The Philippines ( /flpinz/; Filipino: Pilipinas [plpins]), officially the Republic of the

Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia

situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands[16] that are categorized
broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and
Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon
City, both part of Metro Manila.[17] Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine
Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders
with Taiwan to the north, Palau to the east and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south.
i

The Philippines' location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the
Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural
resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. The Philippines has an area of 300,000
square kilometers (115,831 sq mi),[18] and a population of approximately 100 million.[19][20] It is the
eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. As of
2013, approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas,[21] comprising one of the
world's largest diasporas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In
prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were
followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples.[22] Exchanges with Chinese, Malay,
Indian, and Islamic states occurred. Then, various nations were established under the rule of
Datus, Rajahs, Sultans or Lakans.
The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning
of Hispanic colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy Lpez de Villalobos named the
archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel Lpez
de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in the archipelago was
established.[23] The Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This
resulted in Roman Catholicism becoming the dominant religion. During this time, Manila
became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the
Americas using Manila galleons.[24]
As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there followed in quick succession the Philippine
Revolution, which spawned the short-lived First Philippine Republic, followed by the bloody
PhilippineAmerican War of conquest by US military force.[25] Aside from the period of Japanese
occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until after World War II, when
the Philippines was recognized as an independent nation. Since then, the Philippines has often
had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by
a non-violent revolution.[26]
It is a founding member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of
Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia
Summit. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank.[27] The Philippines is
considered to be an emerging market and a newly industrialized country,[28] which has an
economy transitioning from being one based on agriculture to one based more on services and
manufacturing.[29]

DANCE:
As varied are the people of the Philippines, so too are the dances. There are many
dances performed in the Philippine Islands such as the popular "Tinikling", to the
exoticized "Pangalay", to the skill-based interpretation of the "Bangka" and Spanishtinged "Jota". Dance categorizations range from geographic localization, to
socialization functions, to dance influences, and to time traveling.

Geographic
Presentation of Dances in the Philippines are often categorized in ethnic or geographic
localization. These localization are often presented in the following:

Dances of the Cordillera Mountains (Igorot)

Dances of the Taga-Ummah (Muslim)

Dances of the Traditionalists (Lumad)

Dances of the Low-land Western-Christians

Societal function
Other less common presentations of Philippine dances have been categorized by societal
functions. Philippine dances not only convey the artistry of movement but, are often associated
with a life-function such as a wedding, the mimicry of birds, or even the warding of evil spirits.
This outlook on dance can be looked at in the following categories.

Ritualistic dances
Mimetic dances

Life-cycle dances

Party dances

Dance influences]
Another presentation of dances is through contrasting the influences of Southeast and mainland
Asia with the influences of the Spanish and Americans.

Southeast Asian Influence

Mainland Asian Influence

Spanish Influences

American Influences

Time periods
Dances of the Philippine needs to be looked at the Time-period in which they are taken. As
culture is constantly evolving, dances often change along with the times. Philippine dance can be
categorized in these time periods:

Pre-colonial
Spanish Colonial

American Period

Modern and Post-Modern

Contemporary outlook]
As the popularity of the Pilipino Cultural Nights and the Folk Arts groups gain their ascendency,
so too, does the need to create and recreate Philippine dance forms. Among these contemporary
issues are the ideas of bringing the village dance into the stage, the connections among the
various Philippine dance, the ownership of world-influence and the dances of Filipinos from the
diaspora.

From the Village to Stage

Interconnection of Philippine Dance

Filipinizing world influences

Dances from the Diaspora

Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company

Pangalay

Singkil

Dancesport
Highest governing body

WDSF & WDC

Characteristics
Mixed gender
Venue

Yes
Ballroom

Dancesport denotes competitive ballroom dancing,[1] as contrasted to social or exhibition

dancing. In the case of wheelchair dancesport at least one of the dancers is in a wheelchair.
Dancesport events are sanctioned and regulated by dancesport organizations at the national and
international level, such as the World DanceSport Federation.
The name was invented to help competitive ballroom dancing gain Olympic recognition. [2] The
physical demand of dancesport has been the subject of scientific research.[3][4][5][6]

History
The first unofficial world championship took place in 1909,[7] and the first formation team[8] was
presented in 1932 by Olive Ripman at the Astoria Ballroom, London.[1][9] Dancesport was first
broadcast on TV in 1960.[10]

Styles
The term dancesport applies to the International Style,[11] as well as American Style of
competitive ballroom. It includes the following categories:

International Standard
International Latin

American Smooth

American Rhythm

These categories apply to both individual couples and formation dance.

