Sinulog Celebration by Pin@ys Abroad

(Photo taken from Sinulog

Walang katapusan pagdiriwang. Katatapon pa lang ng mga Christmas
trees ay kasunod na ang mga masasayang araw ng Karnival dito sa
Alemanya. Hindi di naman nahuhuli ang ating mga communities.
Bukod sa walang hupay na mga pribadong sayawan, fund-raising
galas, birthday brunches ay abala din ang mga maraming kababayan
sa paghahanda ng isang unang malaking pagdiriwang sa buwan ng
Enero - ang Sinulog na kung saan ay ipinagdiriwang din ang Mahal
na Santo Nino.
Nagtanong ako sa mga ilang kababayan kung ano ang tingin nila
sa mga nangyayaring pagdiriwang ng Sinulog dito sa Europa ng
mga kababayan.
Here are two views on the celebration of Sinulog in Europe:

Sinulog "Festival" in Europe is just one of the many Filipino celebrations/festivities celebrated by Filipinos in Europe and
around the world just like Santacruzan etc. This Festival honors
the child Jesus (Santo Ninyo), patron of Cebu. It is a ritual
(dance)commemorating Cebuanos pagan origin and their acceptance
of christianity.
I am not really a fan of this celebration but most of us consider
this as an important spiritual event.
Your question boils down to the necessity of creative litury.
Is creative liturgy really necessary? Does it work? Does it connect?
Creative liturgy is, of course for me as an Asian, a great development
in our church...some don't like it because it creates chaotic ambience
and lacks the order that it deserves. But then again, it is always
a question against good taste and "perhaps" doctrine...how is
creative litury being done? Does it rhyme to the normal flow of
the liturgy? Does it integrate well?
Sinulog dance can be integrated to the liturgical flow during
entrance, offertory, and recessional, thus making the liturgy
creative.It also corresponds to the celebration of the day. But if
the dancing is nonstop from, i.e., entrance to recessional, then
that's too much craze.
Otherwise it is OK and sinulog only happens once a year (3rd sunday
of January)I hope thats Ok, im not a liturgist though.
Shared by one Jan de Lina.

Another view by one Jun delos Santos

Actually Sinulog dance is a pagan ritual dance and I still remember
that most of the church authorities in the Basilica del Sto.Nino
even banned it during the feast of Sto.Nino. It was not observed
until Cardinal Rosales tolerated it to be danced only after the mass!!
In 1984, Cebu Tourism Director Boy Odilao created the Sinulog
Festivities outside the Basilica to lure more tourists to Cebu which
the church autorities at that time criticised due to the secular
character of the festival;(sometimes dancers were dressed like
GO-GO dancers and tourists joined the festivities as if they were
attending carnival in RIO.)
The fact that Sinulog doesnt really reflect the real prehistoric
essence of the whole ritual(prehispanic Sugbu was a matriarchal in
religious aspects) made some critics more skeptical about the festival.
Nowadays the Provincial Government of Cebu even hold Beauty
Pageant to culminate the event. Many Filipinos still do a pilgrimage
to Sto.Nino and at the same time enjoy the Sinulog festivities.
Now regarding our diaspora Pinoy communities celebrating Sinulog
here, most of them really does not know the real meaning of the
feast.
Kaya nga halo-halo na lang ang mga sayaw!

Pit Senyor!