Vibrant Mindanao culture at the CCP Pasinaya

• Published date: 09 February 2023
• Publication title: Business Mirror

The Pasinaya Open House Festival of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is still an effective platform in showcasing various cultures in the Philippines that have been made more beautiful and vibrant because of folk dances and music.

The colorful Mindanao culture again took center stage through dances like Pangalay and Kadal Tahu.

Commonly referred to as the fingernail dance, the Pangalay is a dance traditionally performed by the Tausug people during weddings and other festive celebrations.

It is characterized by hand movements that resemble the movement of ocean waves, enhanced by long, metal fingernails (janggay) worn by the dancers.

Dancers must have dexterity and flexibility of the shoulders, elbows, and wrists as the dance is performed to the music of the kulintangan, gandang, agong and gabang.

The hands are flexed at the wrists and fingers hyperflexed backward. The body is bent slightly at the hips and the knees and, viewed laterally, resembles the shape of the letter 'S.'

Two men carry two bamboo poles on their shoulders with a solo female dancer keeping her balance on top of the two bamboo poles.

One amazing part of the show by the Tambuli Dance Troupe of Tawi Tawi was when the main female dancer gradually transferred from two horizontal bamboo poles to one pole that is in a vertical position.

With dancers wearing Malong and salakut (hat), the T'boli tribal dance Kadal Tahu mimics the hopping and flying behavior of the Tahaw bird to welcome a bountiful harvest during harvesting season.

Tagum City's Kuntaw Mindanao is a group of music artists known for popularizing indigenous music through its songs that fuses the indigenous sounds with various musical genres. Through their music, the group hopes to share their advocacy of promoting awareness and protection of the indigenous peoples' rights and culture, as well as environmental protection.

The Pangalay and Kadal Tahu movements were also incorporated in the choreography of the musical play Anak Datu, whose excerpts were shown during the People's Gala.

It follows the historic lives and struggles of the Tausugs based on a short story for children by National Artist for Visual Arts Abdulmari Imao in 1968 in anticipation of the birth of his first son, Abdulmari Jr. (Toym) Imao.

It is a story about the son of a village chieftain in Muslim Mindanao during pre-colonial Philippines. Before the son was born, their village was raided by pirates. His mother gives birth under captivity. He grew up with the...