Courtship Dance
By Jenise Torres
The version on the video is the popular Kuratsa Binisaya from Tacloban, Leyte.
The Kuratsa is a highly favorable dance for the Visayan people especially the Waray of the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines.
It is believed to be a Mexican import although the Mexican counterpart of the Kuratsa is very different in terms of the execution.
Philippine dance researchers, however, point either to the "Kigal" and the "Bikal" as the 'ascendant' of the Kuratsa. The Kigal is a sort battle-of-sexes couple dance that imitates mating birds. Its dance step called 'sabay' is in fact very similar to the Kuratsa dance step called 'dagit' or when more daring the 'sagparak'. Dagit means swoop while sagparak is descriptive of a heated 'bulang' (cockfight).
Popular versions of this dance exist in Samar classified as the Kuratsa Menor (the usual favorite) and the many versions of the daring Kuratsa Mayor.
The couple moves in a very graceful way, their hands moving freely. The element of centering in kuratsa is very evident. You can see their arms and legs working from the same central point in the back. One has to learn how to organize oneself in order to execute Kuratsa appropriately.
Good posture is a key element one has to have in dancing Kuratsa. The posture has something to do with the portrayal of the dancers’ feelings. And Kuratsa is one dance that requires feelings and emotions from the dancers.
Also, in order to communicate these feelings to the audience, one has to master the gestures made especially for the dance. As for the hands, they are often raised and/or free flowing, always moving in different directions and never staying still. The hips of the girls are often shaken, to probably put more grace and style to the dance. The partners are often dancing apart from each other. They do full turns quite a lot as well. And from time to time, they bow. In addition, the partners dance in a way that they look like they’re chasing each other.
Memorizing the rhythm of the dance is also crucial in Kuratsa. Dancers always have to make sure they’re on the right beat.
As for the movement in space, dancers have to consider the space they are moving through because Kuratsa requires rather a wide space so the dancers can go about their routine very well. To achieve harmony with the body, once must gauge and be aware of the space he/she will use.
Move Your Body
By Anne Kristine Coleman
As Michael Eric Dyson, a professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill states; “Hip-hop music—or rap, as it has come to be known—has faced various obstacles, it was viewed as a passing fad, a playful and ephemeral black cultural form that steamed off the musical energies of urban black teens. As it became obvious that it [hip-hop/rap] is here to stay, the reactions changed from dismissal to denigration.”
And a lot of people agreed there is more to Hip-hop than a passing fad. As it proliferated to state to countries to cities and other continents, Hip-hop carried out the outmost function of music—to express oneself. Hip-hop’s culture emerged from the revolutionary verse of Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets, to Pigmeat Markham’s “Here come de Judge”. It can be traced back from mild melodies accompanied by strong, rhythmic lyrics which evolved technically through instrumentation, drum machines, and “sampling” existing records. And the existing records being those sung by Black African-Americans, the genre had a quite unwritten and understood ownership to the Black African-Americans as well.
As Rap/Hip-hop tremendously began to popularize in the streets, it tackled and analyzed social, economic, and political factors that led to its enhancement as a combination of social protest, musical creation and cultural expression. It became a banner of Black African-Americans to inform the world that they are proud to be who they are. Dancing Hip-hop became a phenomenon; as it was danced as a ritual street after street which in itself grew into “battles” and exhibitions.
One of the great reasons why Hip-hop became a good form of self-expression and outlet of emotions is its movements. Hip-hop steps and moves can grow from a soft flow to rugged and alive, although the energy never ceases, Hip-hop lets out even the last creative juice left in a dancer’s system as it yanks every body part and muscle. The tempo or timing of the dance varies. This is probably because this particular dance originated from the streets; it is creative and innovative, in other words, anything goes. The body movements mostly incorporate coordination of the upper and lower extremities. The dance’s consummation of space is great in general for the dance movements are better executed in a flushed formation. There are subtle and gentle movements but the dancer’s body is never relaxed for it needs to exert the same level of energy as in the beginning of the dance.
This type of dance like any other, tells a story. Not just because it was born in the streets doesn’t mean it is dangerous or violent. Every whisk of the arms and the legs has a meaning and it projects the dancer’s heart.
Doing the Popping with TINIKLING
By Lovely Anicete
Of the many Filipino dances, Tinikling or the “bamboo dance” is one of the famous. Everyone can dance it specially those inn the rural places. The dance is not that simple though, practice makes perfect is the phrase for this kind of dance that uses two bamboo poles held just above the ground and struck together in time to music and off the dancer goes with the hopping.
Where it All Started
The dance Tinikling started from the Visayan Islands specifically in the Leyte Province, this dance is in fact a mimic movement of the tikling birds which are hopping over trees, grass stems or over bamboo traps set by farmers. Those who do the dance cannot just hop like they are playing, instead, they are to dance it with grace while speed hopping between the bamboo poles. Although there are lots of stories on where tinikling originated, some may not be all true. It’s just like the myths. Some say it got started by the people who worked on the fields and paddies in the Philippines and since the Spaniards who invaded the Philippine Island brought the natives to be slaves on the haciendas, the natives couldn’t much cope up with the oppressors orders and as punishment before, they were to stand between two bamboo poles cut from the grove and when the sticks would be broken , they would be used to snap the hell out of the feet of our natives. They would then go home bruised with the marks of the bamboo sticks that would have thorns sometimes. And so, the old people tried escaping the beating of the bamboo sticks by hopping and hopping until they formed the dance as from of entertainment which are now performed in some Sundays and the sticks no longer have thorns but are smooth and silky instead.
What You Need to Do the Hopping
Dancing this type of a folk dance isn’t that expensive and some materials could even be gathered up from one’s backyard. Some materials include the following:
· Wooden closet dowels from the local lumber yard (this could be 8-18 feet but it ddepends on how may dancers there are)
· Pieces of free 2x4 scrap or inexpensively bought 2x4's may be cut as blocks (30 inches or longer)
· carpeting samples which are helpful in preventing the sticks from trembling when hitting the grounds.
· Tape marks which are like markers to know the width of separating the poles (14-18 inches apart, still depends on the dancers)
Kinds of Steps
The steps in a Tinikling dance are mostly of a combinations of only three basic 4/4 steps which can be singles, doubles, and hops.
The terms singles and doubles are pertaining to the times wherein the feet of the dancers would touch the floor. While when we say ”hops” – this one refers to a specific category of singles steps, although mostly it’s a leap since the weight on the other foot is transferred to the other.
Popularity Wise
The tinikling dance is mostly performed in the elementary schools around the Philippines and children get to like it too since it involves skills similar to jumping rope. It's now a new, fun form of aerobic exercise that also improves spatial awareness, rhythm, foot and leg speed, agility, and coordination. Some people have this dance mistaken for the international folk dance because of its popularity.
Modernization through dance
Since the dance requires grace while hopping and changing foot stands, some of the creative dancers have played a little spunk in it by adding pop, hip-hop, r&b, and rock music into the tinikling performance.
