This National Women’s Month, we recognize and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of our female national artists. These women have made significant strides in their respective fields, breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations of artists.

Today’s featured national artist is Leonor Orosa Goquingco, National Artist for Dance.

LEONOR OROSA GOQUINGCO
National Artist for Dance
(July 24, 1917 – July 15, 2005)

Dubbed the “Trailblazer”, “Mother of Philippine Theater Dance” and “Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics”, Leonor Orosa Goquingco, pioneer Filipino choreographer in balletic folkloric and Asian styles, produced for over 50 years highly original, first-of-a-kind choreographies, mostly to her own storylines. These include “TREND: Return to Native,” “In a Javanese Garden,” “Sports,” “VINTA!,” “In a Concentration Camp,” “The Magic Garden,” “The Clowns,” “Firebird,” “Noli Dance Suite,” “The Flagellant,” “The Creation…” Seen as her most ambitious work is the dance epic “Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend and Lore.” With it, Orosa brought native folk dance, mirroring Philippine culture from pagan to modern times, to its highest stage of development.

She was the Honorary Chair of the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines (ABAP), and was a founding member of the Philippine Ballet Theater.

(Source: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/leonor-orosa-goquingco/)