Traditional Dances

ORIGIN of DANCE
in the
PHILIPPINES and
its
DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS DANCE?
• Dance is rhythmic and expressive body
movements usually coordinated into a
pattern and adapted to musical
accompaniment. Dance is perhaps the
oldest of the arts, reflecting man's age-old
need to communicate joy or grief by using
the most immediate instrument at his
disposal-his body.
ORIGIN OF DANCE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
• According to Philippine legend, the first man and the first
woman went up to the hill to make their first home. They
begot many children and later became the ancestors of diverse
tribes.

• Several beliefs became their way of life. When death struck,
when lightning flashed in the sky, and when thunder rumbled,
the tribes were struck with fear. They thought that the gods
were angry. To placate their deities, they offered sacrificial
rites by way of fire and smoke in the belief that the smoke
from fires they kindled carried their invocation heavenwards.
• When illness and pestilence befell the tribes, the people wailed
and chanted and danced.
• When the earth caked from drought, they performed a dance of

propitiation so that the divine entities might take pity on them
and send rain to their parched fields. And when the rains came
and drenched the soil to assure a bountiful harvest, these children
of the gods danced in the moonlight in joy and thanksgiving.
• In the acts of imploring, conciliating and giving thanks to the

gods, the people of these islands created dance to live forever in
themselves, in their children and their children's children.
PHILIPPINE DANCE
DEVELOPMENT
• Dance in the Philippines influences the diversity of our

cultural beginnings and the drama of our everyday lives. It
blends the exotic customs and cultures of many countries
and races- Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Spanish and
American.
• The Philippine archipelago had been inhabited by three
different racial groups even before the coming of Magellan
in 1521. They were the Pygmies, Indonesians, and Malays.
The Negritos and Proto-Malays were the descendants of
the Pygmies. As early as those days, dancing among the
Negritos was mostly pantomimic, performed to depict the
events of daily chores.
PHILIPPINE DANCE
DEVELOPMENT
• Filipinos possess natural grace, an inborn love for
music and dance. Dancing was considered a religious
activity among them. They danced for many
occasions- birth, love, courtship, thanksgiving,
wedding, war, victory, marriage, planting and
harvesting, prosperous voyage, recovery from
sickness and healing the sick.
• In places where life is easy, the dances are gay and

frolicsome. Dances in places where life is hard are
sad, slow and even mournful.
THE 5 GROUP
CLASSIFICATIONS
OF DANCES
1. DANCES OF THE
CORDILLERA GROUPS
• BIBAKIIG- acronym for Bontocs, Ifugaos, Benguets,
Apayao, Kalinga, longgot, and Gaddang dances.

• PESHITS & KANYAO- occasions for the presentation
of Cordillera dances.
• Classification:
• Ceremonial, courtship, war, festival and imitative in
nature.
SOME OF THE
DANCES
1. Takik - a flirtation, love or wedding dance from Western Bontoc
2. Pattong – danced by one or two warriors.
3. Dinuyya - from Lagawe Ifugao, a dance festival performed by men
and women during a major feast.
4. Tarektek - among the Benguets, a dance imitating the
"woodpeckers”.
5. Turayen - among the Apayaos, a dance imitating a high flying bird
6. Bendian - a victory dance
7. Ragragsakan - a work dance of Kalingga women where they carry
baskets on their heads or sometimes layered clay pots.
8. Tadeck -a Kalingga word for dance
9. Takiling - a victory dance performed after a head hunting spree
2. DANCES OF THE
MINDANAO GROUPS
• Dances have touches of Hindu,

Javanese, Chinese, and Arab-
Persian culture.
SOME OF THE
DANCES
1. Kakulangan - among the Maranao, is danced with the use of
beautifully decorated umbrellas.
2. Sagayan - is a war dance which dramatizes the hero-warrior prince.
3. Asik - is a doll dance for girls.
4. Silong sa Ganding - shows traces of Hindu-Vedic influence, where
the five dancers represent the sounds of the gandingan.
5. Pang-alay - from Jolo, Sulu, portrays the varied life activities of the
people.
6. Maglanka - is a dance class of noble Samal women.
7. Burong Talo - is a martial arts dance in the Langka tradition of
Mindanao dances.
8. Pindulas - depicts the movements of the fish.
9. Binanog - is a Manobo hawk dance.
3. SPANISH/EUROPEAN/
WESTERN INFLUENCED
DANCES
• The Westernization of Filipino culture brought

changes in the style of dancing among Filipinos.
• Introduction of Pandanggo, Habanera, Jota, Valse,

Mazurka, Paseo, Rigodon, Lanceros, etc.
SOME OF THE DANCES
• Habanera Botolena is a dance of a married couple

in Botolan, Zambales;
• Pandanggo Rinconada is a festival dance from the

province of Bicol depicting the happy and contented
life of the people.
4. DANCES OF
THE COUNTRYSIDE
• If there were dances for the so-called "bourgoise,"

during the Spanish period, there were also dances
for the poor farmers and people in the rural areas.
• Dances were light and more informal.
• Frequently, the dances require skills and characters

which depict their kind or work.
SOME OF THE DANCES
• Binasuan is a dance that require a balancing skill with

glasses of wine.
• Bati is a dance performed during Easter Sunday
• Gayong-Gayong is a game dance.
• Binislakan, which means sticks, is a Pangasinan dance

that bears Chinese influence.
5. DANCES FOR THE
LESSER KNOWN GROUP
• Kadal Blelah is a Tiboli dance with mythical

bindings imitative of the movements of the birds.
• Karasaguyon is a courtship dance.
• Kadal Taio is a dance that depicts the movements

of a bird in the middle of the forest.
“Dance is the hidden
language of the soul.”
-Martha Graham

Traditional Dances

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Traditional Dances

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ORIGIN of DANCE

• When the earth caked from drought, they performed a dance of

• In the acts of imploring, conciliating and giving thanks to the

• Dance in the Philippines influences the diversity of our

• In places where life is easy, the dances are gay and

• Dances have touches of Hindu,

• The Westernization of Filipino culture brought

• Introduction of Pandanggo, Habanera, Jota, Valse,

• Habanera Botolena is a dance of a married couple

• Pandanggo Rinconada is a festival dance from the

• If there were dances for the so-called "bourgoise,"

• Dances were light and more informal.

• Frequently, the dances require skills and characters

• Binasuan is a dance that require a balancing skill with

• Bati is a dance performed during Easter Sunday

• Gayong-Gayong is a game dance.

• Binislakan, which means sticks, is a Pangasinan dance

• Kadal Blelah is a Tiboli dance with mythical

• Karasaguyon is a courtship dance.

• Kadal Taio is a dance that depicts the movements

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