International governing organizations]

World Dance Council
Main article: World Dance Council

The World Dance Council (WDC) is a registered limited company, and the legal successor to the
International Council of Ballroom Dancing (ICBD), which was formed in 1950 in Edinburgh.[7]
The WDC operates through a general council and two committees:

The World Dance Sport Committee regulates professional dancesport at the

international level.
The World Social Dance Committee "deals with all matters of the dance
profession that relate to the activities of Dance Schools and Dance Teachers".
[12]
It does not regulate social dance directly that is the business of individual
organisers, the dance teacher organisations, such as the Imperial Society of
Teachers of Dancing, and the chains of dance teaching schools in the United
States.

In 2007 the WDC Amateur League was created.[13] This organisation runs a number of
competitions and has its own world ranking system for amateur dancers.
Each member country in the WDC has its own national organisation, such as the British Dance
Council, which acts as a forum for the many interested parties in that country. The national
bodies decide on their delegates to the WDC.

World DanceSport Federation]

Main article: World DanceSport Federation

The World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly the International DanceSport Federation
(IDSF), is the international governing body of dancesport, as recognised by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC).
Originally founded in 1957 as the International Council of Amateur Dancers (ICAD), it took up
the name IDSF in 1990. In 2011 it was renamed to WDSF to emphasise the global character of
the organization.
In the past, the focus of the IDSF was on administering amateur dancers and competitions.
However, in 2010 the IDSF Professional Division was created (formerly known as the IPDSC),
which extended this focus to professional dancesport.[10]
WDSF members are not permitted to dance in competitions unless they are granted by the
WDSF, or one of its member federations.[14]

This policy was revoked in 2012 at the Annual General Meeting by vote of the
members. The WDSF now supports an athlete's "right to dance".

Competitions

Junior cha-cha-cha competition in Czech Republic

There are a wide variety of dance competitions. They range from the well known Blackpool
Dance Festival, an event open to all, to competitions conducted exclusively for university
students, such as those hosted by the Inter Varsity Dance Association in the UK.
Amateur competitions commonly include events that group dancers by age, experience, or both.
For example, events might group young dancers by age, such as: juvenile (<12yrs), junior (1216yrs), and youth (16-19yrs). Events may sometimes cover a wide range of ages, with groupings
such as: under 21yrs, adult, senior I (Over 35yrs), senior II (Over 45yrs), senior III (Over 55yrs,
and senior IV (Over 65yrs). Adult competitions are often further divided into categories such as
beginner, novice, intermediate, pre-amateur, and amateur.

WDSF minimum competition dance area size standard

WDSF governing bodies in different countries have the flexibility to decide on the dance area
size for competitions held in the country.
Locati
on

Official
Standard

Compare Square
Meter

Compare
Square Feet

Europe 26m x 16m

416

4478

China

23m x 15m

345

3714

USA

60' x 36'

201

2160

Canad
60' x 35'
a

195

2100

In December 2011, the WDSF Open and the Australian Nationals were held at the Hisense Arena
located within the Olympic park in Melbourne. The floor was at 84 by 37.7 meters which was
7.61 times the size of what WDSF requires.

