Dance as 'embodied identity' provides 'movement artifacts' that showcase the qualities of our being Filipinos. The Western social dance forms that came to our shores were adapted to suit our temperament, psychological inclinations, our beliefs and customs. Erasing them would mean completely removing the traces of our uniqueness as Filipinos. Handing them down to the current generation allows them to learn about Filipino culture. Presented at the First National Conference on Sports Pedagogy, October 2012, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

1. CULTURAL INFLUENCES
OF DANCE IN PHY SICAL
EDUCATION :
A CALL TO PRESERVE
OUR SOCIAL DANCES
Prof. Mynette dR. Aguilar
Prof. 1 of Dance in Education
College of Human Kinetics
University of the Philippines

2.  dance as “embodied identity”
 uniqueness of the Filipino

3. Philippine
History
External
Influences
Filipino
Dance, Arts
& Other
Traditions
Filipino
Culture

4. DANCE AS “EMBODIED
IDENTITY”
“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)

5. DANCE AS “EMBODIED
IDENTITY”
“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)

6. 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

7. La Jota Caviteña originating in Cavite province
Jota Moncada from Moncada in Tarlac Province
indigenized dances with a European flair:
• Jotas
• Pandanggos
• Minuets
• Mazurkas

8. FROM WESTERN DANCE
FORMS TO DISTINCT
FILIPINO DANCE FORMS

9. FROM WESTERN DANCE
FORMS TO DISTINCT
FILIPINO DANCE FORMS
La Jota Aragonesa La Jota Manilena

10. F I L I P I N O DA N C E S W I T H T H E I R
R E S P E C T I V E W E S T E R N RO O T S
(ALEJANDRO 1978)
Native Dance Where Popularized Roots
Pasakat Laguna French Quadrille, the Pas de
Quatre
Lanceros Negros, Visayas American Square Dance,
Lancers
Mazurka Boholana Bohol Polish Mazurka
Pandanggo sa Ilaw Pangasinan Spanish Fandango
Chotis or Escotis Capiz German schottische
Birginia Pangasinan America’s Virginia Reel
Rigodon National French Quadrille
Kuratsa Visayas Islands, Ilocos & Bicol Mexico
regions
Pateado Marinduque Mexico
Jota Batangueña Batangas Spanish Jota
Jota Moncadeña Tarlac Spanish Jota

11. F RO M W E S T E R N DA N C E
F O R M S TO D I S T I N C T
F I L I P I N O DA N C E F O R M S

12. “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)

13. “The indigenization incorporated and
successfully conveyed uniquely Filipino
traits.” (Alejandro, 1978)

14.  Study of dance and other “structured movement systems” has
expanded within anthropology but remains on the margins of the
discipline .
 The field of anthropology needs more specialists in movement and
dance.
 The emergence of the anthropology of dance as a distinct
subfield can be traced to the 1960s and 1970s, dance has been
the subject of anthropological study since the discipline’s inception.
(Reed in Williams 2004)

15. N E O - T R A D I T I O N A L DA N C E S
O F Z I M BA B W E
These neo-traditional dances are wonderful keepers of history and
chroniclers of time change. As the dances change to reflect cultural
changes such as politics, weather, urbanization, and outside influences,
they show the timeline of history in the culture. This also results in a
highly emotional link to the dances and events that they represent
because people are relating to their everyday lives and struggles. (Welsh-
Asante, 2000)

16. DANCE IN THE
PHILIPPINES MAY
STILL BE IN A
CONTINUING
EVOLUTION…

17. WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM
FILIPINO SOCIAL DANCES
 Filipino Character Traits
 Boogie
 Philippine/Manila Swing
 Filipino Tango
 Filipino Concepts of Time
 Filipino Concepts of Space
 Filipino Concepts of Dynamics

18. A CALL TO PRESERVE OUR
DANCES
Allow the continuing evolution of the Filipino through its
movement. It is through our indigenous movements that
others and even we, ourselves, learn about ‘The Filipino’. As
the area of movement studies is just developing in our
country. Erasing our movements to give way to the newer and
modern dance styles will remove our ‘movement artifacts’.

19. A CALL TO PRESERVE OUR
DANCES
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.

20. A CALL TO PRESERVE OUR
DANCES
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.

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