In our modern world where connecting to other continents and countries is just a fingertip's click away in the net and cable television through an international network, we are easily infiltrated and influenced by a globally dominant culture. In that arena, we are subconsciously suppressing our own identities because such exposure would readily supersedes our own cultural heritage. I somehow grieve the fact that kids and even grownups mock our traditional culture in the form of music and dances for example. Kudos to the radio FM stations that continue to air Golden Visayan Songs on Sunday mornings in Cebu (of course, this is my native place as well as my parents and I am proud to be a Cebuano), in a way, they help preserve our identity as Cebuanos and Visayans in general. Only a true blooded Cebuano and Visayan like me will appreciate such artistic expression of our cultural tradition especially in the form of music that was painstakingly crafted by our artistic and respectable predecessors.
In the national scene, I have to congratulate the Bayanihan Dance Company which took plum of honors of the recent 22nd World Folk Dance Festival in Spain as the Grand Champion. This is a living proof of the supremacy of our own culture, something that each Filipino has to be proud of. It is no ordinary feat of a group like them when they bested 50 other folk dance delegates from other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. And that there is so much to explore in our cultural past. Like for instance in the Visayan regions or in Cebu, somehow, we can dig a treasure of our past, a precious legacy handed down by our unheralded ancestors. This is a challenge to any die hard Cebuano/Visayan culture enthusiasts out there. Who knows one day a Visayan Dance Company will emerge to showcase to the world our own indigenous folk dances which were put into oblivion, showing our own unique exotic prowess and grace.
Today, few if not all of young and a little older generations take a glimpse of our own Cebuano and Visayan heritage through traditional folk dances. We hear of the novelty song of Max Surban's Kuradang and few know what dance is that all about. I never heard of a Cebuano who artistically revive such a dance of our tradition, not even National Artists or Cultural Groups. Long ago, when I was younger, I saw a somewhat dilapidated picture in my late grandma's old photo album and asked what the man and woman in an old traditional costume doing in front of a delighted foreign guests, she said they were dancing the Kuradang. As I grew up, I have had no idea what that was. However, in my own recent researches, I found out that besides Kuradang, there are other wonderful traditional dances that we Visayans or Cebuanos fail to preserve to these days and should be proud of. It is my simple little effort and way to try to exhibit them here.
- .Visayan Folk Dances Volume Two by Libertad V. Fajardo & Mary Joan V. Fajardo paperback-101pgs ($8.95).Visayan Folk Dances Volume Three by Libertad V. Fajardo & Mary Joan V. Fajardo paperback-66pgs ($8.95). Handumanan (Recuerdos) Capiz Folk Dances Jose B Balcena 174 pages - paperback ($19.95). Philippine National Dances by Reyes-Tolentino.
- The Kuratsa is highly favored by the Visayan people especially the Waray people of the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. Strictly speaking, only one couple dance it at a time.
- Dandansoy – A well known Visayan folk song is Dandansoy. Take note that this is not a Tagalog song. Dandansoy – The Visayan language by which Dandansoy is frequently sung is Hiligaynon Bisaya, also called Ilonggo. Here is the song lyrics: Dandansoy, bayaan ta icao Pauli aco sa Payao Ugaling con icao hidlauon Ang Payaw imo lang lantauon.
I have to start from a much publicized and still widely performed now. Pretty obvious, it is none other than the Sinulog. (Open this site to see a documentary of the Sinulog festival held in Cebu every January. It is a word that is almost synonymous with Cebu, but it is taken from a Cebuano word meaning 'being carried along with by the current' (of a river or sea). But it is also believed to have been originated from a ritual dance for a pagan deity who was fished out from the sea, but when Spaniards introduced the image of Sto. Niño, the locals adapted it as a form of worship. It is a form of dance that people can still see in the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño Church in downtown Cebu, known as the tindera sinulog, performed by older Cebuana women, the candle peddlers. They dance in behalf of the devotees who buy candles from them to offer petitions and thanksgiving. First, the dancer will take an erect stance and raise the candle offering towards the image of Sr. Santo Niño in which a prayer is being recited along it. While the prayer is being said, the dancer will make a bouncy movement that is restrained and somewhat pious, originating from the torso which tend to flow to the limbs slowly and wave-like motion which ends with another prayer. Another version of sinulog is troupe sinulog which shows a somewhat masculine type of dancing, one that is more robust and energetic. There is much action like jumping, hopping and arm gestures in a somewhat fighting stance. This is much adapted by the performers of the grand mardi-gras parade and presentation of the Cebu Sinulog celebration in January accompanied by a drum and buggle corps with a common beat. Some though do not seem much like to depict the traditional sinulog dance and beat like those of free interpretation category where variations are allowed.
