The Wedding

Dance
By: Amador T. Daguio

Prepared by:
RAMIREZ ANDREA A./ BSED-2C.
 Table of Contents
 At the end of the lesson you will know about the author of the
story
 You will know what the story all about and its moral lesson at the
end.
 Lastly, you will know the six symbolic elements.
About Author
• Amador T. Daguio was a poet, novelist and teacher
during the pre-war. He was best known for his fictions
and poems. He had published two volumes of poetry,
“Bataan Harvest” and”The Flaming Lyre”. He served as
chief editor for the Philippine House of
Representatives before he died in 1966.
• Daguio was born 8 January 1912 in Laoag, Ilocos
Norte, but grew up in Lubuagan, Mountain Province,
where his father, an officer in the Philippine
Constabulary, was assigned. He was class
valedictorian in 1924 at the Lubuagan Elementary
School. Then he stayed with his uncle at Fort William
McKinley to study at Rizal High School in Pasig.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?view
About the Story

"The Wedding Dance" by Amador Daguio is a powerhouse of raw

emotion for such a short story. As the reader is drawn into the
story of love and cultural reality, it jars with our contemporary
view of the world. Get the most out of the story and explore the
deep symbols and themes with storyboards.
 Background

• Awiyao and Lumnay most likely to belong to the Igorot people who inhabit the
mountain areas of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. The Philippine
islands were settled by various migrants from Southeast Asia for centuries.
These peoples built up a number of different cultures and clan-based social
structures on the many islands of the archipelago. In the 1500s, Spain
colonized the islands, spreading Christianity and the Spanish language.
Following Spain’s loss in the Spanish-American war of 1898, the Philippines
became a territory of the United States. During World War II, the islands
were occupied by the Japanese until gaining their independence in 1945.
The Igorot people maintained many of their traditional cultural practices
through the late 19th century. Even today, dance and gangsa music form an
important part of their celebrations
Major Characters
Lumnay • Awiyao’s former wife who is still in love with him, despite
the fact he married another.

Awiyao • The lead male in the story who loves Lumnay, but left her
because she didn’t produce children for him.

Madulimay • Awiyao’s new, younger wife, with whom he hopes to

have children.
 THE WEDDING DANCE

Synopsis of "The Wedding Dance" "The Wedding Dance" by Amador

Daguio

is a short story about a husband and wife, Awiyao and Lumnay, who had been
married for seven years. In spite of being in love with his wife, Awiyao feels the
need to marry again in order to have a son. At his second marriage celebration,
Awiyao goes to check on Lumnay, knowing she was upset. Awiyao thought the
answer to Lumnay's sorrow would be to have her join the other women during the
wedding dance. Lumnay was in fact at his wedding, but left. She could not stand
the idea of her husband marrying another woman because she could not give him
children.
EXPOSITION •The story begins at night in a mountain village in the Philippines, where Awiyao has
just been remarried.

CONFLICT • Awiyao has left his wife Lumnay because she couldn’t give him a child. He has now
married Madulimay in the hope of having a son. Lumnay is upset because she loves Awiyao and
doesn’t want this separation. • The conflict here is Man vs. Society .The lead characters have to
follow their tribe’s custom , and it is resolved when they had a heart-to heart talk that they should
separate and continue with their separate lives. And if Awiyao's second marriage will not work he will
come back to Lumnay's arms again. They should follow their tribe's custom and on the part of Awiyao
he shows that he really wanted to have a child to follow his name but there is a bit hesitance on
Lumnay's part.

RISING ACTION •Outside, the villagers are dancing in celebration of the wedding. Awiyao leaves to
try and comfort Lumnay. He offers her many items of the life that they built together. Lumnay refuses
them and clings to Awiyao, wishing he would stay.
CLIMAX •Awiyao finally leaves to re-join the wedding and Lumnay runs into the hills.

FALLING ACTION •Lumnay sits on the side of the mountain overlooking the blazing fire and
dancing women, thinking about how her life has changed. She has a sense of desperation,
isolation, and worthlessness.

RESOLUTION •The reader is left not knowing what will become of Lumnay.

Point of View • The Point of View used in this short story is the Omniscient Limited – The author
tells the story in third person (using pronouns they, she, he, it, etc). We know only what the
character knows and what the author allows him/her to tell us. We can see the thoughts and
feelings of characters if the author chooses to reveal them to us.
"The Wedding Dance" Theme : •If you truly love a person, you must let them be happy •Have
you ever heard the saying “if you love someone, let them go”? The story of Lumnay and Awiyao
wrestles with this difficult issue. Despite how upsetting it is to Lumnay, she must let Awiyao go, not
only because of their culture, but also because it is clear that he will not be happy without a child.

Six Symbolic Elements

• Gangsas The gangsas are culturally important. The sound of the gangsas represents
the man in the wedding ceremony. Like the gangsas, they are strong and provide a beat to
the dance, or a "beat to life".

• Dancing Culturally, the dancing is a celebration of happiness. It is also a show of

sexuality by the women. Because Lumnay has not produced a child, she feels ashamed to
dance and show herself to the other men, as she believes no one will look at her.
• The Fire The fire or flames signify the burning intensity of both love and hate that Lumnay
feels in the situation. When Awiyao stirs the embers in Lumnay’s dark hut, he stirs up both of
these feelings in her. Later, as Lumnay watches the bonfire from afar, her physical distance from the
fire reflects her emotional separation from the man she loves.

• The Beads The beads in the story symbolize the promise that Awiyao made to Lumnay. They
are also very precious and are worth 20 fields. The fact that Awiyao gives them to Lumnay shows
that he cherishes her, and that he still believes she has worth. Although Lumnay rejects the hut and
field Awiayo offers her, she accepts the beads, suggesting her desire to remain connected to
Awiyao.

• The Floor A number of times the narrator draws the reader’s attention to the rattan floor as
Lumnay pulls it apart. This is symbolic of their marriage unraveling.

• The Night The nighttime setting symbolically adds to the darkness and isolation that
Lumnay feels as she runs away from the village. As she works her way up the dark mountain
alone, she is unable to envision a path to the future. The reader, too, is left in darkness with the
unresolved ending.
 Reflection:
It is not wrong to fight for what you believe in love. However, you must take into
account and respect the customs. But if you truly love one person, and if he or she
truly loves you, then it's a match made in heaven.

REFERENCES:
https://www.storyboardthat.com/lesson-plans/wedding-dance-by-amador-daguio

https://www.slideshare.net
THAT’S ALL THANK YOU