Carlyn Joyce Reyes

Itik-itik - According to history of this dance, a young woman named Kanang (short for Cayetana) happened to be the best performer in the province of Surigao del Norte. At one baptismal reception, she was asked to dance the Sibay, and began improvising her steps in the middle of her performance imitating the movements of an itik, a duck, as it walks with choppy steps and splashes water on its back while attracting its mate. Because of its unusual steps and fascinating interpretation, the audience began imitating her.

Itik-itik is a mimetic folk dance in The Philippines. It originated in the province of Surigao in Mindanao. In Itik-itik (from the Tagalog word for "duck"), the dance steps imitate the movements of ducks among rice paddies and swamplands, such as wading, flying, and short, choppy steps. Itik-itik's current form originated in the Philippine towns of Carrascal, Cantilan, Lanuza, and Carmen, all in Surigao del Sur. Other versions of the dance do exist, although the Itik-itik Surigaonon remains the most pipular. These alternate versions are found in Visayas, Samar, Sibonga, Cebu, and Tibiao.

According to folklore, this traditional dance was first performed by a young woman named Kanang who was the best dancer in the province of Surigao del Norte. At a baptismal reception, she was asked to perform and she improvised her dance steps to imitate the way a duck walks and splashes water on its back to attract a mate.

TAGALOG LYRICS TO THE ITIK-ITIK SONG Itik-itik kung tagurian itoy sayaw sa ating bayan humanga ang sangdaigdigan na sa taglay mong katangian Sa kaway ng iyong mga kamay at sa imbay ng iyong baywang anong ganda at anong inam kapag ito ay minamasdan

There once a girl named catalina. but she was often called itik. Because she was often telling people the story of the ducks. for example, she's performing how the ducks swimming. Some people are thinking that she's crazy. but one day she attended a baptismal celebration. Then some ducks had caught her attention. they are swimming in the lake with some other ducks. Then she decided to dance like a duck. Then the people who saw it was shock but they like the dance so they imitate it. Children are starting to imitate to. They call the dance "ITIK'S DANCE STEPS" but later on they call it itik itik remembering the goodness of itik. and all the entire Visayas imitates the dance steps of itik