Handed Down - Nevada Arts Council

Filipino Dance:
Amy Rovere, Kim Arche and Yorick Jurani
Amy Rovere appears to be not much older than her
students as she tries to pull their attention away
from teasing and horseplay and toward learning a new
dance from the Philippines. But she is determined and
forceful and eventually all eyes turn toward the front of
the dance studio. Amy goes over each step, counting out
the rhythm then adding music. The students laugh and
stumble, but Amy keeps them on track and at the end
of the hour most
of them make it all
1995–1996
Filipino dance
master Amy
Rovere rehearses a
step with one of her
students.
the way through
the dance. In a
few months these
kids in jeans and
shorts will be transformed into Filipino villagers in
colorful costumes, or elegant ladies-in-waiting, dancing
in front of their families and friends, as well as total
strangers, proudly representing their heritage.
Finding high school students willing to learn traditional
folk dances is a challenge in itself, and keeping
them interested and committed to improving their art
is a task few would take on. Thus the Filipino community
of Las Vegas is fortunate indeed to have Amy
Rovere, the energetic and endlessly cheerful director of
the Philippine Dance Company of Nevada, who does
just that, and more.
Amy, a fresh and youthful 45, was raised in the Philippines
and learned traditional folk dances there. She
toured with a professional troupe for six years in Europe,
Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and has been
living in Las Vegas for over 20 years now. During that
time she has performed and taught many individuals
and groups; her latest troupe is called the Philippine
Dance Company of Nevada. Made up of about 15 of
the aforementioned high school students, all of Filipino
Girls of the Philippine Dance Company of Nevada
perform a village dance with lit candles
balanced on their heads.
heritage, the group practices once a week, and more often
before a performance.
For this apprenticeship Amy chose two of her gifted
dancers, Kim Arche and Yorick Jurani, to work with
more closely on special dances. By the fall of 1995, Kim
and Yorick had mastered the Tinikling, the Philippine
national dance performed while hopping over and between
two bamboo poles which are being clapped together.
The group was working toward a spring performance,
which took place at the end of March, 1996, in
a church social hall. For this performance Kim worked
hard to learn a dance from the Muslim heritage of the
Philippines, a dance called “Singkil” where she portrays a
princess moving smoothly and regally through two pairs
of crossed bamboo poles. In her gold dress and veil, holding
two gold fans, Kim did look every inch the princess.
The group has repeated their successful suite of dances
several times at the Las Vegas Folklife Festival.
Both Kim and Yorick were born in this country of
Filipino parents, and have been studying with Amy for
about five years. Both are very proud of their heritage,
enthusiastic about learning the dances as a way of carrying
on their culture, and eager to share their traditions
with others. Their commitment to their studies—Yorick
recently started at the University of Nevada Reno—
and the usual teenage social scene leave precious little
extra time, but the members of the dance company have
put in those extra hours for their culture, and their community
is the richer for it.
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