Eric Solano

ERIC SOLANO  has been a Philippine dance and cultural practitioner since 1993. Eric co-founded Parangal, a Philippine dance company on Ramaytush Ohlone land (San Francisco) in 2008 and has been working with over 80 Culture Bearers from over 30 Indigenous Communities in the Philippines archipelago since 2005. Eric’s work has been performed at SF Ethnic Dance Festival, Carnegie Hall, The White House, Merrie Monarch Festival Ho'ike and international Festivals in Las Vegas, North Carolina, and countries in Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa. Eric has produced eight home show productions for Parangal since its inception including twenty two world premieres. He has mentored and restaged Philippine folk dances for Philippine Culture Night (PCN) shows in most Universities in Northern California including the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University for 30 years. Eric serves as dance consultant for organizations in the USA, Canada, England, Australia and in the Philippines and bridges Filipino artists in the diaspora to Philippines indigenous communities. In 2021, Eric performed as solo artist in three Bulgarian festivals representing the Philippines garnering Best Authentic Performance at one of them. Eric's aspiration is for Parangal to become one of the leading organizations advancing, preserving, and promoting Philippine culture and arts in mainstream America and beyond. Eric is an Adjunct Professor at USF's Performing Arts and Social Justice program teaching Philippine Dance and Culture. Parangal is the first Philippine-identifying and folk dance group recipient of NEFA’s National Dance Project Product Grant in 2022. In 2024, Eric received a President Biden’s Lifetime Achievement Awards at the The Outstanding Filipino Awards.