Jomari L.

Labiano BSED 2C

MODULE 1: DANCES

Essay: 100 points (Answer it with at least 100 words per question.)

Answer the following questions below.

1. Why Philippine folk dance is unique?

-Because Filipino folk dances are colorful, beautiful, and vibrant. Their movement, dress, and music
reveal the unique Filipino culture and are important in building a national Filipino identity. Most dances
in the country were inspired by everyday activities, such as working in the fields and harvesting rice, as
well as celebrations such as feasts, weddings, and births. Philippine folk dances consist of five major
suites, namely Cordillera, Maria Clara, Muslim, Lumad, and Rural. Each of the suites involves a repertoire
of folk dances that hail from different locations in the country. Cordillera suite comprises dances from
the mountainous region of the north known to be the home of ferocious headhunters who existed even
before the arrival of the Spanish. Music plays a vital role in their lifestyle, and events such as war,
courtship, marriage, or good harvest involve dance. Ragsaksakan (merriment), banga (pots), and
tarektek (woodpecker) are examples of dances from the Cordillera suite.

2. What makes it unique?

-It is unique because the dance in the Philippines influences the diversity of our cultural beginnings and
the drama of our everyday lives. It blends the exotic customs and cultures of many countries and races-
Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Spanish, and American. Filipinos possess natural grace, an inborn
love for music and dance. Dancing was considered religious among them. They danced for many
occasions- birth, love, courtship, thanksgiving, wedding, war, victory, marriage planting and harvesting,
prosperous voyage, recovery from sickness and healing the sick. In places where life is easy, the dances
are gay and frolicsome. Dances in places where life is hard, are sad, slow and even mournful. Filipinos
are also lovers of rituals as shown in ceremonial dances during town fiestas, Christmas, Easter, Ash
Wednesday. There were dances performed by the priests and priestesses in the thanks giving for a
plentiful harvest, a victorious battle, a prosperous voyage or recover from sickness, to drive away evil
spirits and in invoking their gods and anitos.

3. What can you do to preserve the folk dances of the Philippines?

-For me in my opinion it would be best to preserve the Philippine folk dance by recording oral histories
about what it was like for people to dance it when they were young, what it means to them, and what
will be lost if it isn’t preserved. Record yourself and others performing or participating in it. Teach it to
others, and maybe create clubs that teach and share it with new generations. Write articles or books
about it, and speak at scholarly conferences on dance, histories, humanities, and Asian studies. The
preservation of the cultural heritage of one country is as important as the understanding of the historic
wealth where the culture comes from. This signifies the essence of culture in one country down to the
people living within. Culture individually affects people on the different questioning of how and where
such a thing came from. These also cater to the balance of the atmosphere of the historic past
experience that will harmonize modern society today.