For over 15 years, the Philippine Community Council (PCC-NSW) has been presenting the Rigodon de Honor during the Philippine National Day Ball. However, the dance is not even a native Filipino dance. It is a Spanish-inspired dance introduced into the country by some Filipinos who visited France.
This month of June, in celebration of Philippine Independence Day, PCC leaders are doing it again, presenting members of the board as dancers. Hopefully, the next president of PCC will be more imaginative and present some other native Filipino dances that are more descriptive of the Filipino culture.
The Philippines has many cultural folk dances that have been passed from generation to generation. There is the Itik-itik dance that mimics the way a duck walks. There is also the Tinikling, regarded by many as the National Dance of the Philippines. The dance imitates the movement of the tikling bird as it walks around tall grass and hops between tree branches. People perform the dance using two bamboo poles.
Our brothers from Pangasinan should be familiar with Sayaw sa Bangko which is performed on top of a narrow bench. Very dramatic is the Pandanggo sa Ilaw which is carried out while balancing three oil lamps — one on the head, and one in each hand.
For a change, they can also present the La Jota Moncadeña which was adapted from an old Spanish dance. It is a combination of Spanish and Ilocano dance steps set to Spanish music and castanets.
One very simple dance is the Cariñosa, a dance made for flirting! Dancers make a number of flirtatious movements as they hide behind fans or handkerchiefs and peek out at one another. The essence of the dance is the courtship between two sweethearts.
These are just a few native Filipino dances. I am sure there are many more that can be presented by PCC-NSW to break the monotony. They only need to discover among themselves and from the Filipino community who
are capable of doing the intricate steps. Maybe there are some former dancers of the international Bayanihan Dance Troupe in our midst just waiting to be discovered and invited. — Dino Crescini