What are Filipino Folkdance suites?

There are a total of 5 dance suites representing Philippine folkloric culture:

The Rural suite
The Muslim suite
The Lumad (Southern Tribal)
The Cordillera (Northern Tribal)
The Maria Clara (Spanish-influenced)

With colorful costumes, rhythmic music, and graceful movements, each dance narrates tales of courtship, harvests, and religious rituals. These folkdances become more than mere entertainment— they are the threads that weave together the rich history and community spirit of the Philippines. Explore the captivating world of Filipino folk dance! From various dances that reflect various Philippine regions and ways of life!

The Rural Suite

This suite brings to life the joix-de-vivre of the Christianized lowlands, making its dances some of the most recognizable dances around the world. From portraying everyday life to different celebrations, these dances bring together that sense of community, a love for life and work and the fiesta spirit.

This sense of liveliness is also translated into the costumes, which combine bright colors with vibrant patterns. From balancing glasses on heads to dancing on benches and, of course, dancing through bamboos, many rural dances utilize these skills; creating exciting stages to leave the audience in awe.

The Muslim Suite

The Sulu Archipelago and the southern province of the Philippines, Mindanao, is home to over 2 000 000 Filipino Muslims, which is even further divided into different ethnic-linguistic groups. During the Spanish conquest, these groups were able to preserve their way of life and belief systems. This gave birth to rich dances with distinct dance styles, rhythmic movements, and intricate costumes that reflect the influence of Arabian and Indo-Malayan cultures. Many dances personify the ocean through fluid movement as the sea plays an integral part of their daily lives - showing how geography can play an influence on how we see the world.

The Lumad Suite
(Southern Tribal)

The island of Mindanao is home to several animistic tribes, such as the T’Boli, Manobo, Bagobo, Bilaan, and Subanon. These tribes are some of the groups that compose the indigenous population of the South; many of them untouched by colonization as they live deep in the forests of Mindanao.

The Lumad dances bring to life the rich fauna that these groups live in as many of the dances personify the movements of surrounding animals. Masters at weaving and jewelry making, each clothing has a story as many prints are said to have been inspired by the weaver’s dreams.Q

The Cordillera Suite (Northern Tribal)

Starting with the indigenous people of the North that inhabit the mountainous Central Cordillera region. From courtship to celebration of good harvests to war declarations, dances from this suite express the everyday life of the Cordillera people. With a deep focus on community life, Cordillera dances often portray different rituals and ceremonies commonly celebrated by the different ethno-linguistic groups that inhabit the region.

The Maria Clara Suite

A Spanish the arrival of Spain on the island of the Philippines had an immense impact on Filipino culture as it brought the arrival of Roman Catholicism and other European cultural ideas. The suite itself is named after the heroine in Jose Rizal’s novel, ‘Noli Me Tangere.’ Spain’s artistic influence on Filipino dance introduced many steps and styles popular in European dancing, such as the waltz, the mazurka, polka and jota. The traditional attire paid homage to the European style of dresses and the use of the barong, a formal shirt that combines both Spanish and Filipino elements, became popularized.

Combining elegance and charm with storytelling, many dances from this suite tell stories of courtship, love, and flirtation - making it a very playful suite as you have the charming and elegant mestiza Filipino on one side and the bold and gallant mestizo Filipino on the other.