MAY 13, 2013 BY INTROTODANCE

Dance of the Philippines: The Irogot People

The Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago that is just east of southeastern China and
north of Indonesia. It has been a territory that has been sought after by many nations due to its
geographic location. Hindu, Arabic, Malayan, Spanish, contemporary Western and many other
influences have been woven into the Filipino cultural fabric. Due to these invasions, the Filipino
culture has experienced numerous influences and has infused many other cultures into their
traditions. Traceable within the repertoire of traditional and contemporary Philippine dance
are the cumulative influences of a number of foreign cultures. Most styles of dance can been
seen in their original form in the remote mountainous regions of Luzon. Inhabiting the rugged
terrain of the Luzon mountain region are six ethno-linguistic peoples known generically as
Igorots or mountain people.

Although each tribe of the Igorots has its own distinct movement patterns, the Igorots share
common religious beliefs, and offer praise to anitos or household gods during their dances.
Such dancing is usually in vacant areas of the village where the tribesmen dance in a way that is
meaningful to the specific purpose of the dance, such as war for example. Among these
people, dancing continues to be an expression of community life that animates the various
rituals and ceremonies. As with many non-literate societies, the Igorots dance to heal, worship
ancestors and gods, and insure positive outcomes during war, harvests, and weather. They
dance to ward off misfortune, to congregate and socialize, to mark milestones in the life, and to
express repressed feelings.

Compared to other Filipino ethnic and folk dances, Igorot dances tend to have less structure
and formality. There are many steps within the tribe’s dances that remain similar. Each tribe
complicates and individualizes their own dance by implementing different approaches to
dynamic, emphasis, dramatization, spectacle, and costuming. Different tribes are known for
their different dances such as war dances, courtship dances, or wedding dances. Some
common steps that are featured in most dances are of the close-to-the-earth type such as
shuffling, jumps, hops, and a bending of the knees with the upper trunk stretched diagonally
forward.

The hands move with the music with a variety of stiff hand positions. The arms are typically
extended to the side at shoulder level, moving up and down as if the dancer is flapping their
wings. Most steps and movements of the hands go downward to express their bond to the
earth. The symbolic rising of one arm obliquely forward and upward is a characteristic prayer
attitude in Igorot religious dances. The direction of the palm also holds symbolic significance
for the Igorot people. When the palm faces the earth, this expresses the dancer’s respect for
the gods and when the palm faces the sky, the dance is to request a favor such as a good
harvest, favorable weather, adequate rainfall, recovery of a sick relative, or even to pacify the
anger of evil spirits. Toes, employing creeping and pawing gestures, are pointed forward, heel
flat on the ground. The movement tends to be light and the dancers spur the ground with their
feet and usually beat the ground — they use their heels sparingly. Rising on tiptoe and
dropping down again, or first lifting one foot and then the other, the dancer remains in one
spot or moves forward to one side, very slowly.

In the Igorot dances, we find that men and women take on different roles in both leadership
positions and movement style. For instance, women tend to lead in courtship dances while
men lead during wedding dances. The women tend to dance with less movement of their feet
than the men. At times, women participate with a sort of backward pawing movement, which
throws dirt and stones into the air behind them. In many cases young girls will imitate their
mothers as they dance, which shows that portions of this Filipino dance are learned and passed
down through movement experience instead of verbal or structured learning sessions. When in
the center of the circle, men may execute similar movement to the women but with added
motions, adding balancing and tilting of the body, especially of the arms, and with rapid
trembling and quivering of the hands.

For some of the Irogot people, singing and chanting accompanies the dance along with music,
which usually consists of flutes and percussive instruments to set the rhythm and tempo. The
highest prioritized instrument is the gangsa or gong, which keeps time in the dance. The gangsa
is a flat metal gong about a foot in diameter, about 2 inches deep, and commonly made of
bronze. There are three types of gangsa. The first is the kalos, which is the smallest and gives a
spreading sound, which balances the tune of the other two gangsa. The second type of gangsa
is the sar-ong-ko-ongan, which is larger and produces a bass tone. The third kind of gangsa is
the marwas, which is a similar size compared to the sar-ong-ko-ongan, produces a tenor tune.
Only males beat the gangsa by striking the outer surface with a short padded stick. When
played simultaneously, these gangsa produce a wonderful harmonizing sound.

In addition, there are a series of bamboo instruments, which include the taongatong,
balingging, bunkaka, solibao and gimbal, palas, pattung, and kulibet. The taongatong is a series
of short bamboo tubes that vary in size and are played by being tapped on the ground. The
balingging is a bamboo nose flute that is blown by a single nostril. A bunkaka is a bamboo
percussive instrument that has split forked ends. The solibao and gimbal are drums produced
from the formation of hollowed out logs and animal hides. Other percussive instruments
include the palas, which are a pair of metals bars that are struck together, and pattung, which
as wooden clappers. The kulibet is a type of bamboo guitar. All these instruments in various
combinations with the predominant gangsa are what you would most likely hear during an
Igorot tribe’s dance.

For the most part, the traditional attire for these indigenous dances is bare skin, including bare
feet and upper bodies. Both genders wear various amounts of woven wrap around their waists.
For males, this wrap is similar to what is commonly thought of a loincloth with extra fabric that
lies down the back surface of the sacral area. The women tend to have more gathered fabric
around their waist and have no coverings of their upper body. In some cases, the woven fabric
is worn as a larger article of clothing, which drapes from one shoulder to the opposing hip.
Lastly, it is common to see the women of these indigenous tribes wear necklaces of various
lengths, which are made from the stringing of large colored beads. These necklaces hang
around the women’s’ necks either diagonally across their chests or directly centered on their
sternum.

In sum, a rich variety of cultures have woven their influences into the complex artistic tapestry
of the Philippines. These influences hail from all around the globe, yet the heritage of the
Filipino people, especially in the realm of traditional and contemporary dance, lives on in
perpetuity because of the Igorots — the six ethno-linguistic peoples who live in an isolated
mountainous region. The Igorots have remained mostly free of outside influence due to their
strong cultural roots and their geographic isolation. As a result, dance scholars and Filipinos
alike should be grateful that the there were people like the Igorots who were shielded from
outside influences and could preserve part of Philippine traditions.

-Michelle Glynn