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Ati Tribe Competition at the 50th Dinagyang Festival (Iloilo)

February 01, 2018 Phantasm Darkstar 0 Comment(s)

The Ati or Ati-Ati Tribe Competition is the highlight of the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City, Philippines. I was lucky enough to get a good seat during this event and witness it first hand. Sharing my amazing experience in this blog post.

 Done every last Sunday of January, the finale for the Dinagyang Festival is the Ati Tribes Competition. The Ati tribes feature warrior-dancers who showcase folkloric scenarios from their community. 

The ten tribes who competed, performed in five performance judging areas and two street dance judging areas. Whoa! They had to perform for seven times for all the judges to see--in different parts of the city. Did I mention that they had to do it under the scorching heat of the sun? Salute to these warriors! 
I was in awe when I watched the tribes perform. The choreography, music, props, and costumes were all astonishing. For them to be able to perfectly execute their presentation, each tribe had an estimate of hundreds of members; from the warrior-dancers to the drummers, the props men, and the support staff. These guys have been practicing as early as October of 2017, from their street dancing to the main performance. Everyone definitely worked hard for this day.
This year's champion is Tribu Panayanon of Iloilo National High School. They were able to redeem themselves (2015 champion) and defeat the two-time defending champion, Tribu Salognon of Jaro National High School, who came in 1st Runner-Up this year. 
Special Awards:
Best Choreographer - Tribu Panayanon
Best Costume Designer  -Tribu Salognon
Best Head Dress - Tribu Paghidaet
Best Musical Director - Tribu Panayanon
Minor Awards:
Best in Discipline - P10,000 + Trophy - Tribu Salognon
Best in Music - P10,000 + Trophy - Tribu Panayanon
Best in Costume - P10,000 + Trophy - Tribu Salognon
Best in Street Dancing - P20,000 + Trophy - Tribu Salognon
Best in Choreography - P10,000 + Trophy - Tribu Panayanon
Best in Performance - P10,000 + Trophy - Tribu Panayanon
Major Awards:
4th Runner-Up - P125,000 + Trophy - Tribu Dagatnon (Ramon Avanceña National High School)
3rd Runner-Up - P150,000 + Trophy - Tribu Paghidaet (La Paz National High School)
2nd Runner-Up - P200,000 + Trophy - Tribu Iloganon (Jalandoni National High School)
1st Runner-Up - P200,000 + Trophy - Tribu Salognon (Jaro National High School)
Champion - P250,000 + Trophy - Tribu Panayanon (Iloilo National High School)

Disclaimer and full disclosure: (1) All photos in this blog post are taken by my good friend Al  Destacamento (Instagram: @al_destacamento), who is also Ilonggo, collaborated with me for the Dinagyang 2018 photos. Al Destacamento is a travel, NGO, commercial and fashion photographer. I'm thankful for his help because he had better lens and there were too many media men at the event, getting a good shot is a struggle. (2) My trip to Iloilo City for the Dinagyang Festival was sponsored by AirAsia and the Department of Tourism (Region VI). 

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