‘Keeper of Sinulog beat’ passes away

Cebu’s oldest sinulog dancer Estelita “Nang Titang” Diola passed away at her home in sitio Sinulog, barangay Mabolo in Cebu City about 3 a.m. yesterday.

She was 88 years old.

Diola was the “heritage keeper” of the Cebuano ‘sinug’ and would offer the prayer-dance in honor of the Santo Niño every January during the annual feast of the Holy Child.

She leared the dance steps and drum beat of the tradition as a little girl, a tradition passed on to her by her father.

Diola was bedridden after suffering a fall at home in December 2012 and was hospitalized for a fractured hip. She was also diabetic and suffered pneumonian.

She died at home in the arms of her grand niece Carolina Diola, who took care of her after she was discharged from the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

The injury prevented Diola from leading the prayer-dance at Casa Gorordo last Jan. 21. She watched from her wheelchair as her dance troupe of neighborhood children from Mabolo performed the “sinug”.

“She was one of the most important person in the history of the Sinulog. Every now and then, researchers would go to Nang Titang to learn from her,” said Ricky Ballesteros, executive director of the Sinulog Foundation Inc.

“Nang Titang” was among those consulted by choreographer Dolly Suzara to learn the drum beat and traditional Sinulog dance of one step forward and two steps backward.

“She left a legacy that we can teach to future generations,” Ballesteros said.

In her last days, she had lost appetite for eating and had to be fed through a nose tube.

Gone soon

Carolina said her maiden aunt would no longer speak and could only nod her head to communicate. Carolina broke into tears as she recalled “Titang” drawing her last few breaths in her arms.

A white coffin was provided by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. which has helped support Diola through the years, as well as the flowers, food and priest at the vigil wake.

“It’s really a big loss to us. When somebody dies, it’s a big loss. She was an icon of an intangible heritage,” Jocelyn Gerra, RAFI executive director for heritage and culture said.

Diola inspired generations of Cebuanos, said Gerra, and passed on her knowledge of dance by teaching children in Mabolo the “sinug’, some of whom continued to join the annual tribute to the Santo Niño as they grew into adulthood, like her niece Carol.

“She maintained her humility and was well-grounded. I admire her commitment to spreading the devotion of the Santo. Niño,” she said.

“She was a lady of dedication who spread the good work and let people understand that Sinug is not an everyday performance but a prayer dance and act of worship in honor of the Santo Nino,” Gerra added.

Commitment

Diola worked as a laundry woman as a young girl and was never heard complaining about her poverty.

She never married or had children.

She lived in a simple house in Mabolo, accompanied by her niece Carolina who has two children.

Gerra said RAFI would continue the legacy of the Sinug, a commitment also shared by Carolina and her 41-year-old son Romel.

Romel was trained by “Titang” at 10 years old to play the Sinug beat on the woman’s goatskin drum.

“Hangtod na naa pa koy kinabuhi, ako jud ning padayonon (So long as I live, I will continue this),” said Romel, who’s been practicing the Sinug drum beat for 31 years.

Culture bearer

“Nang Titang” was laid out wearing the old Filipiniana kimona she would often wear when she danced the sinug.

Beside her coffin is her old drum and a Sto. Niño image. She will be laid to rest in the Mabolo cemetery next Saturday.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, who had visited Diola in the hospital , expressed his condolence to the family and said the city had lost a “keeper of the Sinulog dance and beat.” /With Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac and Correspondent Edison delos Angeles