PANGALAY

Albaracin, J.R., Bangalisan, J., Canen, J.A., Davide, K.E., Hermosa, R.M., Igloria,
I.D.M., Letrondo, C.A., Libron, L.J., Manayan, B.B., Sayson, N.S.

RATIONALE

INTRODUCTION

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree

without roots, as quoted by Marcus Garvey. Culture is defined as the way of life of a group

of people - the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without

thinking about them, and that are passed along. In its broadest sense, it is a cultivated

behavior which is the totality of a person’s learned and accumulated experience that is

socially transmitted through social learning. In other words, culture is an identity that can

be shared and be introduced to the world. Culture defines the individuality of the people

and thus, keeps the integrity of the society and ignites the sense of unity and nationality.

Philippines, despite the strings of unruly and unsympathetic colonizers and its

turbulent history, still manages to produce and have a friendly, resilient, family-oriented,

deeply religious and artistic population. The culture of the Philippines comprises a blend

of traditional Filipino and Spanish Catholic traditions, with influences from America and

other parts of Asia. This is why Philippines is sometimes referred to as the melting pot of

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western and eastern cultures. One of the cultures that have been adapted in the

Philippines are the folk dances.

The history of Philippine folk dancing incorporates influences from immigrants and

conquerors while at the same time maintaining distinctly Filipino roots. It mirrors the

culture and tradition of the Filipinos and at the same time the source of culture identity of

the people since these dances are considered as the celebration of the daily life, war,

harvest times and other aspects of people’s life. These strengthens the ties which the

community members have for each other as folk dances bring the community together to

such celebrations. Although there is no such recording as to where and how the folk

dances started, there have been many folk dances discovered, presented and preserved

from different parts of the country. Among of these folk dances is the Pangalay. Pangalay,

which means “temple of dance” in Sanskrit, also antedates Christianity and Islam in the

Philippines. It is considered as a living link to the traditional dance cultures of Asia with

closest affinity to the Indian, Javanese, Thai, Burmese and Cambodian styles of classical

dancing. Just like any other cultures and traditions, Pangalay as a living artifact must be

danced constantly and be known to others, or else it dies. It is then the responsibility of

the researchers to make Pangalay be recognized as one of the Philippine folk dances.

In this study, the researchers want to understand the history and origin of Pangalay

and its impact to the cultural heritage and identity of the Filipinos to help the Filipino

society appreciate and keep the Philippine traditional dances alive.

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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The core of the study lies as to what is really the significance of the folk dance -

the Pangalay. This study aims to identify how Pangalay dance shapes the cultural

heritage and identity of the Philippines among Filipino citizens. Specifically, this endeavor

attempts to answer the following questions below:

1. What is Pangalay dance?

2. Why is it called “Pangalay”?

3. Where does this dance originated from?

4. How does this dance performed?

5. What’s the story behind this folk dance?

6. What makes it different from other Philippine Muslim folk dances?

7. How do Filipinos preserve such cultural dance?

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Folk dances in Mindanao, particularly the Maguindanao, Maranao and Tausug, are

focused about ceremonials which are accompanied by percussion instruments such as

drums and gongs. Mostly the dances in Mindanao are known for their mysticism, royalty

and beauty and colorful and shimmering costumes that attracts the viewer’s eyes to the

performance. It is heavily influenced by the Hinduized Malays with the presence of Indian

movements found in various dances in Mindanao, and one of these dances is called

Pangalay, popular within the Sulu archipelago (SeaSite, n.d.). According to Amilbangsa

(2009), the origin of the dance came from the Indian traders and traveling religious

scholars to Mindanao due to that time, the southern archipelago is the coastal trade center

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during circa A.D. 1300. Up until this moment, the dance is still seen being performed by

the people or the Muslims in Sulu, as found in the Senate P.S. Res. No. 1527, Pangalay

is recognized due to the research made by Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa in

correspondence with the Section 15 Constitution stating that “The state shall conserve,

develop, promote and popularize the nation’s historical and cultural heritage and

resources, as well as artistic creations;”.

The term Pangalay came from the Sanskrit word meaning “gift-offering” or “temple

of dance,” which belongs to the Tausug community. It is a pre-Islamic dance tradition

among the Samal, Badjao, Jama Mapun and Tausug. In Amilbangsa’s extensive research

on this dance form, Pangalay is a combination of the Asian dances primarily Indian,

Javanese, Thai, Burmese and Cambodian style. Although it is a dance of various

influences from the neighboring countries of the Philippines, it is still considered as a

Philippine folk dance, due to the dance being the closest to its classical dance form.

Jacinto (2015) characterizes Pangalay as by hand movements resembling the ocean

waves. In contrast, Pinasmuna.com’s (2013) interview with Dr. Rapih Jairi, the Pangalay

dance in Sulu is described as a graceful movement of the dancer’s arms and hands

flowing in synchrony with the gentle flowing of the wind. Another name was also coined

with this dance in which it is called the “fingernail dance,” where it is amplified with the

use of janggay or metal claws that is celebrated during weddings and other festive

celebrations.

Pangalay is basically pure dancing with the sense of anti-linear time which

encompasses the slow, refined, meditative, elegant and almost hypnotic movements. The

continuously flowing or seamless unfolding movement from a central core is consistent

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with the pre-modern mode and Eastern sense of multi-level or anti-linear time that has no

definite beginning or ending. This is opposed to the Western concept of time or the

metempsychosic scale (Amilbangsa, 2009). Jacinto (2015), requires the agility of the

upper body, flexibility of the wrists, elbows, and the shoulders to execute the steps

precisely and with coordination. It does not necessarily requires extensive formal training

and does not follow a specific choreography which allows the dancers to create and

improvise steps within the confines of the genre.

