CULTURE OF DANCE DURING THE SPANISH OCCUPATION By Raissa Azarcon Dance as a Tool of Oppression In school, we are taught to believe

that Spanish colonizers won us over using this quick and savvy formulathat of the cross and the sword. Spanish friars and government officials employed Catholicism to transform native consciousness into what they vehemently call proper and civil. They introduced their religion to native Filipinos not for humanitarian reason but to further their empire and soften and impede any threat of rebellion and revolt. Hence, with the introduction of Catholicism came a paradigm shift that transformed how native Filipinos see and view the world. European cultural ideas were assimilated to indigenous traditions. These influences were predominantly apparent in the lowland and coastal areas since trade and barter usually took place in this areas. Spanish friars led the Hispanization of the Philippine archipelago. They implemented rules that bound Filipinos to colonial practices and prohibit them in returning back to what they were once accustomed of. Friars ordered the burning of any written documents that would seem detrimental to their reign. Primitive texts were burned and along with them, the rich tradition of our pre-hispanic past. Our music was modified; the way we dressed was altered to better suit their preference; our tribal dances was overturned but not completely vanquished. A syncretic view was applied. Foreign dances were Filipinized. Each locality developed their own version of foreign dances. Cuban tango evolved into Habanera Botolena in Zambales, the French Minuet was adopted by the folks of Camarines Sur and eventually became known as Minuete Yano, and the Spanish fandango was localized as Pandango nationwide. Henceforth, dance has become a convenient tool for the colonizers to tame the natives into subjugation and surrender. Dance as a Way to Conform In times of war and social unrest, wealthy Filipinos were the most apprehensive of all mainly because they want to secure their estates and properties from possible embezzlement and damage. They have money to burn to make sure that their wealth will not perish along with their nation and so, with this kind of mindset, they rather played it safe. They did not show any rage or express any disagreement to the rule of Spaniards. Instead, they fraternized with the enemies and showered them with gifts and half-hearted praises. And to further differentiate them from the rest of the Filipinos, they adopted the ways and behaviour of Spaniards. They embraced anything that had to do with Spain and threw their national identity in the wind. They were the ilustrados, the enlightened ones, the ones who were able to afford education, the bourgeois families who socialized and partook in elegant Hispanic gatherings, the ones who were the first social climbers, the first to have been paralyzed by colonial mentality. They refused to dance the ancestral dances in the fear of being singled out as an indio by their Spanish peers. Thus, they did what was expected of them. They donned moves of Western descent. This was in order to maintain their status quo and to retain their reputation. This phenomenon brought forth the concept of Maria Clara Suite, a collective name for all the Hispanic-influenced dances that proliferated during the reign of Spain in our country. It was named after one of the lead

characters of Rizals highly-acclaimed novel Noli Me Tangere. Maria Clara is the love interest of Crisostomo Ibarra and was later on discovered to be the daughter of the main antagonist, Padre Damaso. Dance and Courtship In the rural areas where Spanish influence was not yet firmly established, Filipinos have maintained the distinct quality of their ritual dances. There are dances that are meant to reflect how women are to be treated by men, and how the mechanics of courtship should be properly observed and handled by the youth. For example, in the dance called Sayaw Santa Isabel, the male dances hold hankerschiefs for the woman to hold. This suggests that suitors were forbidden to hold the hand of the maiden they like. And moreso suggest being discreet when in front of the opposite sex. Dance of the Untouched Not all were overpowered by the Spanish forces; there are some who remained untouched and unconquered by the Spanish regime. Some areas of the Philippines were not easily shackled by the deadly combination of sword and cross. Their dances remained free of colonial influence, and have regionalistic temperament in them. Dances under this category reflected the customs of small communities and are further influenced by the geographic, economic, and social conditions prevalent in the area. Maglalatik is of this kind. It is a war dance performed by the Tagalogs and which depicts a fight between Christians and Muslims over the latik, a kind of coconut residue. Its distinct quality lies in the fact that the dance makes use of coconut shells instead of sword, a characteristic that contradicts the common supposition that every war dance should use war gears and swords for props. In this context, the Tagalogs made use of what was easily found in their immediate environment and since coconut is ubiquitously growing and abundant, it was no surprise that they made it the primary props of their dance. Another good example would be the Katlo, a dance native in Bulacan. It reflected one of the major activities of Filipinosthat of rice-planting and harvesting. Katlo is a dance which re-enacts folk people while they are pounding the rice. Then, under the same roof can be found the Tioka, a dance originating from Laguna. This one acts out the movements of men while they are threshing rice. And lastly, to give tribute to the coconut-growers, the occupational dance called Mananguete is performed in the coconutgrowing region of the country. This dance depicts, by the use of pantomime, the complete stages of gathering tuba fermented liquid from a coconut bud that served as a famous liquor to rural folks. Reference: Alejandro, Reynaldo. Sayaw: Philippine Dances Manila. National Bookstore. 2002.