Notes on Philippine Dance Traditions and Steps

Lesson 1: Philippine Traditions on Dance

• Dance as part of Filipino life since time immemorial; rhythmic movements express emotions, beliefs, and faith; mimicry of environment leads to dances that become traditions.
• Traditions (folk dances) are ways of thinking/doing passed down through generations; evolve naturally over time; often tied to rituals, gratitude, or celebrations.
• Pre-colonial Dances: largely Malay in origin; classified as religious, occupational, and for socialization; imitate life activities and environment.
  • Religious dances: communicate with gods; babaylan/catalonan as spiritual leaders; offerings to spirits.
  • Occupational dances: mimic work activities (hunting, planting, harvesting); can be lengthy to cover before/during/after activity.
  • Mimicry: many dances imitate nature (e.g., tinikling imitates tikling bird; itik-itik imitates a duck).
  • War/martial dances imitate duels/battles (e.g., mangayaw of the Bontoc, idaw of the Kalinga; langkasilat in Jolo).
  • Life-event dances celebrate courtship and marriage.
• Colonization-Influenced Dances: Spanish brought new dances (jota, polka, waltz, fandango; paseo, pateado; surtido and habanera from Cuba).
  • Filipino dances absorbed tempo/feeling from European dances (e.g., tinikling, irik-itik adapted to jota/polka tempo).
  • Some dances center on Christianity: bate (Easter); pastores (Christmas); Obando sayaw (married couples seeking a child).
  • Zarzuela and Spanish-era dances influenced folk traditions; over time dances became uniquely Filipino while retaining foreign elements.
• Lesson takeaway: Filipino traditional dances are a blend of precolonial practices and colonial influences, shaped into a national patrimony.

Lesson 2: Folk Dance

• Folk dance = form developed by a group reflecting traditional life and daily experiences of a country/region.
• History: dancing in the Philippines reflects daily life across centuries; early dances thanked gods for rain/harvests; later dances reflect events like Spanish arrival and Moor conflicts.
• Dances can be occupational, religious/ceremonial, courtship, wedding, festival, war, comic, game, or social.
• Dos in Folk Dancing
  • Dance in a natural, simple, direct manner.
  • Use proper costume for the dance.
  • Follow directions/instructions closely.
  • Dance with ease and smoothness.
  • Dance with feeling and expression.
• Don’ts in Folk Dancing
  • Don’t exaggerate steps.
  • Don’t have long entrances/exits.
  • Don’t make steps too elaborate/complicated.
  • Don’t call a dance a folk dance unless steps come from traditional dances.
  • Don’t be too graceful like ballet.
• Common Dance Terms (brief definitions)
  • Saludo — partners bow to each other/audience; Spanish origin.
  • Arms in lateral position — arms at one side (shoulder/chest/waist level).
  • Brush — weight on one foot, strike floor with other foot and lift.
  • Crossed Arms — partners join left hands and right hands; right over left or left over right.
  • Cut — quickly displace one foot with the other.
  • Do-si-do — partners pass each other right side, move, then pass left side.
  • Hayon-hayon — forearms placed in front and back of the waist.
  • Hop — spring from one foot to land on same foot.
  • Kumintang — rotate the hand at the wrist in a circular motion.
  • Place — position a foot without weight.
  • Pivot — turn on a fixed place/point.
  • Point — lightly touch floor with toe; weight on the other foot.

Lesson 3: Basic Dance Steps in $2/4$ Time Signature

• List of steps, counting, pattern, and measure:
  • 1. Touch Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Point, close$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 2. Bleking Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Heel place, close$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 3. Close Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Step, close$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 4. Cross Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Step, cross / cross, step$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 5. Hop Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Step, hop$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 6. Slide Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Slide, close$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 7. Swing Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Step, swing$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 8. Change Step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Step, close, step$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 9. Cross change step
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Cross-step, close, step$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 10. Contraganza
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Leap, cross-step, step$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 11. Plain Polka
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Raise-step, close, step$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 12. Hop Polka
  • Counting: $1,2$
  • Pattern: $Hop-step, close, step$
  • Measure: $1$
  • 13. Heel and Toe Change Step
  • Counting: $1,2, 1 \,\text{and} \,2 \,\text{and}$
  • Pattern: $Heel-place, toe-point, step, close, step$
  • Measure: $2$