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Music 7 Activity Sheet no. 1

Music of Philippine Festivals and Theatrical Forms
I. Learning Competency
a. Identifies musical characteristics of selected Philippine festivals and theatrical forms through
video or live performances

II. Introductory Concept

This unit is an overview of the festivals and different theatrical forms of the Philippines. Through the
lessons, you will identify the origin, characteristic and background of the selected Philippine Festivals in
Aklan, Cebu, Marinduque, Davao, Bicol, and Batangas. You will also learn the different theatrical forms
such as Komedya, Moro-moro, Arakyo, Sarsuela and Bodabil. Another part of the lesson will help you
appreciate the different Filipino Festivals and Theatrical Forms.

You will be introduced to various Philippine Festival and Theatrical forms. You will have fun watching
some selected festival activities focusing on music from Aklan, Cebu and Batangas.

After going through this module, you are expected to identify musical characteristics of selected
Philippine festivals and theatrical forms through video or live performances

Festivals of Aklan, Cebu, and Batangas

The Ati-atihan Festival is known as the wildest of the Philippine festivals which
means “make-believe Atis” wherein participants portray the natives of Kalibo,
Aklan called, “Atis or Aetas”. It is a week-long festival held annually every 3rd
week of January that consists of a tribal dance parade with drum music,
costumes and indigenous accessories to honor the Santo Niño.

People cheer and shout “Hala Bira!” and “Viva Santo Niño!” to encourage
enthusiasm and continuous dancing for the duration of the Festival.

The Sinulog Festival is an annual cultural and religious

festival held on the 3rd Sunday of January in the City of Cebu to honor the Santo
Niño, to commemorate the Filipino rejection of their former religious views, and
acceptance of Christianity.

This festival is famous for its grand street parade which imitates the type of dancing
done by the natives of Cebu before they were baptized as Christians. The
petitioners often yell out “Pit Senior!”. Different groups of dancers dressed in
colorful attire are accompanied by rhythmic music of drums, percussions, trumpets,
and native gongs.
The Sublian Festival is an annual cultural celebration on the 23rd day of July
reflecting the Batangueños’ commitment and great love to their town’s
patrons, the Holy Cross of Bauan and Agoncillo, and the Santo Niño of
Batangas City.

It was originally a religious ceremony that involves praying, eating, dancing

the “Subli”, and singing verses with strict skeletal melody. This religious
commitment was translated to “Subli”, a dance local to Batangas. Traditionally,
the subli is performed with chanting and accompanied by drums.

Subli come from two words: “subsub” (bending your body forward or
downward) and “bali” (broken). Thus, throughout the dancers, male dancers
are in trunk-forward-bend position to give the impression of broken bodies. At present, the Sublian Festival
features street dancing, harana (singing of Filipino courtship songs), indigenous Filipino games, and
Lupakan (sharing of “Nilupak” a delicacy made from cassava, sweet potato or banana).

Philippine Theater

Komedya comes from 16th century Spanish comedia. It is a play

written in verse which uses traditional methods of the marcha for
entrance or exit, Batalla (choreograph fighting and magia (magical
effects). It is one of the colorful theatrical traditions in the Philippines
used by the Spanish as a method to spread Christianity. This Theatrical
form describes the conflicts of Christians and Muslims. Two types of
Komedya, Secular Komedya and Religious Komedya.

Sarsuela is an art form of lyric theatre drama, comical in nature and it is

incorporated with singing, dancing and dialogue. Originated from Spain
and was made popular in the Philippines in the 1800’s.
It portrays the typical Filipino realities and stories in a particular country
and social relations which viewers can relate in their lives such as
elections and feasts, marriage and family, vices and values

Bodabil Stage shoe that became popular during the Japanese period
based on the French vaudeville. Bodabil was developed because city
growers wanted to uplift their emotional stability from the usual stage acts to a stage presentation.
Featuring comedy, musical, monologue, skits, impersonators, acrobats, and even magical acts. The
entertainers helped to make jazz and blues popular and admired in our country
III. Activities
Activity 1
Directions: Identify the similarities and differences of the Ati-atihan, Sinulog, and Sublian Festival using the
diagram below.

Activity 2
Directions: Watch the video using the link below and identify the musical characteristics of the Festivals
answering the guide questions below.

 Ati-atihan Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7hn_ETiUig

 Sinulog Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCEnZRFHhwo&t=308s
 Sublian Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUQ35vNoqdo

Name of the Festival Ati-atihan Festival Sinulog Festival Sublian Festival

What are the

distinguishing
characteristics of the
Festival?

What are the musical

instruments used in the
Festival?

How was the tempo of

the music? (slow,
moderate, or fast)
 How was the rhythm of
the music?

Assessment
Directions: Choose the correct answer from the choices below. Write your answer on the space provided.

“Hala Bira!” Cebu “Pit Senior”

“Subli” “make-believe Atis” “Aklan”

________________1. Ati-atihan festival is known as the wildest festival of the Philippine festivals.
What does “Ati-atihan” means?
________________2. In Ati-atihan festival, people cheer and shout “____________” while dancing.

________________3. An annual cultural and religious festival held on the third Sunday of January in
the City of ______ to honor the Santo Niño.
________________4. In Sinulog festival, petitioners often yell out “________” while dancing along
the street.
________________5. This is a prayer dance performed by the Batangueños reflecting the
commitment and great love to their town’s patrons and the Holy Cross of
Batangas City.

IV. Rubric for scoring

Rubric for Essay
4-5 points 2-3 points 0-1 point
Perfectly relevant to the There are few Most are irrelevant to the
Content
topic irrelevances to the topic topic

All words used are Some of the words are Most of the words used are
Choice of words
appropriate appropriate inappropriate

V. Reflection

As a young Filipino, do you think it is important for you to know these Festivals from different parts of the
Philippines? Why?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.

VI. References

Book and Images

Grade 7 Music and Arts Learner’s Material
Grade 7 Music and Arts Teacher’s Guide

Websites
Ati-atihan Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7hn_ETiUig
Sinulog Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCEnZRFHhwo&t=308s
Sublian Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUQ35vNoqdo
Komedya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWdfQYDWH9s
Sarsuela https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cM_AwB73lc
VII. Answer key

Activity 1

Activity 2

Assessment
1. “make-believe Atis”
2. Hala bira!
3. Cebu
4. Pit Senior!
5. Subli