Philippine Folk Dances Review
In the East, the Chinese have their symbolical dragon dance; the Japanese have the ancestral dance Bon Odori. In the West, the Americans have their Square Dance. On the other hand, the Philippines, the ?Pearl of the Orient? boasts of a variety of Philippine folk dances.
The Filipinos pay tributes and owe itself to cultural heritage. One way of showing such love and respect for the country gave birth to the development of Philippine ethnic folk dances. Two of these are Binasuan and Tinikling.
Binasuan is a native dance of Pangasinan. This dance literally means ?dancing with glasses.? The steps are executed with glasses filled with rice wine balanced on the head and the hands of the dancers. Danced to show balance and to reflect rural gaiety, Binasuan is performed usually in wedding ceremonies and occasions in the barangay.
Tinikling is another Philippine folk dance that is inspired by an endemic bird called ?tikling.? The steps of this dance are an imitation of the movements of a ?tikling? bird that hops and escapes the traps set by hunters. Moving with poise and grace, the dancers skip in-between two bamboo poles that are held to pound rhythmically against each other. This dance is a specialty of Leyte.
These folk dances whether ethnic in origin or not reflect the lively culture that the Filipinos have. These dances may be diverse but through these cultural forms, the Filipinos are unified and proud by way of having Philippine folk dances that are truly one of the bests in the world.