Rules
The World Dance Council (WDC) rules for international competitions are lengthy and detailed.[15]
The music for competitions is kept confidential until the event. The music always follows a strict
tempo and, for a couples competition, it will have a duration of no less than 90 seconds, and no
more than two minutes.
Some elementary competitions are restricted to "basic" steps, but international competitions are
open as to choreography, within the limits of the traditional style of the individual dances. Only
the Viennese waltz has defined choreography: it is limited to seven well-specified figures. Lifts
are not permitted, except for Show Dance titles. The tempo for each dance is defined. In the
finals, couples are marked under the skating system and judged by timing, footwork, rise and
fall, alignment, direction and floor craft. Competitors must meet World Anti-Doping Agency
rules.

Dancesport as an Olympic event

After a long campaign, the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF), formerly IDSF, was
recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the sole representative body for
dancesport, on September 5, 1997.[16][17] At that point, many dance organisations changed their
titles to incorporate the word sport. This recognition gives the IDSF, potentially, a unique status.
The WDSF website shows letters and certificates from the IOC that recognise dancesport as an
eligible sport for inclusion pursuant to rule 29 of the Olympic Charter.[18] [19]
On its website, the IDSF gives an upbeat appraisal of the chances of dancesport being included
in a future summer Olympic Games.[20] However, dancesport has not been included as an official
event at the Olympics since its recognition,[21] and there are many who doubt that it ever will.[22][23]
The 2008 Beijing Olympics did not include ballroom dancing and neither did the 2012 London
Olympics.[24]

Physical demands
Ballroom dancing is a partnered activity with a male and female counterpart. Over the years,
competitive ballroom dancing has evolved so much in its choreography, requiring a higher level
of athleticism. Many individuals that spectate or dance socially often underestimate the physical
attributes and demands of ballroom dancing. In order to compete at a world level, elite
competitive dancers undergo rigorous training to help and enhance their competition
performance. These dancers seem to perform at such a high level of energy expenditure that a

deeper understanding of these energy demands may help build specific training programs used to
sustain a high quality dance performance consistent over a few rounds of a competition.
In 1988, an Australian study was conducted to determine the heart rate and estimated energy
expended during ballroom dancing.[25] Professors Blanksby and Reidy of the Department of
Human Movement and Recreation Studies at the University of Western had ten competitive
ballroom dance couples simulate a dancesport competition, dancing their competitive routines in
either the Latin American or Standard division.[25] After administrating all required laboratory
tests (in order to record their height, weight, body fat percentage, fat free mass and the
resting/maximal heart rate and VO2 values), the couples danced a five-dance final, given a 15 to
20 second break between each dance.[25] Throughout the final their heart rates were telemetered
and recorded. The purpose of this study was to estimate the energy requirements from heart rates
acquired during competition simulation and previously recorded measures of VO2 and HR.
The average heart rate for male dancers in Standard was 170 beats min1 and 168 beats min1 in
the Latin American.[25] Females elicited 179 beats min1 and 177 beats min1 respectively.[25]
Astrand and Rodahl (1977) classify any exercise being extremely heavy if it results in a heart
rate above 150 beats min1.[26] They also classify an exercise as extremely heavy if oxygen
consumption is higher than 2.0L min1.[27] All but the females in the Standard dance sequence
didnt exceed an oxygen consumption level of 2.0L min1.[25] Finally, the energy expenditure for
male athletes was estimated to be 54.1 8.1 kJ min1 for Standard and 54.0 9.6kJ min1 in the
Latin American dances.[25] For females it was 34.7 3.8 kJ min1 and 36.1 4.1 kJ min1
respectively.[25]
Two other similar experiments were conducted exhibiting very similar results and analyses.[28][29]
In all three of the experiments, significant differences in the energy expenditure between the
male and female athletes were noticed. Generally males had a higher energy expenditure than
their female counterparts. This is evident due to the anthropometric differences between the two
sexes and the oxygen transport capacity.[28]
Comparing the mean gross energy expenditures (in kJ min1) between ballroom dancing and
other sports, it is evident that competitive dancing is equally as demanding in comparison to
other sporting activities such as basketball (35.83 kJ min1) or cross-country running (44.37kJ
min1) (Consolazioetal,1963),[30] and that ballroom dancing requires a cardiovascular system to be
able to work at a high energy level in order to match the given physiological strain.