Frank Rabon
Frank Rabon. Photo credit: Manny Crisostomo
Bio
Francisco "Frank" Rabon is a dancer, choreographer, and cultural leader whose work centers on CHamoru dance (Bailan CHamoru), an Indigenous tradition that carries the history, language, and values of the CHamoru people of Guam and the greater Mariana Islands. For more than four decades, Rabon has led the revival, reconstruction, and preservation of CHamoru dance, chant, and song through research, oral histories, and community-based teaching. His work has helped restore CHamoru dance from a nearly forgotten practice to an active cultural tradition among CHamoru communities around the world.
Rabon is the founder of Guma Taotao Tano’ (House of the People of the Land), an organization dedicated to preserving and sharing CHamoru culture through dance, education, and community engagement. Guma Taotao Tano’ also served as a catalyst for the creation of Pa’a Taotao Tano’ and later, PIPIT, Inc. (Para I Probechu’n I Taotao-ta), both dedicated to the preservation, education, and promotion of CHamoru language and culture.
Under his leadership, generations of dancers have trained in CHamoru dance, song, and chant, strengthening connections to language, history, and ancestral knowledge. His choreography draws from historical accounts, teachings of elders, and the CHamoru language and legends, and has helped establish the contemporary practice of Bailan CHamoru.
Rabon’s choreography has shaped how CHamoru culture is presented in both community and formal settings. His signature works, such as O Asaina—a traditional blessing—are performed regularly at public ceremonies, cultural festivals, and official events throughout Guam, including gubernatorial inaugurations.
His work has been presented internationally across the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe. Since 1985, Rabon has led Guam’s delegations to the Festival of Pacific Arts—the largest gathering of Indigenous artists in Oceania—including the opening and closing ceremonies of the 12th Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam (2016). Rabon has also contributed choreography to major international events, including the 1999 South Pacific Games and the 2000 Olympic Torch Ceremony in Sydney, Australia.
Rabon has played a pivotal role in introducing CHamoru dance into Guam’s public school system, reaching thousands of students. Many of his students have gone on to become educators and cultural leaders, forming cultural houses (guma) across Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the continental United States, and Japan. He has also authored texts on CHamoru dance and led apprenticeship and language preservation programs that support long-term cultural continuity.
Rabon has received numerous honors, including the Governor’s Art Award for Lifetime Achievement and an honorary doctorate from the University of Guam. He is the sole surviving member of the original 1998 Guam Masters cohort recognized by the Guam Council on the Arts & Humanities Agency and currently serves on the agency’s board.