Group 4

Christine Lao, Edrian Ko, Touma Ng, Felicity Morales,

Margarette Mayor, Alysa Tan, Anthereze Uy, Jerica Borbe

Christine: Greetings, and a lovely morning to everyone! Before we start

our presentation, I have a simple question for everyone. I want to know;
can you say that you are knowledgeable in the different Filipino
traditional dances? As a Filipino, I have not heard of this folk dance
before. But as we research the different Philippine folk dances, we found
many different dances that we have never heard about because most
people focus in the more known ones such as tinikling, cariñosa,
pandaggo sa ilaw, etc. Which is why, we, the members of group 4, would
like to share our knowledge, research, and interesting findings with you
about the Philippine folk dance, Sakuting.

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Edrian: If you are wondering what our group will be talking about to
today, let me give you a brief overview as to what we are gonna be
discussing. We will be talking about Sakuting’s meaning, dance culture,
place of origin, country of influence, costume and music (including
props), dance steps, background, and we will also be showing a video
performance so that you can see how it is performed.

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Felicity: Filipino dances frequently tell a tale. The Sakuting tells the tale
of conflict between Ilocano Christians and non-Christians during the
time of the Spanish colonial administration in the nation. The Ilocanos,
who reside in the Ilocos area of the Philippines, perform this regional
ethnic dance, which represents Philippine combat art as a ritual dance,
to honor the cultural history and national aesthetic pride.
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Jerica: Sakuting depicts a match between Ilocano Christians and non-

Christians. Formerly solely performed by men, Sakuting has since
become a dance that is available to everybody. This imitational contest
between rival individuals is generally presented at Christmas time in the
town plaza or as a type of traditional caroling display done house to
house.

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Naomi: Sakuting came from a province called Abra province in the

northern part of Luzon. Abra, Mountain Province, and Benguet were also
part of the religion before separating into the Cordillera Administrative
Region. Sakuting incorporates the Filipino martial arts called Arnis.

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Alysa: A previously banned traditional martial art practiced in the

Philippines called the Arnis which uses long sticks as an extension of the
arms to fight, is performed in the dance, as the fight itself is just an Arnis
exercise set to music.

Felicity: Fun Fact, Ancient Filipinos would use arnis as a form of defense.

Alysa: However, the practice of defending oneself through arnis was

banned by the Spaniards, hence Filipinos were forced to practice it in
secret, and look for ways to showcase it publicly. Hence in this dance
showing a mock fight between Christian Ilocanos and Non-Christian
Ilocanos, Filipinos managed to portray the mock fight using bamboo
sticks. However, the traditional music styles for sakuting portray the
influences of China and Spain.
Its staccato inflections and rhythmic tapping suggest a strong Chinese
influence.

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Touma: Women wear Balintawak, a native dress of Filipino women

consisting of a dress and skirt woven of local fibers with a neckerchief
and apron to match.

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Touma: Men wear red pants and Barong, which is short for Barong
Tagalog, which translates to the clothing of the Tagalog people of the
Philippines. The barong is the national garment of the Philippines, and
it is considered formal wear.

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Mariz (Touma): A sakuting stick is striped or bamboo and is about 1½

feet long and tapered at the end, like an angle during the playful folk
dances the sakuting dance portrays a mock fight using a stick, solely
performed by boys since its original use was for combat training. Two
teams, one representing each side, circle and clash bamboo sticks in a
gentle imitation of martial arts sparring. Which is the traditional Filipino
art of stick fighting and its availability of weapons by simple people
seeking simple protection.

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Margarette: The music itself is played by a rondalla, a native string

ensemble of a plectrum that is plucked with tortoiseshell fingerpicks,
instruments influenced by Spanish stringed instruments, that includes
bandurria, laud, Octavian, Mandela, guitar, and banjo de uñas, or double
bass, which music styles for sakunting portray the dual influences of
Chinese and Spain.
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Christine: Dancers use one and two sticks throughout the performance
to tap the floor and each other’s sticks. The dance steps are a
combination of marching as well as small forward or sideways shuffle
steps all while circling around and interchanging positions with other
dancers.

Dancers twirl the sticks, hitting them against opponents’ sticks,

displaying a mock fight.

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Edrian: Like most Filipino folk dances, the sakuting dance portrays a
story. This dance portrays a fight between Ilocano Christians and Non-
Christians using sticks, which are often made of bamboo. This dance is
traditionally performed at the town plaza during the Christmas season
or performed door-to-door as a form of caroling.

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Mariz (Edrian): The Sakuting traces its origins way back to the time of
the early Spanish occupation, 1521-1898, when garrisons that housed
Ilocanos who converted to Christianity were attacked by the mountain
tribes. This dance then portrays the struggle between the low-land
people who have converted to Christianity and Non-Christian tribes who
came from mountainous regions.

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Edrian: Furthermore, the dance also incorporates the traditional

Filipino martial arts called arnis, in which people defend themselves
using sticks, and during pre-colonial times, ancient Filipinos would use
arnis as a form of defense. However, the practice of defending oneself
through arnis was banned by the Spaniards, hence Filipinos were forced
to practice it in secret, and look for ways to showcase it publicly. Hence
in this dance showing a mock fight between Christian Ilocanos and Non-
Christian Ilocanos, Filipinos managed to portray the mock fight using
bamboo sticks. However, this dance also has its fair share of influences
which can be seen in the music, namely Spain and China.

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Christine: Here is a video performance of the dance, Sakuting, that we

found online.

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Christine: In conclusion, the sakuting portrays a mock fight between

Non-Christian and Christian Ilocanos, and the fight is portrayed using
bamboo sticks, which can trace its origins to the Filipino martial art arnis.
The sakuting also has influences from China and Spain which can be seen
in the music.

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Felicity: Here are the references that we used. There are a lot of
Philippine Folk Dances that we probably know nothing of. Sakuting is
one of them. It’s amazing to get a deeper understanding and knowledge
of the different folk dances here in the Philippines. Not just for their
interesting and fascinating moves but also for their background, context,
and meaning in which how they were formed and why they are
performed. It would be great to appreciate our culture. Let’s keep our
Filipino traditions alive and pass them on, to the future generations!

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Christine: These are the members of group 4 with their respective

contributions.
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Christine: Does anyone have any questions? *Wait for 3 seconds*

If there are none, then we would like to thank everyone for listening to
our presentation. We hope you have learned something today!!