Folk Dances are a reflection of who
the native people of the Philippines are. The Philippines consists of 7,107 islands, and is broken down in
three groups of islands. The Luzon, Mindanao, and Visayas. Each of these
regions contain different languages, history, religion, and traditions. And
with this, each region has different influences in their ancestorical dances, display a wide array of art.
Alot of these Cultural and Folk dances
represents hardships and daily backbreaking tasks, that has turned into a art
form, and is reflected onto the native people who live there and perform them.
LUZON
Northern most region of the Philippines,
Luzon gets it’s Cultural influence from Hindu-Buddhist, Spanish and many ethnic
religious tribes. All with differences and beliefs, all the Cultural and
Folk Dances from this region represent different factions in one way or
the other.
Igurot Dance (Kordilliera Suite)
VISAYAS
Being the Central Island of The Philippines, Visayas is also broken down into three sections. Central, Eastern, Western. Many others tribes from around surrounding island would come after the downfall or break up of their tribes. Visayas became a melting pot for many different Tribes and Cultural backgrounds. You will see that the dances of the Visayas are more upbeat and exciting, not so much in Drama and tribal meanings as other regions.
Binasuan ( Bario Suite)
MINDANAO
Mindanao is the southern most region of
The Philippines. Its is also the region where my family is originally
from. Being the second largest island in the Philippines, its Culture consists
of mostly Muslim or " Moro " people, which is also composed of other ethnic
groups such as the Maranao, Tausug, Banguingui, and indigenous tribes.
ACPA Performing Sinkil ( Muslim Suite)
There are many other dance styles in the Philippines as
well. Many of them include, Maria Clara: which is the Spanish influenced
dancing, Mountain dancing, Tribal dancing, and Barrio which is basically dances
they perform during fiestas in their village. Although I have danced all of these forms, my favorite is the barrio suite. This is because I love how these dances are fun and up beat.
The fact that there are so many different styles of dancing in
the Philippines makes me proud to be a traditional folk dancer because through
dance, it helps me share the life styles of the native people. Being able to
share these dances allows everyone to learn about the Philippines in a more fun
and interactive way. A lot of people don’t know the hardships and struggles the native people go through and many of these dances depict these struggles. Many of the dances portray not only daily life- hunting, courtships, etc- but also the celebration of life, recognizing the role of the deities in daily living.
After watching these videos, which dance do you like the best? Maybe I can teach it to you!! :D
I like the last dance because of how the dance was outside, compared to the other two that were inside on a stage, which gives more range in where the dancers can move.
ReplyDeleteWatching the ACPA Performing Sinkil was my favorite video, because I saw that there was Tinikling incorporated into the dance! I am very familiar with Tinikling, because I spent many years performing the traditional and modern form of it. It was also great learning about other different regions of dance in the Philippines as well.
ReplyDeleteI like the Singkil dance because it is very elegant and really interesting to watch.
ReplyDeleteI like the last dance because it reminds me a lot of Latin culture dancing. Plus it looks like it would be a lot of fun! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso I didn't know there were so many islands!
But Overall, Nice blog :)
I really liked the Igurot Dance because it seems very ritualistic but I also do not think I saw any guys dancing it which makes me a little curious to see how you would teach a guy that dance.
ReplyDeleteI like all the dances because they each have a different style and have a different story behind it! You should teach me Singkil since it has tinikling too! (:
ReplyDeleteI definitely liked the Igurot Dance because the movements are so fluid, its like many movements combined into one action, if that makes any sense. Great Post.
ReplyDelete