February 2019
Bacolod and Bago City
Philippines

In February 2019, Paras Terezakis was invited to take part in the Kuris and Babaylan Festival in Bacolod and Bago City.
For 10 days, he adjudicated Babaylan festival street dance competition, and conducted lectures and workshops at the Kuris festival.

In an imaginative and creative Filipino culture and traditions, the Babaylan is a person highly regarded in the community for his/her wisdom and even sought after for guidance. In the older times, the Babaylan was belived to have access to the spiritual realm and to be gifted with healing properties to both spiritual and physical.
The interesting nature of Babaylan is the inspiration of the festival in Bago City which was created to highlight this unique Filipino heritage which can be traced back to the pre-Spanish period. Held annually in celebration of the Charter Anniversary of the city which falls every 19th of February, the festival which was first conceptualized in 1997 was created to also highlight the place’s culture, rediscover indigenous music of the Bagonhon (people of Bago), its rich history and litterature, rituals and other artistic gifts of its people such as dances.

The Kuris theater festival is an annual convergence of Negros-based theater groups in collaboration with invited theater practitioners and artists from other countries and regions in the Philippines. This festival is part of the National Arts Month every February.

As Featured Artist, Paras conducted one of his Dance out Loud signature workshops with a group of about 20 Filipino young dancers. The workshop ended with an informal studio presentation.

Workshop performance in Bacolod, Philippines, February 2019