Republic of the Philippines

President Ramon Magsaysay State University

(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Iba, Zambales, Philippines
Tel/Fax No.: (047) 811-1683

College/ Department College of Communication and Information Technology

College of Teacher Education
Course Code PEN 2
Course Title Philippine Folkdances
Place of the Course in the Program General Education
Semester & Academic Year 2nd Semester, AY 2021 – 2022

Introduction
The Dance: Its Types and Forms

Dancing is the way of moving the body in rhythm. That is why even the very young children, once they learn how to sit
or stand and recognize sounds start to move to the beat and rhythm of that sound. But what kind of movements do
they make? Are they really dancing? How about you? Do you know what dance is?

All through our lives we need to move our body efficiently and effectively through space. Understanding each part of
the body and analyzing the basic movements that each part can do increases body awareness. If you use these body
movements as a way of expressing, exploring and interpreting yourself to develop your own capabilities, then you are
dancing. Feelings of joy and sorrow, fear and confidence, respect and conviction, love and hate need to explanation in
words when expressed in dance.

While all men share a common thrust to dance, still we have to consider that the origin of dance is closely connected to
music. Perhaps the first musical accompaniment made was through chanting, clapping of hands, slapping of thighs or
simply tapping and stamping of feet.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the module the students are expected to:

Explain and discuss the History of Dance
Identify the different Types and forms of dance

Discussion
History of Dance

For the Primitive people dance was one of the most important interest of life. They danced because they believed that
dance brings magic. They danced when the great events of life was celebrated, like birth, growing into manhood or
womanhood, during marriage and even death. They dance to persuade nature to bring rain or sun for good crops, or
they danced to drive illness, misfortune and the evil spirit. They danced to bring good luck in hunting and fishing. And
they danced to increase their courage for battle or war.

Their dance movements were quite free using the whole body to express whatever feeling was desired. The rhythm was
often mounted in excitement and increased speed, which made the dancer lose himself on the height of his emotion
and movement.

Module 2(Week 3&4): PEN 2 (Philippine Folkdances)

Ernel Edrosolo Abella
 Dance in Ancient Times

The dance rituals in the ancient times became more complicated and elaborate. Only the priest came to be in- charge of
the dance.

The ancient Egyptian dances where mostly for religious worship or for magic in bringing good crops. There where
dances performed privately before kings but these were purely for entertainment and the dancers were slaves brought
from other countries.

Dances of ancient Greece stemmed from the tradition of the Olympic Games celebrated as a public festival of race,
competition in skill, and rhythmic gymnastics. Since Greeks worship physical perfection, they considered dance an
intelligent and physical expression of idea through rhythmic movement. This art of gestures, the pantomime became
one of their greatest contributions to the world of theatrical entertainment.

The Romans had religious folk dances, but were mostly copied from other countries. They danced very little so the
dancers from the conquered countries performed dances.

Dance in the Middle Ages

During the middle Ages the brutal games of the gladiators were wiped out together with the pagan rituals they used to
cover up this brutality. The church, to strengthen Christianity, banned dances. Despite the ban, people continue to do
their folk dances on holidays. After many years the Roman saw that art, drama, music and rhythmic movement would
add interest to religious rituals. Pantomime and dance movements were added to religious play. Drama and movements
were used to tell the lives of saints and other Bible characters.

Dance of Renaissance

With the wonderful age of the Renaissance, the interest in dance was refreshed. The nobles of the different castles and
countries changed the folk or ritual dances with the court dances to suite more formal and elegant atmosphere of the
court. They danced just for the fun of dancing; the social dancing called ballroom dancing.

Dance in the East

The dance of the western Asia, or the East was based on the folk dance of Europe, where most part was religious rites
and ceremonies.

Hindu Dance

The Hindus of India developed the language of symbolic hand gestures called mudras. This gesture accompanied by the
rhythm of the feet and appropriate body positions tells the story. The Hindus believed that dance is s source of joy and
discipline through which one finds spiritual understanding necessary to develop character.

Chinese Dance

Chinese dance is the story of Chinese drama and music, the purpose of which is to preserve the centuries of the legend
of gods, heroes and historical events. The basic principle of Chinese dance is to choreograph for the costume instead of
for the body. The Chinese festivals are full of colorful dance celebrations like the New Year’s Lions Dragon Dances, the
Great Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Harvest Festival.

