Philippine Folk Dances

Countries of the world have their own cultures made more colorful, beautiful and vibrant because of folk dances that are a reflection of who they are and what they are. In the East, the Chinese have their symbolical dragon dance; the Japanese have the ancestral dance Bon Odori. In the West, the Americans have their Square Dance. The Scottish people have their world-famous dances (Highland and Country Dance, Jig and Reel). On the other hand, the Philippines will not be left behind! The “Pearl of the Orient” boasts of a variety of Philippine folk dances.

The Filipinos pay tributes and owe itself to cultural heritage. One way of showing such love and respect for the country gave birth to the development of Philippine ethnic folk dances. And there are several of these; namely, Binasuan, Sublian, Itik-itik, Tinikling, Maglalatik, Cariñosa etc.

Binasuan is a native dance of Pangasinan. This dance literally means “dancing with glasses.” The steps are executed with glasses filled with rice wine balanced on the head and the hands of the dancers. Danced to show balance and to reflect rural gaiety, Binasuan is performed usually in wedding ceremonies and occasions in the barangay.

Sublian owes its meaning to native words “subsub” meaning to fall with the head and “bali” or broken. This meaning is reflected in the dance steps. The dancers move feebly and tortuously as if without vigor. This dance, however, traces its roots to Batangas where it was originally played as a ritual dance which evolved into a symbol of religious tradition performed during town fiestas.

Itik-Itik is one of the Philippine folk dances which have an interesting origin. According to stories, a Filipina maiden-dancer of Surigao del Norte was asked to perform a native dance in one special occasion. She started to improvise new steps and imitate the courtship movements of a local species of duck known as “itik.” The spectators began to imitate her and that is how the dance came to be.

Tinikling is another Philippine folk dance that is inspired by an endemic bird called “tikling.” The steps of this dance are an imitation of the movements of a “tikling” bird that hops and escapes the traps set by hunters. Moving with poise and grace, the dancers skip in-between two bamboo poles that are held to pound rhythmically against each other. This dance is a specialty of Leyte.

Maglalatik is danced to mimic the early battle against Christians and Moros to win coconut meat or “latik” during the time of Spanish colonization. This is also performed to pay homage to the town saint of Biñan, Laguna – San Isidro Labrador. This dance is divided into four parts: baligtaran, palipasan, paseo and escaramusa. This is performed by all-male dancers who wear blue pants to represent the Christians and red pant for the Moros. All dancers, however, have coconut shells mounted on their body parts.

These aforementioned Philippine folk dances are ethnic in nature and origin. On the other hand, there are several Philippine folk dances that were influenced by some Western countries as some of these had colonized Philippines in the past. One such country is Spain. Some of the so-called “influenced” Philippine folk dances are the following: Pandango sa Ilaw, Cariñosa, Balitao and Rigodon.To conclude, these folk dances whether ethnic in origin or not reflect the lively culture that the Filipinos have. These dances may be diverse but through these cultural forms, the Filipinos are unified and proud by way of having Philippine folk dances that are truly one of the bests in the world.

Spain is different!

Widely known for Flamenco music and dance, bullfights, fantastic beaches and lots of sunshine, Spain has much more to offer than that. It is-and has been for thousands of years-one of the cultural centres of Europe.

“Spain is different!”, Spaniards use to say. They don’t specify compared to what: to the rest of Europe, to the rest of the world, or even to itself ? We don’t know either, but we do our best to supply you with lots of information so you can find the answer to this question and many others by yourself.

Spain has an extraordinary artistic heritage. The dominant figures of the golden age were the Toledo-based artists El Greco and Diego Velasquez. Francisco Goya emerged in the 18th century as Spain’s most prolific painter and he produced some wonderfully unflattering portraits of royalty. The art world in the early 20th century was influenced by a remarkable group of Spanish artists: Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí.

Spain’s architecture ranges from prehistoric monuments in Minorca in the Balearic Islands, through to the Roman ruins of Mérida and Tarragona, the decorative Lonja in Seville, Mudéjar buildings, Gothic cathedrals, castles, fantastic modernist monuments and Gaudí’s intricate fabulist sculptures.

The guitar was invented in Andalusia in the 1790s when a sixth string was added to the Moorish lute. It gained its modern shape in the 1870s. Spanish musicians have taken the humble guitar to dizzying heights of virtuosity and none more so than Andrés Segovia (1893-1997), who established classical guitar as a genre. Flamenco, music rooted in the cante jondo (deep song) of the gitanos (gypsies) of Andalusia, is experiencing a revival. Paco de Lucia is the best known flamenco guitarist internationally.His friend El Camarón de la Isla was, until his death in 1992, the leading light of contemporary cante hondo. In the 1980s flamenco-rock fusion (a.k.a. “gypsy rock”) was developed by the likes of Pata Negra and Ketama, and in the 1990s Radio Tarifa emerged with a mesmerizing mix of flamenco and medieval sounds.Bakalao, the Spanish contribution to the world of techno, emerged from Valencia.

Australian Aboriginal People

The aboriginal people of Australia have been living on the Australia mainland for more than 40,000 years making them one of the oldest Aboriginal cultures in the world.

In Central Australia there are three main language groups with several separate dialects spoken within each language group. The people of the Western Desert region refer to themselves as Pintupi, Luritja or Pitjatjanjara. The Pintupi people include the far west communities of Kiwirrkurra and Kintore while the Pitjatjanjara people live further south, including the Mitijuli community who are the custodians of Uluru (Ayers Rock).

The dialect of Luritja is spoken across the three language groups and particularly where there were missionary settlements such as Hermannsburg and the ration station at Papunya where all three language groups were brought together during the sixties.

In the Central Desert region, there are two principal language groups. The communities around Yuendumu refer to themselves as Warlpiri which is the dominant language of this region, spoken as a first language by more than 3,000 aboriginal people.

The third language group in the Central Desert Region can be found as far north as Utopia where the people refer to themselves as Anmatyerr or Alyawarr. In the region surrounding the MacDonnell Ranges including Alice Springs, the people refer to themselves as Western Arrernte, Southern or Eastern Arrernte.

Aboriginal people follow a complex and strict system of kinship or skin names and maintaining a skin name is very important as it determines the correct relationships between the members of the clan. It also identifies who has the rights to tell or paint a specific Dreamtime story.

Aboriginal people are hunters and gatherers. The Aboriginal women are the principal food gatherers and carers of the young children while the Aboriginal men are the hunters. The children are raised within vast extended family network and the birth mother is not the sole responsibility of her child. When a boy is around six, he joins the men to learn the hunting skills while the girls remain with the women to learn the skills of food gathering.

Traditionally, the aboriginal people in the Central Desert region obtain all their food needs from the land. Aboriginal food consists of seeds, fruit and vegetables supplemented by marsupials, reptiles and insects. To achieve a balanced diet they need to move seasonally between camps over vast tracts of land. They developed an intimate map of their landscape that is passed on generation after generation through their Dreamtime stories. Being so mobile, possessions were usually kept to a minimal with the men carrying their hunting weapons including a variety of spears and boomerangs and the women carrying their food gathering tools including digging sticks and coolamons.

Aboriginal people have a deep spiritual connection to their country and aboriginal spirituality lies in the belief of a cultural landscape and the interconnectedness of all things. They maintain their system of beliefs, law and culture through regular ceremonies that include music, song, dance and sand and awelye body paintings.

In many areas in Australia and in particular in the remote areas in Central Australia, aboriginal people have continued to maintain many of their traditional aboriginal culture ways.

This article is copyright protected. Please view our copyright policy if you would like to reproduce this material.(Photo: Aboriginal People © 2008 Central Art)