Muslim Dances in the Philippines

- The most famous dances in the Philippines are Singkil, Pangalay, Asik, and
Kandingan.
- Different locations and ethnic groups in the Muslim-dominated areas in Mindanao but
many similarities in their performance (bodily stance and how the hand was carried)
Singkil

- The most recognizable muslim dance in the Philippines

- Based from a Maranao Epic, Darangen
- A princess expertly steps over a crisscross of crashing bamboo poles followed by the
hero, Bantugen. Also following close behind is a chaperone or servant of the princess
who is holding an umbrella over the princess's head.
- These characters are surrounded by four or six supporting female dancers. Said to have
been taught to then-Bayanihan artistic director Lucresia Urtula by a Princess Tarhata of
the Maranao, the Singkil form we see today originated with the Bayanihan folk dance
group, as choreographed by Urtula, and has become the company's signature piece
(Santos 2004).

Pangalay

- Pangalay as a dance resembling Indian, Javanese, Thai, Burmese, and Cambodian

dances and as the "most Asian" of the folk dances. The hands are flexed at the
wrists and fingers hyperflexed backward, a feature of Javanese and Cambodian
dances. The body is bent slightly at the hips and the knees and, viewed laterally,
resembles the shape of the letter S. This stance can be seen in other Asian dance
forms, but most especially in the Malaysian form of Pangalay and Igal, which the
Philippines share through the kinship of the Tausug and Bajau peoples, who live both in
the Sulu archipelago and in Sabah.
- Ligaya Amilbangsa (1999) considers the Pangalay the closest the Philippines has
to a classical dance form. This is difficult to comprehend, however, if one compares it
with classical forms such as Cambodian dance, where temple dancers are trained from
childhood and spend all their lives training to perform at ceremonies.
- Ligaya Amilbangsa is not originally from Jolo; she became interested in the Pangalay
dance as a researcher. She eventually married into the family of the sultan of Sulu and
was declared a "princess," but, for several years and as of this writing, she has been
living in Antipolo City, in Luzon, the northern island of the Philippines, where she opens
her house each Sunday for free Pangalay lessons to walk-in students.