The Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company is a Philippine folkloric dance troupe based in the island of

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

in the

Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas ( war, Sinirangan Kabisay-an; ceb, Sidlakang Kabisay-an; tl, Silangang Kabisayaan or ''Silangang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands, Samar, ...

region of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. According to its official website, :''Its repertoire consists of Philippine traditional dances and music showing a kaleidoscope of Philippine culture through the performing arts''. The company was founded in 1960 at the Holy Infant College in

Tacloban City Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban ( war, Syudad han Tacloban; fil, Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a first class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. The c ...

by Teresita Veloso Pil. The group was initially called the Leyte Filipiniana Dance Troupe. Sister Mary Canisius, the school directress of Holy Infant College, is also credited as having encouraged the formation of the dance troupe. The troupe first performed in September 1961 at the same college's celebration of its College Day. The success of the dance troupe resulted in invitations for the group to perform in other parts of Tacloban and eventually the rest of the country and the world. Philippine President

Diosdado Macapagal Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Sr. (; September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was a Filipino lawyer, poet and politician who served as the ninth president of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth vice president, serving from 19 ...

designated the dance troupe as Official Cultural Ambassadors of the Philippines to the United States for 1965. The group toured the United States and even appeared on

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

. In 1975, the group became an independent entity from the Holy Infant College and was reorganized. In 1977, the group received its present name upon the creation of the Leyte Kalipayan Cultural Foundation, which to this day still manages the activities of the dance troupe. The word ''kalipayan'' comes from the

Waray-Waray language Waray (also known as Waray-Waray or Bisaya/Binisaya nga Winaray/Waray) is an Austronesian language and the fifth-most-spoken native regional language of the Philippines, native to Eastern Visayas. It is the native language of the Waray people ...

and means ''happiness''. The group has toured in various cities around the world in Asia, Europe, the Americas.

References

External links

Intangible Cultural Heritage Platform for Asia and the PacificOfficial Site of the Leyte Kalipayan Dance Company
Filipino dance groups {{dance-stub