What Is The Importance Of Folk Dance In The Philippines

The Philippines is broken down into three groups of islands: the Luzon, Mindano, and Visayas. A majority of their cultural and folk dances embody the hardships that they or their relatives have experienced over the years. In fact, many of the dances display the actual activities or chores that the Filipinos tolerated to endure the poor economy and state of the nation (Ness, 1992).

In Luzon, the northernmost region of the Philippines, there is the Banga, or pot dance that was created by the Kalinga tribe. When a warrior claimed a bride, the maiden’s friends would perform a dance about getting water as a celebration of the upcoming wedding ceremony. This dance illustrates the women going to the river to obtain the daily water supply for their families. They would all assemble and march to the river every day while singing a native song that is represented by the flute and beating of bamboo on iron pots. They would stack and carry heavy clay pots full of water on top of their head while dancing, displaying the skill and strength they possess. When they are young girls, they would only carry one pot. The stack builds up as they get older. They are limited to carrying as high as seven or eight clay pots (Ness, 1992). Aside from the clay pots that are placed on top of a circular red padding, the women wear a tan long sleeve shirt and a knee-length skirt. They also have a red bandana wrapped around their forehead. It is unknown if the color red had a meaning behind it, but it is evident that they attempted to keep natural, earthy tones to go with the theme. This dance was meant to be seen by anyone who was in the tribe. Nowadays, the Banga dance is performed during banquets as a way to entertain the guests (Villaruz, 2006).

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...an over the latik, which were the remains left after the coconut milk was boiled. Sometime during the Spanish rule, the people of Loma and Zapote in Biñan, Laguna danced the Maglalatik. This dance performance contains four-parts. The Palipasan and the Baligtaran reveal the combat between the Moros and the Christians. The Paseo and the Sayaw Escaramusa show the compromise between the two groups. The Moros of this dance generally wear red trousers whereas the Christians wear blue trousers. All of the male dancers utilize harnesses of coconut shells that are put on their backs, chests, hips, and thighs. During the town fiesta, the Maglalatik dancers perform this dance from house to house for money or gifts in the afternoon. In the evening, they perform it in the religious parade as a sacrifice to the patron saint of the farmers, San Isidro de Labrador (Villaruz, 2006).