FUSO's Pilipino Cultural Night

Location

Shiley Theatre

Free

Bahala Na – Come What May follows the story of the Managbanag Family and their exploration of what being Filipino means to them. Despite being mothers, daughters, and granddaughters of the same family, there are intricacies in their identity that make each of their experiences of being Filipino and Filipino-American different. We follow the matriarch, Flordeliza Mae Managbanag, navigate immigrating to the United States for a better life only to be faced with the reality that the American dream isn’t as attainable as many thought. This pushes her to hold higher expectations for her daughter, Jonella Malaya Managbanag, who is stuck between two worlds trying to figure out how to assimilate with American culture in order to survive. Jonella’s daughter and Flor’s granddaughter, Kayla Marie Managbanag, is now trying to get back in touch with a culture she has been taught to forget whilst helping her family understand that despite challenges, come what may, they can get through anything together.

PCN is an annual tradition in many colleges and high schools across the nation to celebrate and showcase Pilipino culture and history. It is a phenomenon born of the “identity crisis” experienced by the first generation of Filipinx-Americans to go off to college in the United States in the late 70s and early 80s. Emerging initially on the West Coast, PCN was a new way for Filipinx-American young adults to learn the stories of the Filipinx individuals that came before them in an experiential way. These students began to explore the Pilipino history, culture, and identity that they were never taught about in school. PCNs performed today are comprised of traditional Pilipino dance suites, modern dances, choral performances, and script-based skits or plays. PCN allows Filipinx-Americans and the greater community to be immersed in the richness of Pilipino culture through a unique expressive art form that has become a longstanding annual tradition.