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Samahang Kapatid Dance Repertoire |
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From Noels Philippine Folkdance Glossary Rural/Barrio
Dances Perhaps the best known and closest to the
Filipino heart are the dances from the rural Christian lowlands: a country
blessed with so much beauty. To the Filipinos, these dances illustrate the
fiesta spirit and demonstrate a love of life. They express a joy in work, a
love for music, and pleasure in the simplicities of life. Typical attire in
the Rural Suite include the colorful balintawak and patadyong skirts for the
women, and camisa de chino and colored trousers for the men.
Bakya means wooden shoes. They ate the common footwear o f the poor in the
barrios . During the rainy season almost all people wear them. They are
made in different materials, color, and shapes. This dance is very
interesting and lively. In a playful mood, young boys and girl are supposed
to be teasing each other rhytimically with their bakya 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. During
the month of May it is the 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 from of folk dances held in lovely and attractive dance, is
appropriate for this occasion. The girl 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. At
one baptismal party in the Surigao del Norte province, a young lady named
Kanang (the nickname for Cayetana), considered the best dancer and singer of
her time, was asked to dance the Sibay.
She became so enthusiastic and spirited during the performance that she began
to improvise movements and steps similar to the movements of itik, the duck, as it walks with short,
choppy steps and splashes water on its back while calling to its mate. The
people liked the dance so much that they all imitated her. There are six
separate foot sequences in the series of Itik-Itik steps.
Pandanggo Sa
Ilaw (pahn-DAHNG-go-sah-EEH-lahw) This
popular dance of grace and balance comes from Lubang Island, Mindoro in the
Visayas region. The term pandanggo
comes from the Spanish word fandango,
which is a dance characterized by lively steps and clapping that varies in
rhythm in 3/4 time. This particular pandanggo involves the presence of three tinggoy, or oil lamps, balanced on the head
and in each hand. The
Salakot is a wide-brimmed hat. It protects the Filipinos from the suns
heat and from the rains. In this dance the salakot is used to enchance
dance figure and hand movements. It us danced by girl only, but may be
performed by both boys and girls. The dances steps were arranged for Play
Day, 1935, University if the Philippines. Subli (sooh-BLEEH) From
the province of Batangas comes this ancient dance, originally performed in
veneration of the holy cross of Alitagtag, referred to in the vernacular as
Mahal na Poong Santa Cruz. The word subli is
derived from two Tagalog words, subsub
(stooped) and bali
(broken). Hence, the men are stooped throughout the dance and appear to be
lame and crooked, while the women dance with hats. Honored
as the Philippine national dance, Tinikling is a favorite in the Visayan
islands, especially on the island of Leyte. The dance 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. The dance is a good test
of stamina and agility, as the dances skip in and out of the rapidly clapped
bamboo poles.
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