As varied are the people of the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, so too are the dances. There are many dances performed in the Philippine Islands such as the popular "Tinikling", to the exoticized "Pangalay", to the skill-based interpretation of the "Banga" and Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

-tinged "Jota". Dance categorizations range from geographic localization, to societal functions, to dance influences, and to time periods.

Geographic localization

Presentation of Dances in the Philippines are often categorized in ethnic or geographic localization. These localization are often presented in the following:

• Dances of the Cordillera Mountains (Igorot
  Igorot
  Cordillerans are the people of the Cordillera region, in the Philippines island of Luzon. The word, Igorot is a misnomer term invented by the Spaniards in mockery against the Nortnern Luzon tribes. The word ‘Igorot’ also as coined and applied by the Spaniards means a savage, head-hunting and...
  
  )
• Dances of the Taga-Ummah
  Ummah
  Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
  
   (Muslim
  Muslim
  A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
  
  )
• Dances of the Traditionalists (Lumad
  Lumad
  The Lumad is a term being used to denote a group of indigenous peoples of the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous"...
  
  )
• Dances of the Low-land Western-Christians

Societal function

Other less common presentations of Philippine dances have been categorized by societal functions. Philippine dances not only convey the artistry of movement but, are often associated with a life-function such as a wedding, the mimicry of birds, or even the warding of evil spirits. This outlook on dance can be looked at in the following categories.

• Ritualistic dances
• Mimetic dances
• Life-cycle dances

Dance influences

Another presentation of dances is through contrasting the influences of Southeast

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and mainland Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 with the influences of the Spanish and Americans.

• Southeast Asian Influence
• Mainland Asian Influence
• Spanish Influences
• American Influences

Time periods

Dances of the Philippine needs to be looked at the Time-period in which they are taken. As culture is constantly evolving, dances often chance along with the times. Philippine dance can be categorized is these time periods:

• Pre-colonial
• Spanish Colonial
• American Period
• Modern and Post-Modern

Contemporary outlook

As the popularity of the Pilipino Cultural Nights and the Folk Arts groups gain their ascendency, so too, does the need to create and recreate Philippine dance forms. Among these contemporary issues are the ideas of bringing the village dance into the stage, the connections among the various Philippine dance, the ownership of world-influence and the dances of Filipinos from the diaspora.

• From the Village to Stage
• Interconnection of Philippine Dance
• Filipinizing world influences
• Dances from the Diaspora
  Diaspora
  A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...