Rigodon!
"Ang Rigodon de Honor ay hango sa mga Pormal na pagtitipon ng mga Presidente sa Pilipinas sa panahon ng pag-iinagura sa pagka-Presidente. kabilang dito ang mga Unang Ginang, mga Diplomatiko at ibang mga Opisyal ng Estado ang karaniwang nagpapartisipa sa mga sayawang katulad nito."
That’s what its Wikipedia entry says about this particular dance. I never thought I’d actually be a part of soimething like this even on a smaller scale until I had to pinch-hit for my Middle Eastern-based brother-in-law for an annual Rigodon De Honor event at St. Scholastica’s College.
I’m not sure if they do this every year but the idea of the whole thing is for participating sixth graders to dance the Rigodon De Hnor with their fathers. If dads are not available, they can be replaced with uncles, grandfathers or any other relative. This year’s event dubbed as the Centennial Rigodon in reference to the school’s 100-year anniversary actiually featured two Rigodon dances, the traditional Rigodon De Honor and the more contemporary Rigodon De Royale.
My 12-year old niece, Gel or Karl (her fiull name is Karl Angeline) as she is known to her classmates is a sixth grader Kulasa. She asked her dad back in October last year to come home for this dance and when he informed her that’s not possible, she was disappointed and initially decided not to participate anymore. For some reason, she later changed her mind and asked me if I can dance the Rigodon with her instead.
Now I don’t really consider myself as a good dancer. Okay, I’m not a dancer at all period. But I’m not gonna break the kid’s heart by turning her down so I relented. For several Saturdays since last November and everyday after office hours for one full week prior to the big dance last Saturday, we practiced. Me and Gel found ourselves doing the faster and more modern Rigodon De Royale number. While there were a lot of fathers, there were also a few uncles, grandfathers and even one cousin that served as the girls’ partners.
Yes, a lot of us couldn’t really dance if our lives depended on it. But our choreographer, Ms. Encar was so patient and motivational (not to mention quite sexy) that by the last week of the practice, the only thing we were worried about were the little things like alignment and timing. Other than that, we were pretty precise with our moves and certainly didn’t embarass ourselves during the actual dance. More than the choreographer, however, it was the very thought of not letting our little girls down that proved to be the ultimate motivation.
What made the dance more special was that we were required to wear formal Filipiniana attire for it, with the girls wearing a specially-designed gown in their own chosen colors and the dads and other elder partners wearing beige barong tagalog and black pants. Biases aside, we all looked magnificent and I for one, felt goose bumps before, during and after our well-applauded number.
As the grade school principal of St. Scho would aptly put it, "The field was transformed into a beautiful garden party for the Sixth Graders, their parents and their teachers. It was a sight to behold to see fathers dancing with their young girls dressed in their best formal attire, to hear our young girls conversing in light and soft tones, and to see parents, sisters and teachers awed by the overnight transformation of these young ladies."
For my part, I had a lot of fun and yes, I did feel like Richard Gere in "Shall We Dance" during this whole unique experience. I also got to know some of the fathers during the practice sessions. Truth is, a part of us wished that it wasn’t over yet during our last day. It felt like we were the ones in school preparing for our graduation.
But more important that all of that is the happiness that it brought to my niece’s face. Gel pestered me hours before every practice, implored us not to be late and called my attention to every misstep. But seeing her very happy that night made everything worth it. Her dad should have been here for this incredible moment but I’m also glad I got to do this myself. It really felt like dancing with the daughter I never had and probably will never have.
You know I always wondered why some people have to pay premium for their children’s education when I myself didn’t do too bad in both private and public schools. Well, it sounds very cliched but the truth is, some school memories are just plain priceless. As perhaps the only school to stage Rigodon cotillions regularly, St. Scho has created a a unique father and daughter (in our case, uncle and niece) bonding activity that makes all those expenses well worth it.
