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Basic Concept of Folk Dancing

Folk dancing is a traditional form of dance that reflects cultural expressions and is passed down through generations, often linked to everyday activities. The document highlights the contributions of four National Artists for Dance in the Philippines, including Francisca Reyes-Aquino, Leonor Orosa Goquinco, Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, and Ramon Obusan, who have significantly advanced the folk dance heritage. Each artist is recognized for their unique contributions to the Philippine dance industry, showcasing the importance of folk dance in cultural identity.

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25 views4 pages

Basic Concept of Folk Dancing

Folk dancing is a traditional form of dance that reflects cultural expressions and is passed down through generations, often linked to everyday activities. The document highlights the contributions of four National Artists for Dance in the Philippines, including Francisca Reyes-Aquino, Leonor Orosa Goquinco, Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, and Ramon Obusan, who have significantly advanced the folk dance heritage. Each artist is recognized for their unique contributions to the Philippine dance industry, showcasing the importance of folk dance in cultural identity.

Uploaded by

alwinaure22
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BASIC CONCEPT OF FOLK DANCING

Dance is the expression of oneself through rhythmic movement (PNU LET Reviewer, 2013).
Dance is perhaps the oldest of the arts, reflecting man’s age-old need to communicate joy and
grief and everything in between. It is a combination of body movements and is adapted to musical
accompaniment. Dance is not just a static representation of history, not just a repository of
meaning, but a producer of meaning each time it is produced – not just a living mirror of a culture,
but a shaping part of the culture, a power within the culture (A. Garcia, 2019)

Folk Dancing is the oldest form of dance, probably one of the earliest forms of communication.
This self-expression separates folk dancing from the functional aspects of games and gymnastics
in the physical education program. Folk dance may be defined as the traditional dance of a given
country that evolved naturally and spontaneously with everyday activities, e.g., occupations,
customs, festivals, rituals, and numerous themes common to all people everywhere. Genuine folk
dances are handed down from generation to generation and are danced by everyday folk of all
ages. They are more or less fixed in their pattern but may differ in various areas of provinces.
(PNU LET Reviewer, 2013)

NATIONAL ARTISTS FOR DANCE


The National Commission for Culture and the Arts, as of 2014, have identified five individuals as
National Artists for Dance. Such title is given to individuals who have contributed so much to the
Philippine Dance industry. Four of these national artists for dance have considerable contributions
to Philippine Folk Dance.
1. Francisca Reyes-Aquino
National Artist for Dance (1973) Francisca Reyes Aquino is
acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer. This Bulakeña began
her research on folk dances in the 1920s, making trips to remote
barrios in Central and Northern Luzon. Her research on the
unrecorded forms of local celebration, ritual, and sport resulted in
a 1926 thesis titled “Philippine Folk Dances and Games” and
explicitly arranged for use by teachers and playground instructors
in public and private schools. In the 1940s, she served as supervisor of physical education at the
Bureau of Education that distributed her work and adapted the teaching of folk dancing as a
medium of making young Filipinos aware of their cultural heritage. In 1954, she received the
Republic Award of Merit given by the late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay for “outstanding contribution
toward the advancement of Filipino culture,” one of the many awards and recognition that were
given to her. Her books include the following: Philippine National Dances (1946); Gymnastics for
Girls (1947); Fundamental Dance Steps and Music (1948); Foreign Folk Dances (1949); Dances
for all Occasion (1950); Playground Demonstration (1951); and Philippine Folk Dances, Volumes
I to VI.
Text is taken from National Commission for Culture and the Arts:
https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the
philippines/francisca-reyes-aquino/

2. Leonor Orosa Goquinco


National Artist for Dance (1976) Dubbed the “Trailblazer,” “Mother
of Philippine Theater Dance,” and “Dean of Filipino Performing
Arts Critics,” Leonor Orosa Goquingco, pioneer Filipino
choreographer in balletic folkloric and Asian styles, produced for
over 50 years highly original, first-of-a-kind choreographies,
primarily to her storylines. These include “TREND: Return to
Native,” “In a Javanese Garden,” “Sports,” “VINTA!,” “In a
Concentration Camp,” “The Magic Garden,” “The Clowns,”
“Firebird,” “Noli Dance Suite,” “The Flagellant,” “The Creation….” Seen as her most ambitious
work is the dance epic “Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend and Lore.” Orosa brought native folk
dance, mirroring Philippine culture from pagan to modern times, to its highest stage of
development. She was the Honorary Chair of the Association of Ballet Academies of the
Philippines (ABAP) and was a founding member of the Philippine Ballet Theater.
Text is taken from National Commission for Culture and the Arts:
https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the
philippines/leonor-orosa-goquingco/
These two logos belong to the Association of Ballet Academies of the Philippines and the
Philippine Ballet Theatre.
3. Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula
National Artist for Dance (1988) Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula,
choreographer, dance educator, and researcher, spent almost
four decades discovering and studying Philippine folk and
ethnic dances. She applied her findings to project a new
example of an ethnic dance culture beyond simple preservation
and creative growth. Over thirty years, she had choreographed
suites of mountain dances, Spanish-influenced dances, Muslim
pageants and festivals, regional variations, and dances of the countryside for the Bayanihan
Philippine Dance Company, which she was the dance director. These dances have earned critical
acclaim and rave reviews from audiences in their world tours in the Americas, Europe, Asia,
Australia, and Africa. Among the widely acclaimed dances she had staged the following: Singkil,
a Bayanihan signature number based on a Maranao epic poem; Vinta, a dance honoring Filipino
sailing prowess; Tagabili, a tale of tribal conflict; Pagdiwata, a four-day harvest festival condensed
into a six-minute breath-taking spectacle; Salidsid, a mountain wedding dance; Idaw, Banga and
Aires de Verbena.
Text is taken from National Commission for Culture and the Arts:
https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the
philippines/lucrecia-reyes-urtula/

4. Ramon Obusan
National Artist for Dance (2006) Ramon Obusan was a dancer,
choreographer, stage designer, and artistic director. He achieved
phenomenal success in Philippine dance and creative work.* He
was also acknowledged as a researcher, archivist, and
documentary filmmaker who broadened and deepened the
Filipino understanding of his own cultural life and expressions.
Through the Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group (ROFG), he had
affected cultural and diplomatic exchanges using the multifarious
aspects and dimensions of the art of dance. Among the full-length productions he choreographed
are the following: “Vamos a Belen! Series” (1998-2004) Philippine Dances Tradition “Noon Po Sa
Amin,” tableaux of Philippine History in song, drama, and dance “Obra Maestra,” a collection of
Ramon Obusan’s dance masterpieces “Unpublished Dances of the Philippines,” Series I-IV
“Water, Fire and Life, Philippine Dances and Music–A Celebration of Life “Saludo Sa Sentenyal”
“Glimpses of ASEAN, Dances, and Music of the ASEAN-Member Countries” “Saplot (Ramon
Obusan Folkloric Group): Philippines Costumes in Dance”
Text is taken from National Commission for Culture and the Arts:
https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the
philippines/ramon-obusan/

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