Philippine Folk Dances

Rural and Barrio Dances

v  AKLAN

v  Gayong-Gayong

 -In rural gatherings, this dance offers much fun. Gayong is a pet name for Leodegario. According to the legend and to the words of the song, Gayong and Masiong (pet name for Dalmacio) once attended a feast commemorating the death of a townsman. While eating, Masiong choked on a piece of adobo so he called, "Gayong! Gayong!" to ask for help to dislodge a bone from the adobo meal from his throat. In this dance, Masiong's liking for feasts and the consequence of his voracity are held up to playful ridicule.

v  Kandang-kandang

v  This animated wedding dance derived its name from a plant which grows along Dao beach in Antique. It is usually performed by the parents of the bride and groom during the wedding feast. 

v    NEGROS OCCIDENTAL

v  Regatones

v  Regatones came from Cadiz City, Negros Occidental. During the early days, the regatones or traveling fish vendors and lab-aseros (women fish buyers) would wait for the fishermen. While waiting, they would tease each other by performing some dance steps. The regatones would maneuver their tuwang-tuwangan (bamboo sticks) with the paraka (wooden baskets).

v    BATANES

v  Palu-palo

v  Palu-palo, is a war dance that shows how the community joins forces as one to defend themselves. It is a dance showing how the Ivatans defended themselves against the Christian intruders and how they learned to accept Christianity and live a virtuous life. The dance was a simple one performed by men who wore simple flesh-colored garments. The tapping of wooden sticks as background music to the dance produced an echoing sound as the Ivatans reenacted their battle with the Christian invaders.

v    BATANGAS

v  Subli

v  The Subli is a traditional folk dance of the Philippines which is still quite popular today. It is a ceremonial worship dance honoring the Holy Cross (or “Mahal Na Poong Santa Cruz” in Filipino) and is celebrated around a large crucifix which has an image of the sun in silver at its center. Although the dancers are quite certain of the meaning behind different portions of the dance and the steps, the origins of the Subli itself remain unclear. There are varying theories, but even experts and researchers aren’t in agreement.

v    CAPIZ

v  Inalimango

v  Performed by the crab gatherers of Pan-ay, the Inalimanggo dance portrays an example of how the lowly ways of mud crab's unrehearsed movements were translated into a dance which carefully arranges into sequences and ends in a frenzied finish, very much the same way crabs would end a day of grappling and fighting.

v  Pasiguin

v  It is a frolicking dance representing fishes getting out from torn fishnets, locally called sibot in Capiz. The dance is among the discoveries of dance researcher Petronila Suarez. It was presented by Crisostomo Barerra during the 1979 Annual Philippine Folk Dance Workshop held at the Folk Arts Theater in the CCP Complex.There are misconceptions that the dance has to do with the Pasig River, but it does not.

v  Tinolabong

v  is dance of the mountain people of Panilan and Loctugan, Capiz.This dance named after a bird called  tolabong  in Capiz. Carabaos like the birds as they peck at the ticks, flies, mosquitoes and other insects. The danced imitates the movements of the birds. Girl dancer wares red or white skirt and white loose blouse with long sleeves and close neck like a chambra. Boy wares red or white trousers and white camisa de chino. Both are bare foot.

v    CEBU

v  Sinulog

v  It is an annual cultural and religious festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City, and is the center of the Santo Niño Catholic celebrations in the Philippines. Other places like Kabankalan City, Maasin City, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro City, Butuan City, and Southern Leyte also have their own version of the festival in honor of Santo Niño.

v    Ilocos

v  Kalapati

v  is a lovely dance patterned afteer the characteristic movements of the kalapati or doves as they court--bowing, billing and cooing. It depicts the typical traits of the Ilocanos (simplicity, naturalness and shyness). It originated from Cabugao, Ilocos Sur. Dancers dress in typical Ilocano costume.

v    Binatbatan

v  The festival got its name from the Iluko term batbatin, or separating cotton balls from the seeds of the local fruit tree kapas sanglay. The cotton balls are then spun and used in weaving the abel, which Chinese merchants then residing in Ciudad Fernandina, the Vigan of old, exported and which was among the local products shipped during the galleon trade from the 15th to the 18th century.

v    ILO-ILO

v  Dinagyang

v  It is a religious and cultural festival in Iloilo City, Philippines held on the fourth Sunday of January, or right after the Sinulog in Cebu and the Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan.

