PASACAT Inc.

PASACAT Philippine Performing Arts Company

ABOUT

Since its founding in 1970, PASACAT builds community by working with youth-at-risk in developing confidence, teamwork, creativity, self-esteem, poise and discipline through the performing arts. We provide a safe space for the young and the young at heart to develop life-long friendships and a spirit of camaraderie. We connect generations to generations through the love of culture which strengthens family bonds while creating global awareness.

MISSION

Preserve and promote Asian Pacific culture through the arts, thereby, extending goodwill and enhancing cultural understanding.

WHY INVEST IN PASACAT?

PASACAT provides a unique experience in developing positive contributors to our community.

Focus and discipline are key components to the artistry of dance and music. It instills camaraderie among dancers and strengthens family bonds. Once you step into PASACAT, you’re part of our family where we encourage and model respect to our elders.

We are not just dancers and musicians, we strive to be Ambassadors of PASACAT, but more importantly Ambassadors of Filipinos here in San Diego and in the Philippines. This responsibility is not about PASACAT, it's about the serious role we play in representing our ancestral origins.

When you donate to PASACAT, you are investing in impacting the lives of young people to discover their identity, show their connectedness to all cultures of the world, and ultimately an appreciation for all humanity.

DANCE TRAINING & EDUCATION

PASACAT offers Philippine dance and music education and training to students 5 years old to 40 years old and beyond. Our dance education is designed to help our students to:

• appreciate the performing arts;
• learn about Filipino folk dances, folk tales and traditions;
• explore their creativity, self-expression & appreciation, teamwork, and the Bayanihan spirit;
• communicate feelings and ideas through dance;
• practice discipline & respect during rehearsals backstage, onstage, and during performance.

Students are trained modified ballet and regional dance forms unique to the 7,120 Philippine islands. Philippine folk dance is not just dance - it is ancient and current history in motion. Therefore, emphasis on historical background, customs & beliefs, attire, and even language are touched upon. These all together help our dancers to understand in a creative way how to express emotions and thoughts in a cultural context.

We take great pride in our ability to encourage our students to achieve great things onstage and offstage.

PROGRAMMING 

PASACAT dance productions are inspired by folk dance, tales and traditions for a contemporary theatrical experience. PASACAT productions provide a glimpse of the diversity and uniqueness of the Philippines and its 7,120 plus islands. Major productions are the Annual Junior Concert, Annual Parol Festival held in December, and the Biennial Extravaganza held in October to coincide with Filipino American History Month. In the height of the 2020 pandemic, PASACAT transitioned most of our programming online to reach our audiences. One major project was collaborating with the Mingei International Museum in the very first San Diego Design Week in 2020 and presented Hibla Filipiniana: Shuttles of Unity, Threads of Identity, a virtual experience of Philippine arts.

PASACAT has been featured on CNN's Inside Asia, performed for the pre-game show for Super Bowl XXXII, Americans for the Arts Conference, the Major League Baseball All Star Night in Balboa Park, and at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila, Philippines. PASACAT has also performed for the Los Angeles Philippine Consulate and Philippine Department of Tourism representing the Philippines at the Lotus Festival in Echo Park and the inauguration of the Philippine Rose Bowl Float.

Hundreds of dancers and musicians and their families have found a home in PASACAT and in that spirit of family, a sense of belonging and camaraderie welcomes all to experience that the love of culture is the mark of a great people!

The secret to 52 years is love – love of Philippine dance, love of culture, and love for each other. Over the years we have trained hundreds of dancers who have established life-long friendships. When you shower everyone who comes through your door with love, you can’t help but get a return that is unexplainable. As humans, we have a need for connection, and by creating a sense of belonging, it fulfills one of our basic human needs.

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