32. DANCE XCHANGE ON THE QUEEN’S 161ST

DANCE XCHANGE ON THE QUEEN’S 161^ST

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano

11 May 2017

The Queen Province of the Philippines celebrated its 161^st year of existence last May 1^st. Traditionally, the province celebrates its foundation day every May 11. Aside from the annual pageant and the awarding ceremonies for the outstanding Isabeleños, this year’s celebration was given international media mileage with the accommodation of foreign dancers and cultural artists.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts – National Committee on Dance in partnership with the Local Government of the Province of Isabela spearheaded the DANCE XCHANGE: The Philippine International Dance Workshop and Festival which started last May 8. The festival is the Philippine celebration of the International Dance Day and of the “National Dance Week” as per Presidential Proclamation No. 154 s.1993. 

The Dance Xchange aims to: 1) provide venue for interaction and facilitate learning among dancers, directors, dance teachers, choreographers, Physical Education teachers and dance scholars, 2) establish an international event which will become a cultural destination for foreign artists; 3) provide new ideas and inspiration that will stimulate the creativity of the dance educators, directors, and choreographers, 3) showcase different dance forms by foreign and local dancers; 4) facilitate cultural exchange and understanding, and 5) strengthen network among dance organizations and dance directors.

The Dance Xchange showcased a dance competition, artists forum, masters classes, dance workshops and festival of performances coupled with cultural tour that showcased the best of the Province of Isabela. Participants from England (U.K.), Turkey, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, India, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and teachers and artists from the different provinces of the country made Isabela their home for almost a week.

Every Isabeleño are aware that the province derived its name from Queen Isabela II of Spain. However, almost all locals don’t have a background who Queen Isabela was. In 2006, I published a pictorial pamphlet entitled “Who Is Isabela” narrating a short biography of the Queen and her Royal Orders issued for Spanish East Indies (Philippines) from 1833 to 1868. 

The pictorial pamphlet narrates: Born in Madrid on October 10, 1830, Isabella was the daughter of King Ferdinand VII (Fernando Maria Francisco) of Spain to his fourth wife, Princess Maria Cristina (of the two Sicilies – Naples & Sicily) both belonging to the Royal House of Bourbon. After the death of Ferdinand VII in late 1833, a bitter civil war (known as the First Carlist War) broke out between the conservative elements who supported Don Carlos, her uncle who refused to recognize her right to the throne, and the liberal groups, who supported the young princess and her mother, the Queen Regent. The Carlists were defeated in 1839, but the following year Baldomero Espartero, a liberal and the most powerful general in the country, forced Maria Cristina to leave Spain. Isabella remained behind.

Three years later, the conservatives overthrew Espartero and his liberal supporters. On November 8, 1843, the 13-year old Isabella was declared legally of age and was crowned queen. Isabella’s education was meager as she could scarcely read and was by all accounts relatively ignorant, but she was highly attractive and utterly charming. Between 1843 and 1868, Isabella reigned but did not rule. During most of this period Spain was governed by a coalition of civilian conservatives and army generals.

On October 10, 1846, Isabella married her cousin Prince Francisco de Asis. Now an attractive 16-year old, she was friendly, generous, fond of dancing and amorous, and the timid and effeminate Francisco was a great disappointment to her. On the day after the wedding, Francisco moved out of the Queen’s quarters, and Isabella’s first lover, the handsome General Serrano, moved in. He was the first of the many who were involved in her active sex life. Her sexual affairs became the talk of Europe yet she considered herself a devout Catholic.  Isabella was very much under the influence of the superstitious and often by fanatical nuns and monks who surrounded her at court.

Queen Isabella’s reign was a period of long succession of palace intrigues, back-stairs and antechamber influences and barrack conspiracies. The evident power play of political parties (Moderados, Progressists and Unión Liberals) resulted into the Revolution of 1868. During the revolt, Isabella fled to France. On June 25, 1870, she abdicated her throne in favor of her son.  Alfonso XII was crowned king of Spain in early 1875 after the republic which had been set up in 1873 was abolished.

Eventually, Isabella returned to Spain but she never again exerted much political power and influence. In exile, Isabella retained her enjoyment of men and fondness for dancing; however, the defeat of Spain in 1898 seems to have broken her spirit. After a year, her health began to fail and on April 19, 1904, she died in her Paris home. She was entombed in the royal crypt of the Royal Monastery of Saint Lawrence of Escorial.

During her reign, a new alcaldia was created on May 1, 1856 out of the provinces of Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya and was named in her honor. In order to facilitate more effectively the work of the Dominican missionaries in the further evangelization of Cagayan Valley, seven pueblos were extracted from Nueva Vizcaya: Carig (now Santiago City), Camarag (now San Isidro town), Angadanan (now the poblacion of Alicia town), Cauayan, Calanusian (now Reina Mercedes town), Gamu and Ilagan, the new capital including the visita of Palanan while two pueblos were taken from Cagayan: Cabagan and Tumauini.

For the Philippines, Spain’s political chaos and economic stagnation under Queen Isabella brought about her decline as a world superpower, which led to Spain’s defeat from the Americans in 1898 and eventually the “independence” of the Philippines. Queen Isabella may not be the most hailed monarch in Spain but her history and name lives on in the former colonies of her beloved España.

The Province of Isabela surviving for more than one and half decade, endured the trials of time: revolts, epidemics, wars, man-made and natural calamities and politics. Isabela is now a premier province ever ready to face the challenges of the modern world.