Visayan folk dancing runs the gamut from worship dances to courtship and wedding dances. A distinctive type is the wide assortment of mimetic dances in which movements try to mimic, for example, the flight of birds, the catching of fish, the making of wine, and other aspects of Visayan.
Another which because of it's simplicity still popular now is the Itik-Itik. Itik is a Cebuano term for a duck. This dance is performed by dancers who mimic that of a duck, of course. In other words, it is a mimetic dance that depicts the movements of wading and flying itik (ducks). Dancers mimic the short swaying gait of waddling feet and the intense energy of close-cropped flapping wings.
Gapnod (Cebuano for 'flotsam') is a reenactment of the discovery by a fisherman of the image of St. Anthony de Padua, the patron saint of the town of Sibulan, Negros Oriental. It is therefore a worship dance that is more popular among the people in Negros Oriental. The theme of the dance is one of rejoicing and merrymaking that ends in a fluvial procession along the coast.
The Surtido Cebuano is a square dance said to have originated in Bantayan, Cebu. It is a cobbling together of Spanish, Mexican, and French influences along with indigenous elements. Surtido (literally, assortment) is performed by several pairs of dancers, with the head pair called cabeceras and the side pairs, costados, guiding the other dancers in varied quadrille formations.
It used to be a dance of long duration performed by a big group to the tune of beautiful Visayan folk airs. The modern arrangement is more lively and suitable for dancing by small groups.
La Berde(literally, green) is a courtship dance from a mountain settlement in Talamban, Cebu. In a series of quick steps and quick changes, the dance celebrates what is lush and full of life. The dance is performed by an interesting cast of two girls and a boy, instead of the usual pair of dancers and this dance is always performed with another Visayan folkdance, Miligoy de Cebu.
Visayan Ethnic Dance Videos
The mimetic dance Mananagat (Cebuano for 'fisherman') depicts fishermen at sea. Dancers in long-line formations mimic women scooping water from the banca (canoe) with bamboo shells and men wielding wooden paddles.Mananguete
(coconut wine tapper) reenacts the stages of making tuba (coconut wine). The dance starts with movements that mimic the sharpening of the sanggot (scythe) and then proceeds to the cleaning of the kawit (bamboo container), climbing of the coconut tree, extracting of the sap, and finally, tasting of the tuba.Ohong is the Cebuano word for 'mushroom' and the mimetic dance Ohong-Ohong features rapid twirling movements by women dressed in long, billowy skirts with layers of petticoats visually representing mushrooms. The dance is a celebration of the onset of rains and of bountiful harvests.
And finally, Kuradang, also known as curacha, is a lively wedding dance popular in Bohol, where it is performed to the accompaniment of a rondalla, an ensemble of string instruments. The dance is performed in three parts, with three different rhythms. The dancing couple starts the performance with a ballroom waltz. Then the music shifts to a faster beat for the 'chasing' scene, in which the female dancer flees and the male pursues her all across the dance floor. The tempo picks up even more for the final part, in which the chase ends with a furiously flirtatious scene. The female is won over, and the male imitates a flamboyant bird in a mating dance.
In our modern world where connecting to other continents and countries is just a fingertip's click away in the net and cable television through an international network, we are easily infiltrated and influenced by a globally dominant culture. In that arena, we are subconsciously suppressing our own identities because such exposure would readily supersedes our own cultural heritage. I somehow grieve the fact that kids and even grownups mock our traditional culture in the form of music and dances for example. Kudos to the radio FM stations that continue to air Golden Visayan Songs on Sunday mornings in Cebu (of course, this is my native place as well as my parents and I am proud to be a Cebuano), in a way, they help preserve our identity as Cebuanos and Visayans in general. Only a true blooded Cebuano and Visayan like me will appreciate such artistic expression of our cultural tradition especially in the form of music that was painstakingly crafted by our artistic and respectable predecessors.
In the national scene, I have to congratulate the Bayanihan Dance Company which took plum of honors of the recent 22nd World Folk Dance Festival in Spain as the Grand Champion. This is a living proof of the supremacy of our own culture, something that each Filipino has to be proud of. It is no ordinary feat of a group like them when they bested 50 other folk dance delegates from other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. And that there is so much to explore in our cultural past. Like for instance in the Visayan regions or in Cebu, somehow, we can dig a treasure of our past, a precious legacy handed down by our unheralded ancestors. This is a challenge to any die hard Cebuano/Visayan culture enthusiasts out there. Who knows one day a Visayan Dance Company will emerge to showcase to the world our own indigenous folk dances which were put into oblivion, showing our own unique exotic prowess and grace.