Module 2(Week 3&4): PEN 2 (Philippine Folkdances)

Ernel Edrosolo Abella
Japanese Dance

Japan dance has been linked with the theatre, especially with the classical Noh Drama, known as the theatre of the
scholars. In the Noh Drama dances are influenced by the theories of breathing that dictate a tempo for every emotion
and with certain movement reserved in a special part of the stage. Rhythmic stamping of feet, gliding steps, sudden
shouts and sleeve gestures porta\ray the story. Each step of the foot and each hand gesture is carefully timed and
stylized.

The kabuki Theatre is the theatre of the people. The Kabuki Theatre includes their established traditional dances, prayer
dances, festival dances, historical dances, stories of daily life dances and some borrowed comic dances from the Noh.
There were dance movements in all their drama but, there were dances in pure form.

Modes of Dance

The modern world has seven large modes or categories of dance, three of which are generally executed by professional
artist, the ballet, modern dance and classical dance. The folk and ethnic dances, ballroom and popular dances involved
the participation of everyone but can also be featured by professional performers on theatres.

1. Ballet is a highly disciplined and codified dance form drawn from the classical performance with the most
choreographic and contemporary approaches. This dance rooted as far back as the 17 th century on the reign of Louis XIV
of France, and launched as a professional art by Jean Baptiste Lully.

2. Modern Dance refers to a mode of dance that appeared in the 20 th century. It is modern in the sense that it is a
present -day expression of dance, finding new forms, new movements and new rhythm to create artistic
communication. This is a revolutionary form of dance against the formalism of the traditional ballet.

3. Classical Dance refers to the dances with standard rules and restrictions, dances that are common in Asian Countries.
This often narrates stories of historical events, mythology and legends like the Kabuki of Japan, Dragon Dance and
Lantern Festival Dance of China and the Mudras of India.

4. Folk dance is one performed by group of people from different localities especially for recreation and for a feeling of
togetherness from an ancient ritual.

5. Ethnic dance is highly traditional folk dance usually of religious nature created by people of certain localities to teach
its history, customs and beliefs.

6. Ballroom or social dance is a dance of the e 20th century which originated during the 17 th and 8th centuries from the
French courts mainly to entertain guests. There evolved quite a number of this mode of dance but due to the changing
moods and inspiration of the society, many of them turned out short lived and few remained popular up to the present
especially for several gatherings: these are the waltz, polka, tango, rumba, samba and cha cha-cha.

7. Popular dance or modern ballroom is the fashionable short -lived ballroom dance of the present times. It places
strong emphasis on individuality and musical expression. The visual syncopation is evidenced by the frequent dynamic
changes and unexpected movements that make the dance exciting. Hip hop, break dancing, disco, twist and swing are
among the popular dance crazes done to the music of their times.

Module 2(Week 3&4): PEN 2 (Philippine Folkdances)

Ernel Edrosolo Abella
Activity
From the box below, choose the name of the researches, choreographers, artist, music selections or countries
that have contributed to the development of different dance modes or forms. Fill the blanks under column A
with the names of the samples dances in each form and the blanks under column B with the names of
personalities or musical selections or countries.

Column A
1. Ballet ___________________
2. Modern Dance ___________________
3. Folk Dance ___________________
4. Ballroom Dance ___________________
5. Ethnic Dance ___________________
6. Classical Dance ___________________
7. Popular Dance ___________________
Column B
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________

Jazz Ramon Obusan

Kabuki Francisca Aquino
Dance for the Sun Liza Macuja
Cariňosa Isadora Duncan
Singkil Street Boys
Break Dance Latin America
Cha-cha-cha Japan
Swan Lake Cuba
Exercises
How will you define dance? Give at least three definitions based on this lesson? (5pts.)

Reflection
From the topic discussed give your insights learned in 3 to 5 sentences.

Suggested Readings
Read about Physical Fitness, Physical Activity and Exercise.
Resources and Additional Resources
Perez, V., Luna, L., Tomas, C., MAPEH I, St. Bernadette Publications, Inc. pp. 280-287

Prepared by:
Ernel Edrosolo Abella
PE Instructor, COS

Noted:

Ivy H. Casupanan, Ed.D./Michael G. Albino

College Dean/Program Chair

Module 2(Week 3&4): PEN 2 (Philippine Folkdances)

Ernel Edrosolo Abella