v    LAGUNA

v  Maglalatik

v  The Maglalatik (also known as Magbabao) is an indigenous dance from the Philippines in which coconut shell halves that are secured onto the dancers' hands and on vests upon which are hung four or six more coconut shell halves. The dancers - all male - perform the dance by hitting one coconut shell with the other - sometimes the ones on the hands, sometimes, the ones on the body, and sometimes the shells worn by another performer, all in time to a fast drumbeat.

v    LEYTE

v  Sayaw sa Salakot

v  It is a dance where young girls of the village show off their colorful farm hats. I witnessed this lovely cultural dance at a friend's 25th Silver Wedding Anniversary.

v  Gaway-gaway

v  Gaway-gaway is a harvest dance that celebrates the bountiful harvest of the gaway--a plant of the taro family that is grown both for the vegetable and its roots. The female dancer hold a nigo (bilao in Tagalog) laden as she dances. The music is a fast 3/8 melody and the steps are simple but beautiful. This particular dance came from the town of Jaro in Leyte Province, where planting the gaway is the predominant occupation of the barrio folks.

v  Tinikling

v  The name "tinikling" is a reference to birds locally known as tikling, which can be any of a number of rail species; the term tinikiling literally means "tikling-like." The dance originated in Leyte, an island in the Visayas in the central Philippines. It imitates the movement of the tikling birds as they walk between grass stems, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers. Dancers imitate the tikling bird's legendary grace and speed by skillfully maneuvering between large bamboo poles.

v    MALABON

v  Bayluhan

v  The Bayluhan is a dance performed in Malabon and Navotas by childless women who were unable to make the annual pilgrimage to neighboring Obando to do a prayer-dance for a child. The women wait instead for their friends who went to the fertility festival to return, and then they recreate the fertility dance.

v    MARINDUQUE

v  Pateado

v  The Pateado is in a fact a simple but delightful courtship dance that focuses on a single couple’s flirting over a native hat (buri or buntal) executed into a funny but graceful dance steps. The male dancer would make comic antics to get the attention of the partner. The girl of course, would pretend not to notice or stay away from his advances. An interesting point in the dance is when the hat is finally snatched by the male dancer. The female dancer would try all her means to get the hat back but all in vain. Having all her efforts futile, the girl will shy away and would refuse to dance anymore.

v    PALAWAN

v  Karatong

v  The annual parade of San Agustine includes the celebration of blossoming mango trees that grow abundantly on the island of Cuyo, the former capital of the Palawan province. Starting at the church patio and ending at the town plaza, groups of ladies sway their colorful "bunga manga," which are meant to represent the flowers of the mango tree while the men strike lively, syncopated beats with their karatong.

v    PANGASINAN

v  Binasuan

v  This colorful and lively dance from Bayambang in the Pangasinan province shows off the balancing skills of the dancers. The glasses that the dancers gracefully yet carefully maneuver are half-filled with rice wine. Binasuan, meaning “with the use of a drinking glass” in Pangasinan, is often performed as entertainment at weddings, birthdays, and fiestas.

v  Kumakaret

v  This is a courtship dance of the kumakarets, a person who makes wine, tuba or vinegar from sasa (a type of palm tree.) The dance shows their ability, skill and good balance while dancers perform the dance with half-filled glasses of wine.

v  Pasikat na Baso

v  Pasikat means to show off and baso means drinking glass. Dancers display good balance, graceful movements and unusual skill on the top of a bench with the use of four glasses half full of water or wine.

v  Tupaan

v  Tupaan in Pangasinan means to strike against each other. After a hard day's work in making bucayo (cocunut candy), the barrio folks amuse themselves by dancing with halves of coconut shells held in both hands. The rims of the shells are struck together to produce sound in different rhythms.

v  Binislakan

The municipality of Lingayen in Pangasinan was derived from the Chinese word "Li-King-Tung," meaning to look backward and forward, by the Chinese settlers in the area long ago. The binislakan dance was performed to commemorate the stay of Limahong, a Chinese pirate who built his kingdom in Lingayen in the 1200's. Binislakan, meaning "the use of sticks," imitates two chopsticks used by the Chinese for eating.

v  Oasiwas

v  Oasiwas is a dance in which an oil lamp is balanced on the dancer's head as he swings around lighted lamps wrapped in porous cloth or fishnet. The name of the dance comes from the Pangasinense word for swinging. The dance is performed by fishermen of Lingayen when celebrating a good catch. It is accompanied by waltz-like music.

v  Binoyugan

v  It is a dance from the Ilocano area of Pangasinan that shows women balancing the traditional banga or clay pots on their heads. At the end of the dance, the women lie on their stomachs then roll from side to side while balancing the pot.

