Music and Dance

MUSIC AND DANCE Filipinos are known as great musicians worldwide. This is seen in their dedication and intense love for music. Early Filipinos already developed their own music through their endemic songs and instruments. The Magellan expedition in 1521, witnessed among the Cebuanos instruments of timbale, and cymbal and other forms of drums. The most popular music instrument found in the country is the kudyapi a metal stringed instrument shaped like a boat, Tingguian nose flute called kalalen, the Muslim xylophone called kulintang. Negritos of Bataan and Zambales have the musical instrument called ban, the Visayans had a guitar looking which they called gangsa and the toltogan, a bamboo drum. Aside from instruments, our ancestors also expressed themselves through their songs with dance like; tagumpay, Tagalog sog of victory, Mang-ay-uweng, an Igorot’s labor song, Kinnallogong which is an Ilocano dance of a man facing a woman, tudub a harvest song together with dandansuy, balitaw the two popular song and dance in Agusan, Other Philippine ethnic dances are the following; Bonog- Cordillera dance portraying hunting, Salisid- Cordillera courtship dance, Palok- cordillera tribal dance, Idudu- Cordillera tribal dance which is a common among Itneg or Tinguian society, Lumagen- Kalinga traditional thanksgiving dance, Bendayan- Benguet dance commemorating the arrival of the headhunters and Binaylan- Agusan ritual dance which originated from the Bagobo tribe. Dressing and Ornamentation The ancient Filipinos have their own attire and their own fashion. The men in the barangay society wore the kanggan, described as a black or blue collarless, short-sleeve jacket. They also wore a bahag a strip of cloth wrapped around their heads was also used which is called putong. They also had jewels such as pendant, gold necklaces, gold teeth, gold armlets that were called kalombigas and gold anklets filled with agates,