Leonor Orosa Goquingco (24 July 1917 – 15 July 2005) was a Filipino national artist in creative dance, who was also known for breaking tradition within dance. She played the piano, drew art, designed scenery and costumes, sculpted, acted, directed, danced and choreographed. Her pen name was '' Cristina Luna'' and she was known as ''Trailblazer, Mother of Philippine Theater Dance'' and ''Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics''. She died on July 15, 2005 of cardiac arrest following a cerebro-vascular accident at the age of 87.

Family

Leonor Orosa-Goquingco was born on July 24, 1917 in

Jolo, Sulu , nickname = , motto = , anthem = , subdivision_type3 = District , subdivision_name3 = , established_title = Founded , established_date = 1952 , parts_ ...

. She was a Filipino national artist in creative dance. She played the piano, drew art, designed scenery and costumes, sculpted, acted, directed, danced and choreographed. Her pen name was Cristina Luna and she was known as Trailblazer, Mother of Philippine Theater Dance and Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics. She died on July 15, 2005 of cardiac arrest following a cerebro-vascular accident at the age of 87. Her parents were Sixto Orosa and Severina Luna, both physicians who graduated from the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...

. She was married to Benjamin Goquinco and had three children: Benjamin, Jr., Rachelle and Regina.

Education

Goquingco graduated Elementary in 1929 at

Central Philippine University The Central Philippine University (also referred to as Central or CPU) is a private research university in Iloilo City, Philippines. Established in 1905 through a benevolent grant of the American industrialist and philanthropist, John D. Roc ...

and as the top of her class as valedictorian in Negros Occidental Provincial High School. She moved to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and entered the

Philippine Women's University The Philippine Women's University (PWU) is a tertiary education school which has its main campus in Manila, Philippines. An institution exclusive for girls from its inception until the 1970s, the PWU admits both women and men as its students. ...

(PWU) where she took an ACS course. She earned a diploma in education, majoring in English Literature from

St. Scholastica's College Manila Saint Scholastica's College, also referred to by its acronym SSC or colloquially St. Scho is a private Catholic basic and higher education institution for women founded and managed by the Congregation of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of T ...

and graduated summa cum laude. The famous national artist also took graduate courses in theatre craft, drama and music at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

Teachers College A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

in New York City, USA. She also took professional and teacher courses at the Ballet de Monte Carlo.

Accomplishments

Dance

In 1939, Leonor Orosa-Goquingco was the only dancer sent on the first cultural mission to Japan, at the age of 19. She produced '' Circling the Globe'' (1939) and '' Dance Panorama'' in the same year. She created '' The Elements'' in 1940, the first ballet choreographed by a Filipino to commissioned music. She also created ''Sports'' during the same year, featuring cheerleaders, a tennis match and a basketball game. The first Philippine folkloric ballet, '' Trend: Return to the Native'', was choreographed by Goquingco in 1941. After the Second World War, she organized the Philippine Ballet and brought the famous Filipino novel, '' Noli Me Tángere'', to life. The ''

Noli Dance Suite Noli (; lij, Nöi ) is a coast ''comune'' of Liguria, Italy, in the Province of Savona, it is about southwest of Genoa by rail, about above sea-level. The origin of the name may come from ''Neapolis'', meaning "new city" in Greek. From 1192 t ...

'' consisted of several dances. ''Maria Clara and the Leper'', ''Salome and Elias'', ''Sisa'', ''Asalto for Maria Clara'' and ''The Gossips'' are some of the dances found in the ''Noli Dance Suite''. Leonor Orosa-Goquingco also danced during her early years. She danced at the '' American Museum of Natural History,

Theresa Kaufmann Auditorium Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

The International House ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' and ''

Rockefeller Plaza Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...

'', just to name a few. She appeared in ''War Dance'' and ''Planting Rice''. Other works she choreographed were " Circling the Globe", " Dance Panorama", " Current events", " Vinta!", " Morolandia", "

Festival in Maguindanao A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival con ...

", " Eons Ago: The Creation", " Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend, and Lore in Dance", " Miner's Song", " The Bird and the Planters", "Tribal", " Ang Antipos" (The Flagellant), " Salubong", "

Pabasa The ancient Egyptian noble Pabasa was chief steward of the God's Wife of Amun Nitocris I during the Saite Period. He is buried in tomb TT279, which is located in the El-Assasif, part of the Theban Necropolis, near Thebes. His sarcophagus ...

" (Reading of the Pasyon) and " Easter Sunday Fiesta". As a choreographer, she is noted for her courage in breaking traditions in dance despite public indifference. These innovations inevitably revolutionized the folk dances. She founded the Filipinescas Dance Company in 1958, and took it on a world tour in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968 and 1970. This dance company, along with the Bayanihan Philippine Dance company and Francisca Reyes Aquino, are considered to be of the exponents in the development of contemporary Philippine folkloric dance.

Writing

She was also a writer, and her articles were published in ''

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' has multiple sister publications, including '' Point ...

'' (New York City), '' Enciclopedia Della Spettacolo'' (Rome), ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'' (London), ''

Arts of Asia ''Arts of Asia'', founded in 1970, is the foremost international magazine of Asian arts and antiques, and has the largest circulation of any Asian art magazine. It is published four times a year, and is distributed to 90 countries. Supported ...

'' (Hong Kong) and the '' Philippine Cultural Foundation''. She wrote ''Dances of the Emerald Isles'' and ''Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend and Lore in Dance''. On ''Dances of the Emerald Isles,'' Teodoro A. Agoncillo called it "a towering contribution to Philippine cultural history." Leonor Orosa-Goquingco also wrote a poem on the Japanese occupation, '' Lifted the Smoke of Battle''. She is famous for her one-act play, '' Her Son, Jose Rizal'' which is set during the time Rizal was imprisoned and awaiting his execution. It reveals the emotions going through Rizal's mother at that time and the similarities between Rizal's life and that of Jesus Christ. Goquinco was also a critic who wrote reviews. She critiqued works like Tony Perez' ''Oktubre'', Ligaya Amilbangsa's ''Stillness'' and

Tanghalang Pilipino Tanghalang Pilipino (''Philippine Theater'') is the leading exponent of Philippine theater and the resident drama company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines since its organization in 1987. It has successfully presented hundreds of production ...

's ''Aguinaldo: 1898''.

Awards

* '' Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award alaiza gwapa'' in 1969 and 1964Enriquez, M
Leonor Orosa-Goquinco a.k.a. Cristina Luna
orosa.org * '' Rizal Centennial Award'' in 1962 * '' Republic Cultural Heritage Award'' in 1964 * '' Presidential Award of Merit'' in 1970 * '' Tandang Sora Award'' and the '' Columbia University Alumni Association Award'' in 1975 * ''National Artist for Dance'' on March 27, 1976

Positions

She was an Honorary Chairman of the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines, the founding member of the Philippine Ballet Theatre (PBT) and was known as a Zontian and a performing arts critic and columnist of the ''

Manila Bulletin The ''Manila Bulletin'' (), (also known as the ''Bulletin'' and previously known as the ''Manila Daily Bulletin'' from 1906 to September 23, 1972, and the ''Bulletin Today'' from November 22, 1972, to March 10, 1986) is the Philippines' largest ...

''.Leonor Orosa Goquingco
ncca.gov.ph (June 3, 2015)