MAGPANSAK IN THE CITY: THE DANCE OF THE SAMA BANGINGI IN SAN ANDRES MANILA

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Joelle Florence Patrice Jacinto

Abstract

Radzmina Tanjili is a Sama Bangingi woman living in San Andres, Manila since she relocated from Zamboanga in 1991. The Sama are one group of ten Islamised peoples in Southern Philippines; they were originally found all over Tawi Tawi and on several islands of the Sulu archipelago. Several miles and islands away, towards the northern part of the country, San Andres had become a settlement of Muslim migrants in the capital city of the Philippines. This research followed Radzmina around on a day when she had planned to dance – at a wedding in the community and in a rehearsal for a stage performance with a group of ladies from the same community. She shares that the Sama Bangingi word for dance is pansak, and that magpansak, or dancing, is a social activity of the community, and requires interaction with musicians, the hosts of the social event, and an audience. She also shares that dancing is a skill that everyone in the community are able to do – all know how to dance, and all do dance, even at least once in their lives, during their wedding. The Sama living in San Andres continue this tradition of dancing as being essential to their community life, even while living in a new environment, such as in the city of Manila. This paper looks at the pansak, and the changes in tradition as it is transferred from Bangingi to San Andres, Manila, as well as when mounted for stage performance.


 


Keywords: traditional dance, Philippine traditional dance, Sama dance and culture

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