  

v  Pandanggo sa Ilaw

v  It is a Philippine folk dance which has become popular in the rural areas of the Philippines. The dance evolved from Fandango, a Spanish folk dance, which arrived in the Philippines during the Hispanic period. This dance, together with the Jota, became popular among the illustrados or the upper class and later adapted among the local communities. In the early 18th century, any dance that is considered jovial and lively was called Pandanggo.

v  Pandanggo na Tapis

v  It is a dance that shows the various uses of the tapis or overskirt, which used to be an essential part of women's clothing. These uses include courting, flirting, protecting oneself, wrapping, and driving birds away from the rice fields.

v  Sayaw sa Bangko

v  Sayaw sa bangko (dance on top of a bench), is a dance which originates from Pangasinan and researched by Jovita Sison. It is performed by a couple on a narrow bench, inching and hopping from one end to another. Dancer show skill in staying up the bench as they exchange places by moving their way around or the girl thrown in the air while boy moves to the other end. They do not compete but rather complement each other so that no one falls. It is usually performed during town fiestas. 

v  Sisiglew

v  It is a remarkable dance of grace, elegance, and style. Three lit coconut shells, one on the top of the head and the other two held, are dexterously balanced. Skill plays a great role in keeping the lights in place. Villagers claim that Sigsilew originated from Indonesia, but it has been interpreted in Filipino as all other foreign dances. 

v    SURIGAO

v  Itik-Itik

v  It is a mimetic folk dance in The Philippines. It originated in the province of Surigao in Mindanao. In Itik-itik (from the Tagalog word for "duck"), the dance steps imitate the movements of ducks among rice paddies and swamplands, such as wading, flying, and short, choppy steps.

v    TARLAC

v  Basulto

v  It is satirical love song with an accompanying dance. It originated in Victoria, Tarlac and has Pampango influences. The singing of verses and the dancing of figures are done alternately.

v    TAGALOG REGION

v  Bulaklakan

v  (Tagalog Regions) During the month of May, it is custom in many parts of the Philippines to celebrate the "Santa Cruz de Mayo," a procession usually followed by a social gathering in the house of the "Hermana Mayor." In some places, the celebration takes the form of folk dances held in front of a provisional alter built by the "Hermana Mayor." Bulaklakan, a lovely and attractive dance, is danced for this occasion. The girls in this dance each hold a garland of leaves and flowers attached to a wire, bamboo or rattan so that the garland will arch when held overhead.

v    ZAMBALES

v  Ti Silaw Gaod

v  (Cabangan, Zambales) This is a combination of two dances that both come from Cabangan, Ti silaw literally means light. The dance depicts the warning signs made by the womenfolk to fisherman out at sea of an approaching storm. By means of their light, they guide the fisherman safely to shore. Goad is said to have originated from the fun loving fisherman of Cabangan during village parties.

v  Sala Ti Alat

v  A successful fishing expedition is a propitious occasion for merry-making. The villagers of Camiling celebrate it with a dance called Sala Ti Alat. Alat is the local term for a fish container. Sala Ti Alat literally means dance with a fish container.

v  Sinublihan

v  The Sinublihan, meaning "back and forth," originated as a ball game in which a fish basket was thrown back and forth between players while trying frantically to retrieve it. In time, the game developed routine steps and formal sequences. With the addition of rondalla music, the Sinublihan dance was created.

v    ALBAY

v  Pastores Tubog

v   Pastores, meaning shepherd in Spanish, refers to the biblical shepherds who visited the manger the very first Christmas. The scenic barrio of Tubog is home to one of the most spectacular pastores versions. Starting in early December until the Feast of the Three Kings on January 6th, the pastores groups dance to the tune of Pastores a Belen. All dressed in Filipinized Middle Eastern shepherd costumes, the performers go house to house utilizing flower arches and sheep made of bamboo and rice paper to imitate the tending of the sheep

v    CAMARINES

v  Pastores Talisay

v  Pastores, meaning shepherd in Spanish, refers to the biblical shepherds who visited the manger the very first Christmas. During Christmas season in the Bicol regions, groups of people perform the Pastores; a song and dance spectacle celebrating the birth of Jesus. The town of Talisay featuers a version of the Pastores heavily influenced by Mexican traditions introduced to the islands via the Manila-Acapulco galleons.

v    BOHOL

v  Curacha/Kuratsa

v  A dance originating in Bohol, Visayas, it is popular at Ilokano and Visayas festivals. This dance commands a sense of improvisation which mimics a young playful couple’s attempt to get each other’s attention.