Today, few if not all of young and a little older generations take a glimpse of our own Cebuano and Visayan heritage through traditional folk dances. We hear of the novelty song of Max Surban's Kuradang and few know what dance is that all about. I never heard of a Cebuano who artistically revive such a dance of our tradition, not even National Artists or Cultural Groups. Long ago, when I was younger, I saw a somewhat dilapidated picture in my late grandma's old photo album and asked what the man and woman in an old traditional costume doing in front of a delighted foreign guests, she said they were dancing the Kuradang. As I grew up, I have had no idea what that was. However, in my own recent researches, I found out that besides Kuradang, there are other wonderful traditional dances that we Visayans or Cebuanos fail to preserve to these days and should be proud of. It is my simple little effort and way to try to exhibit them here.
I have to start from a much publicized and still widely performed now. Pretty obvious, it is none other than the Sinulog. (Open this site to see a documentary of the Sinulog festival held in Cebu every January. It is a word that is almost synonymous with Cebu, but it is taken from a Cebuano word meaning 'being carried along with by the current' (of a river or sea). But it is also believed to have been originated from a ritual dance for a pagan deity who was fished out from the sea, but when Spaniards introduced the image of Sto. Niño, the locals adapted it as a form of worship. It is a form of dance that people can still see in the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño Church in downtown Cebu, known as the tindera sinulog, performed by older Cebuana women, the candle peddlers. They dance in behalf of the devotees who buy candles from them to offer petitions and thanksgiving. First, the dancer will take an erect stance and raise the candle offering towards the image of Sr. Santo Niño in which a prayer is being recited along it. While the prayer is being said, the dancer will make a bouncy movement that is restrained and somewhat pious, originating from the torso which tend to flow to the limbs slowly and wave-like motion which ends with another prayer. Another version of sinulog is troupe sinulog which shows a somewhat masculine type of dancing, one that is more robust and energetic. There is much action like jumping, hopping and arm gestures in a somewhat fighting stance. This is much adapted by the performers of the grand mardi-gras parade and presentation of the Cebu Sinulog celebration in January accompanied by a drum and buggle corps with a common beat. Some though do not seem much like to depict the traditional sinulog dance and beat like those of free interpretation category where variations are allowed.
Another which because of it's simplicity still popular now is the Itik-Itik. Itik is a Cebuano term for a duck. This dance is performed by dancers who mimic that of a duck, of course. In other words, it is a mimetic dance that depicts the movements of wading and flying itik (ducks). Dancers mimic the short swaying gait of waddling feet and the intense energy of close-cropped flapping wings.
Gapnod (Cebuano for 'flotsam') is a reenactment of the discovery by a fisherman of the image of St. Anthony de Padua, the patron saint of the town of Sibulan, Negros Oriental. It is therefore a worship dance that is more popular among the people in Negros Oriental. The theme of the dance is one of rejoicing and merrymaking that ends in a fluvial procession along the coast.
The Surtido Cebuano is a square dance said to have originated in Bantayan, Cebu. It is a cobbling together of Spanish, Mexican, and French influences along with indigenous elements. Surtido (literally, assortment) is performed by several pairs of dancers, with the head pair called cabeceras and the side pairs, costados, guiding the other dancers in varied quadrille formations.
It used to be a dance of long duration performed by a big group to the tune of beautiful Visayan folk airs. The modern arrangement is more lively and suitable for dancing by small groups.
La Berde(literally, green) is a courtship dance from a mountain settlement in Talamban, Cebu. In a series of quick steps and quick changes, the dance celebrates what is lush and full of life. The dance is performed by an interesting cast of two girls and a boy, instead of the usual pair of dancers and this dance is always performed with another Visayan folkdance, Miligoy de Cebu.
The mimetic dance Mananagat (Cebuano for 'fisherman') depicts fishermen at sea. Dancers in long-line formations mimic women scooping water from the banca (canoe) with bamboo shells and men wielding wooden paddles.
Visayas Ethnic Dance List
Mananguete (coconut wine tapper) reenacts the stages of making tuba (coconut wine). The dance starts with movements that mimic the sharpening of the sanggot (scythe) and then proceeds to the cleaning of the kawit (bamboo container), climbing of the coconut tree, extracting of the sap, and finally, tasting of the tuba.
Ohong is the Cebuano word for 'mushroom' and the mimetic dance Ohong-Ohong features rapid twirling movements by women dressed in long, billowy skirts with layers of petticoats visually representing mushrooms. The dance is a celebration of the onset of rains and of bountiful harvests.
Visayas Ethnic Dance
And finally, Kuradang, also known as curacha, is a lively wedding dance popular in Bohol, where it is performed to the accompaniment of a rondalla, an ensemble of string instruments. The dance is performed in three parts, with three different rhythms. The dancing couple starts the performance with a ballroom waltz. Then the music shifts to a faster beat for the 'chasing' scene, in which the female dancer flees and the male pursues her all across the dance floor. The tempo picks up even more for the final part, in which the chase ends with a furiously flirtatious scene. The female is won over, and the male imitates a flamboyant bird in a mating dance.