiries of the city.
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| HISTORY |
| Pintaflores
was born out of the people's search
for a cultural identity and tradition.
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| If
Cebu City has its Sinulog, Bacolod City
its Masskara, and Aklan its Ati-atihan,
San Carlos City also dreamt of having
its own unique festival. |
| In
1992, after successfully holding two
activities, the Nabingkalan Tattoo Festival
and the Dances of Flowers as highlights
of the city fiesta, the idea of blending
the two concepts to come up with a presentation
that could be considered the the City's
very own started what today is one of
the most popular street dancing festivals
in the region - the Pintaflores Festival
of San Carlos City. |
| Pintaflores
is coined from the words Pintados, the
concept behind the Nabingkalan Tattoo
Festival, and the "flores",
the Spanish word for flowers that dominated
the theme of the Dances of Flowers.
The Pintaflores street dancing and ritual
competition highlights the annual Pintaflores
festival every November 3-5. |
| It
features rhythmic dances and dance dramas
of life and death and the triumph of
good against evil that depict the people's
thanksgiving of merriment, abundant
blessings and success. As part of the
Pintados Tradition, the faces, arms,
bodies and legs of the dancers are painted
with flowers to express gratitude to
man and his environment. |
The
street dancing is culminated by a dance
ritual performed at the City Auditorium.
Different dance steps and musical accompaniment
add to the thrill of the competition.
The Human flower formation is another
impressive part of the dance ritual
that products the ingenuity and skills
of the choreographers and dancers.
Building a name on the streets of Cebu,
Negros and Panay |
| It
takes time to build. but, with Pintaflores,
the time to gather frame is at a very
young age.new to the game and exposure,
the first Pintaflores contingent of
San Carlos City represented by Colegio
de Sto. Tomas - Recoletos high school
students, bested seasoned contestants
to land third place in the free interpretation
category in the heavinly-competed Sinulog
festival in Cebu City in January 1993.
In April of the same year, the group
bagged the championship in Panaad Sa
Negros '93, to province-wide cultural
festival in Negros Occidental. |
| Represented
by Barangays II and Quezon, the Pintaflores
street dancing contingent emerged first
prize in Panaad Sa Negros in 1996. The
same group with the participation of
Barangay Ermita bagged again the championship
in Panaad Sa Negros 1997 and the fifth
prize in Sinulog festival '98. |
| In
Panaad Sa Negros '98, the Pintaflores
group composed of dancers from Barangays
Punao and Palampas and the City Hospital
graced the fiesta presentation as guest
performers. In Panaad '99. the Pintaflores
represented this time by elementary
school children, once again proved its
unbeatable streak by emerging champions,
consequently reaping the Hall of Fame
award for topping the fiesta presentation
event in four consecutive years. |
| Having
established a name in street dancing,
Pintaflores danced performers in such
places as Iloilo City (1996) and the
Roxas City (1997) as among the best
of the best in the region, and in Canlaon
City and Victorias in 1999 as the best
in the province. |
| But
the best is yet to come to Pintaflores
as a new breed of dancers has emerged
with the launching of Pintaflores Bata
or Pinta Bata in 1996. A street dancing
and ritual competition among elementary
school children. Pinta Bata thrills
one with the children's pleasing gracefulness
and versatility that promises a crop
of excellent dancers in the years to
come. |
| San
Carlos comes alive and colorful every
November 5. Its streets become ablaze
and animated by the sprightly dance
of flower-painted dancers in colorful
ethnic-inspired costumes as the traditional
Pintaflores festival hits this its peak
in a colorful and lively streetdancing
competition. |
After
five years and many awards, including
the Hall of Fame awards in streetdancing
in the Panaad Sa Negros, the word Pintaflores,
like "Daan Sa Kaunlaran" and
Homelot program, now has become another
byword of the creativity of San Carloseños.
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| MORE
ABOUT SAN CARLOS |
The
City of San Carlos is an interesting
community with many local resources.
The Community section of the web site
provides information about San Carlos
as opposed to the San Carlos City Government.
Here you'll find information on the
City's history, businesses, chamber
of commerce, clubs, churches, organizations,
library, airport, real estate for sale,
restaurants, weather and more.
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