CULTURAL INFLUENCESOF DANCE IN PHYSICAL

EDUCATION :A CALL TO PRESERVEOUR SOCIAL DANCES

Prof. Mynette dR. Aguilar

Prof. 1 of Dance in Education

College of Human Kinetics

University of the Philippines

dance as “embodied identity”

uniqueness of the Filipino

PhilippineHistory

ExternalInfluences

FilipinoDance, Arts

& OtherTraditions

FilipinoCulture

DANCE AS “EMBODIEDIDENTITY”

“Sport and dance . . . share not only a common

status as techniques of the body (Mauss 1973), but also a

vital capacity to express and reformulate identities

and meanings through their practiced movements

and scripted forms.” (Dyck & Archetti,eds2003)

DANCE AS “EMBODIEDIDENTITY”

“The embodied practices of athletes and dancers

afford not merely pleasure and entertainment but

powerful means for celebrating existing social

arrangements and cultural ideals or for imagining

and advocating new ones.” (Dyck & Archetti,eds2003)

Zapatilla = named after the footwear of the ladies

Alcamphor = named after the camphor-scented

handkerchief used by the ladies in the dance

Habanera from Havana

Malagueña from Malaga

Katalona from Catalonia

La Jota Caviteña originating in Cavite province

Jota Moncada from Moncada in Tarlac Province

indigenized dances with a European flair:

• Jotas• Pandanggos• Minuets• Mazurkas

FROM WESTERN DANCEFORMS TO DISTINCT

FILIPINO DANCE FORMS

FROM WESTERN DANCEFORMS TO DISTINCT

FILIPINO DANCE FORMS

La Jota Aragonesa La Jota Manilena

Native Dance Where Popularized RootsPasakat Laguna French Quadrille, the Pas de

QuatreLanceros Negros, Visayas American Square Dance,

LancersMazurka Boholana Bohol Polish Mazurka

Pandanggo sa Ilaw Pangasinan Spanish Fandango

Chotis or Escotis Capiz German schottischeBirginia Pangasinan America’s Virginia ReelRigodon National French QuadrilleKuratsa Visayas Islands, Ilocos & Bicol

regionsMexico

Pateado Marinduque MexicoJota Batangueña Batangas Spanish JotaJota Moncadeña Tarlac Spanish Jota

FILIPINO DANCES WITH THEIRRESPECTIVE WESTERN ROOTS

( A L E J A N D R O 1 9 7 8 )

FROM WESTERN DANCEFORMS TO DISTINCT

FILIPINO DANCE FORMS

“Filipinos are easily swayed by the stimulating

Western influences. And as fun-loving and

musically inclined people, Filipinos need very little

gestation before adapting and popularizing a

foreign dance craze to suit the local taste,

psychological inclination, and natural feel.”(Alejandro2002)

“The indigenization incorporated and

successfully conveyed uniquely Filipino

traits.” (Alejandro, 1978)

Study of dance and other “structured movement systems” hasexpanded within anthropology but remains on the margins of thediscipline .

The field of anthropology needs more specialists in movement anddance.

The emergence of the anthropology of dance as a distinctsubfield can be traced to the 1960s and 1970s, dance has beenthe subject of anthropological study since the discipline’s inception.(Reed in Williams 2004)

These neo-traditional dances are wonderful keepers of history andchroniclers of time change. As the dances change to reflect culturalchanges such as politics, weather, urbanization, and outside influences,they show the timeline of history in the culture. This also results in ahighly emotional link to the dances and events that they representbecause people are relating to their everyday lives and struggles. (Welsh-

Asante, 2000)

NEO -TRADITIONAL DANCESOF ZIMBABWE

DANCE IN THEPHILIPPINES MAY

STILL BE IN ACONTINUINGEVOLUTION…

Filipino Character Traits Boogie Philippine/Manila Swing Filipino Tango

Filipino Concepts of Time

Filipino Concepts of Space

Filipino Concepts of Dynamics

WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROMFILIPINO SOCIAL DANCES

Allow the continuing evolution of the Filipino through itsmovement. It is through our indigenous movements thatothers and even we, ourselves, learn about ‘The Filipino’. Asthe area of movement studies is just developing in ourcountry. Erasing our movements to give way to the newer andmodern dance styles will remove our ‘movement artifacts’.

A CALL TO PRESERVE OURDANCES

By our efforts to preserve our adapted social dances, we

may be able to maintain our integrity in the world of dance

just like others such as the USA, Australia, etc. where they

maintained their own dance forms and is recognized in

international competitions.

A CALL TO PRESERVE OURDANCES

Do we always have to be on the receiving end and learn

the characterizations of the dances from other cultures, but

not let others, even ourselves, learn about ours?

We must realize that we do have a lot to offer.

A CALL TO PRESERVE OURDANCES

Alejandro, Reynaldo. (1978), Philippine Dance. Manila: Vera-Reyes, Inc. Alejandro, Reynaldo & Amanda Abad Santos-Gana. (2002), Sayaw: PhilippineDances. Manila: National Bookstore, Inc. & Anvil Publishing, Inc. Dyck, Noel & Eduardo Archetti, eds. (2003), Sport, Dance and EmbodiedIdentities. Oxford: Berg. Lapiz, Eduardo M. (1997), Paano Maging Pilipinong Kristiano= Becoming a FilipinoChristian. Makati City: Kaloob. Welsh-Asante, K. (2000), Zimbabwe Dance: Rhythmic Forces, Ancestral Voices: anAesthetic Analysis. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press Williams, Drid. (2004), Anthropology and the Dance: Ten Lectures. Chicago:University of Illinois Press.

THANK YOU!

R E F E R E N C E S