In 1957, Dorothy (Laigo) Cordova (b. 1932) and Frederic Pilar “Fred” Cordova (1931-2013), both second-generation Filipino Americans, founded Filipino Youth Activities of Seattle (FYA) to engage young people in activities that instilled cultural awareness, such as sports, dance, drama, language, and job placement. Two years later FYA began a new drill team they hoped would participate in local parades and events for Seafair, Seattle's ten-week-long summer festival. The first team was made up of 18 girls whose uniforms were patterned on a Filipino-Muslim (princess) motif. By 1964 the team had grown to include the Cumbanchero Percussioners (boys supplying rhythmic beats) and the Mandayan Marchers (young children holding flags), along with the Princessa Drill Team. Still the only Filipino-American drill team in the U.S. as of 2019, the award-winning Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team performs regularly in the Seattle area and throughout the U.S. and Canada.

In this image unidentified members of the Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team hold their positions during a performance, probably at Seattle Center during Fiesta Filipina (also Philippine Festival, now Pagdiriwang), the biggest festival of Filipino arts and culture in the Pacific Northwest.

Caption information source: "Promoting Filipino Prides," by B.G. Ventura, retrieved from https://www.festalpagdiriwang.com/fya-drill-team
Caption information source: "Forty Years of Drilled-In Memories," The Seattle Times, February 21, 1997, p. B1.
Caption information source: "A one-of-a-kind, Seattle-based performance group has been dazzling audiences and fostering Filipino community since 1959," Seattle Magazine, June 2010, retrieved from https://www.seattlemag.com/article/spotlight-culture-club
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.