Cebu\u2019s oldest sinulog dancer Estelita \u201cNang Titang\u201d Diola passed away at her home in sitio Sinulog, barangay Mabolo in Cebu City about 3 a.m. yesterday.<\/p>\n
She was 88 years old.<\/p>\n
Diola was the \u201cheritage keeper\u201d of the Cebuano \u2018sinug\u2019 and would offer the prayer-dance in honor of the Santo Ni\u00f1o every January during the annual feast of the Holy Child.<\/p>\n
She leared the dance steps and drum beat of the tradition as a little girl, a tradition passed on to her by her father.<\/p>\n
Diola was bedridden after suffering a fall at home in December 2012 and was hospitalized for a fractured hip. She was also diabetic and suffered pneumonian.<\/p>\n
She died at home in the arms of her grand niece Carolina Diola, who took care of her after she was discharged from the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).<\/p>\n
The injury prevented Diola from leading the prayer-dance at Casa Gorordo last Jan. 21. She watched from her wheelchair as her dance troupe of neighborhood children from Mabolo performed the \u201csinug\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was one of the most important person in the history of the Sinulog. Every now and then, researchers would go to Nang Titang to learn from her,\u201d said Ricky Ballesteros, executive director of the Sinulog Foundation Inc.<\/p>\n
\u201cNang Titang\u201d was among those consulted by choreographer Dolly Suzara to learn the drum beat and traditional Sinulog dance of one step forward and two steps backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left a legacy that we can teach to future generations,\u201d Ballesteros said.<\/p>\n
In her last days, she had lost appetite for eating and had to be fed through a nose tube.<\/p>\n
Gone soon<\/p>\n
Carolina said her maiden aunt would no longer speak and could only nod her head to communicate. Carolina broke into tears as she recalled \u201cTitang\u201d drawing her last few breaths in her arms.<\/p>\n
A white coffin was provided by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. which has helped support Diola through the years, as well as the flowers, food and priest at the vigil wake.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s really a big loss to us. When somebody dies, it’s a big loss. She was an icon of an intangible heritage,\u201d Jocelyn Gerra, RAFI executive director for heritage and culture said.<\/p>\n
Diola inspired generations of Cebuanos, said Gerra, and passed on her knowledge of dance by teaching children in Mabolo the \u201csinug\u2019, some of whom continued to join the annual tribute to the Santo Ni\u00f1o as they grew into adulthood, like her niece Carol.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe maintained her humility and was well-grounded. I admire her commitment to spreading the devotion of the Santo. Ni\u00f1o,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a lady of dedication who spread the good work and let people understand that Sinug is not an everyday performance but a prayer dance and act of worship in honor of the Santo Nino,\u201d Gerra added.<\/p>\n
Commitment<\/p>\n
Diola worked as a laundry woman as a young girl and was never heard complaining about her poverty.<\/p>\n
She never married or had children.<\/p>\n
She lived in a simple house in Mabolo, accompanied by her niece Carolina who has two children.<\/p>\n
Gerra said RAFI would continue the legacy of the Sinug, a commitment also shared by Carolina and her 41-year-old son Romel.<\/p>\n
Romel was trained by \u201cTitang\u201d at 10 years old to play the Sinug beat on the woman\u2019s goatskin drum.<\/p>\n
\u201cHangtod na naa pa koy kinabuhi, ako jud ning padayonon (So long as I live, I will continue this),\u201d said Romel, who’s been practicing the Sinug drum beat for 31 years.<\/p>\n
Culture bearer<\/p>\n
\u201cNang Titang\u201d was laid out wearing the old Filipiniana kimona she would often wear when she danced the sinug.<\/p>\n
Beside her coffin is her old drum and a Sto. Ni\u00f1o image. She will be laid to rest in the Mabolo cemetery next Saturday.<\/p>\n
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, who had visited Diola in the hospital , expressed his condolence to the family and said the city had lost a \u201ckeeper of the Sinulog dance and beat.\u201d \/With Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac and Correspondent Edison delos Angeles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cebu\u2019s oldest sinulog dancer Estelita \u201cNang Titang\u201d Diola passed away at her home in sitio Sinulog, barangay Mabolo in Cebu City about 3 a.m. yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1242,1227],"tags":[],"byline":[79245],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n