Ati tribes say hello to Instagram

Unlike last year when one tribe dominated the Dinagyang Ati competition, 2016 proved to be a mixed year for every competing tribe, according LEAD multimedia artist Elvert Banares, a true-blooded Ilonggo, who was Radyo Bombo guest analyst with Edwin Duero while at the same time taking the images used for this column.
The Dinagyang Festival is a religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines held on the fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog in Cebu and the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan. It is held both to honor the Santo Niño and to celebrate the arrival on Panay of Malay settlers and the subsequent selling of the island to them by the Atis.
In 2015, Banares observed that many tribes had elements that were off. All tribes need a good production designer who should work well with their costume designers as Dinagyang is a very visual festival (remember that Bakunawa performance by Panayanon years back? That was perfect!).
“Still, I am puzzled why the judges (too biased to let their once favorite tribes win again?) failed to see the beauty of Salognon’s performance by naming them fourth. This tribe has been robbed of a championship last year and they should be second this year. Anyway, second opinions are always welcome in the arts because, quite frankly, people need to see the perspectives of others, too,” he opined.
All tribes of Dinagyang Ati 2016, Panayanon, Pan-ay, Dagatnon, Salognon, Familia Sagasa, Ilonganon, Paghidayon, Baybayanon and Paghidaet had very “off” design elements especially in costumes and backdrop/panel designs.
In the warriors side, huge headdresses dominated the festival — to Dinagyang’s advantage (hello, Instagram!). And the best ones come from Panayanon (all of them), Salognon and, for the sake of the photos, Pan-ay and Dagatnon.
But the rest look very similar to one another. The biggest loss of Dagatnon (a tribe that gave a solid performance) was that “green leaves” costume. Whoever designed that need to go back to the old drawing board.
Many of tribe’s side warriors were dressed in blankets with belts. You can just imagine when watching this live (like us who are right in front of the performance area). You will see the disconnect visually speaking.
Gone were the days when the side warriors were dressed similarly with the warriors. Tribu Familia Sagasa was one of those rare tribe that had visual unity. This year, Panayanon edges out every tribe because of this factor.
Female costumes do not match the male warrior costumes. Except for the costumes worn by the Salognon female dancers when they first entered the performance area, all the other female costumes were kitsch and do not add to visual unity.
Dinagyang, no matter how you argue about the other elements, is both a dance and visual festival. The costumes make the dance. And vice versa. Simply put, costumes must be great in both form and function. This was Salognon’s lapse in 2016 (but hey, they won!). If you ask me if their performance and choreography gave Panayanon tight competition, I’ll say, “Hell, yeah!”
If you ask me if they delivered a winning performance, I’d say, “Yes, just like Panayanon.” But if you ask me if the tribe was visually united in terms of production and costume design, I’d be the first to say, “No.”
The costumes of their side dancers (three changes all over the performance) and their female dancers (first part, great! final part, dud!) did not match the quality (colors, textures, volume, materials etc.) and grandeur of the warriors’ costumes.
In my book, this affects the over-all look of the entire performance. This is why, despite of a rousing performance of Salognon, they landed second (a one-point difference with Panayanon). Salognon’s 2016 performance was the best choreography by the talented Errol Villalobos in years (I already saw this during the rehearsals).
Pan-ay was the tribe that delivered the safest performance (nothing new and nothing disgusting too). But both the choreographers of Pan-ay and Dagatnon need a good team of Production designers and visual artists. Given a good team, Pan-ay’s Ria Espanola can bring a tribe to the top.
This year, I missed the signatures and touches of Vincent Rae Jaena (who used to choreograph Salognon and is now with Buntag-Tala). Buntag-Tala’s performance was one of the weakest this year. Jaena needs to get back on track. Like Ross John Peconcillo, He is one of Iloilo’s most promising too.
So this brings me down to one tribe, which delivered a wonderful performance and had consistent production and costume designs: Panayanon. It’s time the 2013-2015 Dinagyang champion choreographer Romel Flogen remove those large shields (every tribe followed suit when he started this years ago) so we see what his tribe is known for: dancing in precision.
The cubes were a breath of fresh air and look ma, no panels to cover them (although that waterfall backdrop was off). Despite of my very minor complaints, Panayanon was 2016’s winner for me. We saw elements not present in many tribes.
Dinagyang 2016 winners were Salognon, champion; Ilonganon, second; Pan-ay, third; Paghidaet, fourth; and Baybayanon fifth.
Like his practice whenever he is involved in art-related competition, Banares Choices are Panayanon, champion; Salognon, second; Dagatnon, third; Pan-ay, fourth; and Ilonganon, fifth.
Best in Performance was Panayanon, while Best in Choreography was Salognon. Best in Warrior Costume was Panayanon, while Best in Female Costume was Salognon (Intro segment only). Best in Costume (whole tribe) was Panayanon while Best in Production Design was Panayanon. Best in Single Panel Design was The Cube for Panayanon, while Best in Innovation was Panayanon. Best in Musicm was Salognon while Best in Discipline was Panayanon/Salognon.
“I’m excited for next year. Salognon and Panayanon will face the Ilonggos fare and square. The rest of the choreographers will surely level up. So then, let the games begin. Let the warriors dance, dance and dance. But first, everyone should say goodbye to these panels, risers and bad female costumes,” Banares gives his forward-looking wrap-up.
Hala Bira mga kasimanwa! Viva Señor Sto. Niño!