• ANDREW ALTAREJOS
Four dance artists from Negros Occidental have entered for the Visayas Cluster of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) National Committee on Dance for 2025.
They are Dr. Randyl Villiones of Philippine Normal University in Cadiz City, Rudy Reveche of Colegio San Agustin–Bacolod, Proceso Gelladuga of Bacolod City, and John Mark Alpay of Southland College in Kabankalan City.
Their selection follows the online elections held on November 15, for the Executive Committee of the NCCA National Committee on Dance for the 2026–2028 term. The newly elected executive officers were Dr. Lordinio Vergara (re-elected) as head, Dr. Larry Gabao as vice head, Dr. Rodel Fronda as secretary, and Dr. Robert Stephen Biadoma as member.
The Visayas cluster will be represented by Victor Hao Cuenco and Mike Jhelord Rollo of Cebu, with Annie Divinagracia-Sartorio serving as the ballet representative. In addition to their new roles, the four Negrense artists actively participated in this year’s election proceedings. Following the elections, Alpay and Reveche have begun initial work to form a unified alliance of dance artists across the Negros Island Region (NIR).
The plans for this proposed alliance includes the following: active participation in NCCA National Dance Committee programs, strengthening cultural exchange among the three NIR provinces, conducting dance mapping and data-gathering projects, and organizing dance fora, seminar-workshops, and other capacity-building activities.*
