Abuyog West District

Paguite Elemntary School

Kuratsa Festival

A feature of the Kuratsa festival is the Kuratsa Dance forum which aims to provide a
venue where academicians, culture scholars, and kuratsa dance enthusiasts from all over
Region 8 can discuss the heritage and artistic value and the socio-cultural relevance of the
Kuratsa.
Invited are contest participants from all municipalities of Leyte and key cities and the
municipalities of Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Southern Leyte and Biliran.
The Kuratsa is a dance of courtship from the Visayas region of the Philippines. At
weddings and fiestas, the Kuratsa serves as the traditional money dance where guests take
turns
pinning money on the bride and groom's attire. This symbolizes friends' and families' wishes for
good luck and prosperity in the couple's future. The dance is performed in three parts, with
three different rhythms. The dancing couple starts the performance with a ballroom waltz.
Then the music shifts to a faster beat for the "chasing" scene, in which the female dancer flees
and the male pusues her all across the dance floor. The tempo picks up even more for the final
part, in which the chase ends with a furiously flirtatious scene. The female is won over, and the
male imitates a flamboyant bird in a mating dance. KURATSA The Kuratsa is believed to be a
Mexican import (supposedly from La Cucaracha dance typical to Monterrey region of Mexico) -
the Kuratsa is however, very different in the manner of execution than the Mexican
counterpart. Even the "basic" Kuratsa music Submitted
is not based
by:on Mexican or even Spanish melodies.
ROSABELLA D. COBILO
Teacher