Valdez, Aliya Marie G.

MORO MORO
April or May
The term moro-moro refers to a type of folk drama performed in villages
throughout the Philippines, usually during fiestas. Although each village's
moro-moro is a little different in terms of treatment, all are full of romance
and melodrama, and the highpoint is always a battle between Muslims and
Christians. Local people write the script, which is in verse, and some
performances include quite elaborate scenery and costumes. Music and dance
are also part of the production.
One of the most notable moro-moros is held in San Dionisio in Rizal
Province, where the drama is performed in the church and the village square
every spring, usually in April or May.

The comedia
The earliest known form of organized theatre is the comedia, or moro-moro,
created by Spanish priests. In 1637 a play was written to dramatize the recent
capture by a Christian Filipino army of an Islamic stronghold. It was so
popular that other plays were written and staged as folk dramas in
Christianized villages throughout the Philippines. All told similar stories of
Christian armies defeating the hated Moors.
History: The Moro-Moro dance is the earliest form of theater performing in
the Philippines, starting in 1650. It is part of their cultural routine when
entertaining their visitors. The dance is a play based off of two poems, the
"awit" and the "corrido," that spread across the Philippines around 1610. It
usually shows the struggles between Christians and non-Christians.

Facts: The Moro-Moro dance expresses the loves, deeds and different
adventures of the kings, queens, princes, princesses and dukes. It also shows
different creatures, such as lions, tigers, bears, snakes, dragons, angels, saints,
devils and giants. The Moro-Moro is a very long play; the show can go on for
five to six hours a night for three nights in a row. The longest play known
lasted for 12 days.
Identification: The dancers/actors wear flashy, bright-colored clothing. The
male Christians in the play wear pants with blue stripes. The Moros wear
pants with red stripes. The Christian dancers wear sequins, beads, ribbons
and buttons. The king wears long pants and his crown while the queen wears
a white or light-blue gown. All royalties usually wear a cape that covers their
back, and the female’s capes are usually longer than the male’s capes.
https://www.britannica.com/art/Southeast-Asian-arts/Indian-tradition
https://www.esmadrid.com/en/zarzuela-operetta?utm_referrer=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.google.com%2F#
https://www.slideshare.net/tedoi/moro-moro
https://www.zarzuela.net/ref/history.htm
https://www.spanish-art.org/spanish-music-zarzuela.html
https://www.slideshare.net/KatFernandez2/philippine-theater-zarzuela