Jacinto (2015) states that Pangalay is not as familiar and recognizable as Singkil,

another Muslim dance in Mindanao. With this statement, the researchers aim to give

acknowledgment and differentiate Pangalay from Singkil through this research study.

Moreover, many of the literature views focuses more on the origin and the general

information in which there are contrasting views within the performance and the costume

recognized. Thus, this research gives detailed information regarding Pangalay and its

dance in which more viewers can understand and give appreciation and awareness to a

pre-colonial dance that has been passed down to the tribes, specifically the Tausug, in

the Sulu archipelago.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

This study uses the analytical research methodology which involves an adequate

and accurate analysis of findings. A primary source from the book of Ligaya Fernando-

Amilbangsa entitled Pangalay: Traditional Dances and Related Folk Artistic Expressions

is retrieved by the researchers in order to gather reliable references to anchor the queries

with regards to the Pangalay dance.

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 A registered non-profit organization called The AlunAlun Dance Circle, Inc. also

known as ACD is this study’s secondary source. This NGO aims to preserve Pangalay, a

living link to traditional dance cultures in the Asian region where sensitivity is the key to

learning and mastery of the many nuances of traditional dances. Pangalay has closest

affinity to the Indian, Javanese, Thai, Burmese and Cambodian styles of classical dancing

(ACD, 2000).

This is conducted in the second semester, school year 2018 to 2019 at the

University of San Jose - Recoletos, Main Campus, Magallanes St. 6000 Cebu City,

Philippines.

The collected data will be assessed, analyzed and interpreted through textual

presentations. With the results, conclusions and recommendations for the significance of

the said intangible cultural heritage will be formulated.

DATA PRESENTATION

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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CONCLUSION

Pangalay folk dance has been described as having the richest movement

vocabulary of all ethnic dances in the Philippines. It assures the identity of Filipinos as a

people and a nation with a profound cultural heritage shared with fellow Asians. The effort

to trace back elements of folk culture related to dance should develop a deep sense of

national consciousness. Based on the findings of the study, the conclusions were drawn:

1. Pangalay dance also means offering from its Indianized Sanskrit origin “pang-

alay” or the temple of dance.

2. It is a pre-Islamic dance tradition in the Sulu Archipelago among Samal, Badjaw,

Jama Mapun, and Tau Sug of the provinces of Sulu and Tawitawi.

3. This dance is performed mainly during weddings and other festive occasions. The

dancers must have flexibility on their wrist, elbows and shoulders to be able to

execute the proper movement of the dance.

4. The original concept of the Pangalay is based on the pre-Islamic

and Buddhist concept of male and female celestial angels

(Sanskrit: Vidhyadhari, Tausug: Biddadari) common as characters in other

Southeast Asian dances.

RECOMMENDATION

After a thorough analysis of data, the following recommendations are hereby

made:

1. This research study suggests that Pangalay dance style should be known as one

of the Muslim folk dances in the Philippines.

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 2. For the researchers to explore the impact of different aspects of the dance.

3. There are a number of additional areas for further research that have been

highlighted by the studies undertaken for this thesis. These include the further

investigation of the history of the Pangalay dance that the researchers failed to

discover.

4. Future research works in the area of the Pangalay dance history need to be

developed to enhance the research study.

REFERENCES

Amilbangsa, L.F. (1983). Pangalay: Traditional Dances and Related Folk Artistic

Expressions. Retrieved on February 25, 2019 from

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1825471.Pangalay.

Amilbangsa, L. F. (n.d.). Case Study Report: Philippines SAFEGUARDING PANGALAY

(pp. 1-3, Rep.). Retrieved February 26, 2019, from

https://www.accu.or.jp/ich/en/training/casestudy_pdf/case_study_report_philippin
es.pdf.

Dances in Mindanao. (n.d.). Retrieved February 26, 2019, from

http://www.seasite.niu.edu/tagalog/mindanao_culture/mindanao_dances.htm

Hamir, M. C. (2008, June 27). Pangalay [Review of the book Pangalay]. Philippine
Studies, 33(1), 1-4.

Hofstede, G. (1997). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. New York:
McGraw Hill.

Jacinto, J. F. (2015). The Pangalay Dance in the Construction of Filipino Heritage. Journal
for the Anthropological Study of Human Movement. Retrieved February 26, 2019,

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 fromhttp://jashm.press.uillinois.edu/22.1/jacinto.html?fbclid=IwAR3sgRWoro99W
ox0hYaVWkSrBF2AwP59Mn6gbu7eUGnd1jqNkogKmJih5Zw

Legarda, L., Senator. (2015). Senate P.S. Res No. 1527(pp. 1-2) (Philippines, Senate
Congress). Quezon City. Retrieved February 26, 2019, from
https://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2015/P.S. Res No. 1527.pdf.

Ligaya Fernando-Amilbangsa: Her Joyful Gift Offering. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://rmaward.asia/rmtli/ligaya-fernando-amilbangsa-her-joyful-gift-offering/

Philippines - History and Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.iexplore.com/articles/travel-guides/south-and-southeast-
asia/philippines/history-and-culture

The AlunAlun Dance, Inc. (2000). Pangalay dance. Retrieved on February 25, 2019 from
http://pangalaydance.com/the-alun-alun-dance-circle.

The Pangalay Dance of Sulu. (2013, August 31). Retrieved February 26, 2019, from
https://www.pinasmuna.com/2013/08/the-pangalay-dance-of-sulu.html

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