Preserving cultural dances is significant in keeping a culture alive by sharing and teaching younger generations these revered dances. It also keeps the history of people alive as dances are ways a community celebrates special events or important dates in time. As a Dance Specialist in the Special Program in the Arts at Bataan National High School, I am an avid advocate for the preservation of local or indigenous dances in the province.
As a teacher, I had the opportunity to research and document the indigenous dances of the Aeta Magbukon in Abucay, Bataan before the pandemic in 2020. This endeavor is anchored on my beliefs that dance holds a powerful influence to preserve cultures for future generations and that dance can also unite cultural villagers to socialize and contribute to the preservation of local culture. The movements, music, and story of cultural dances get passed on from generation to generation, preserving their culture and identity.
Moreover, cultural dances can help people connect with their heritage by sharing a piece of themselves through participating in the production of these dances. Dance is filled with aesthetic values that are distinct from one society to another and is shrouded in symbolism that expounds on the cultural significance of the dance. People preserve cultural dances to share their heritage with young people in their community, which helps them connect with their roots.
My experience with the Aytas is exhilarating, the Ayta Magbukon tribe’s dances are vigorous and mimetic in character. And learning and documenting each of their revered dances led me to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the community. Before the production of written languages, dance was one of the methods of passing stories down from generation to generation. It relates to the tradition, ideas, superstitions, and events of daily living.
The Ayta Magbukon dances center on the tribe’s appreciation of mother nature and their struggle to protect the environment, it also shows the value of simple living over the materialistic and over-consuming world.
Learning a new cultural dance style expands my cultural awareness, understanding the roots of popular dance styles today, and staying mindful of cultural appreciation versus appropriation. Every community has unique dances that represent its history, culture, and beliefs, and these melodies of unique instruments, rhythms, and dance movements can help people connect with their heritage. As a teacher, it is my duty to help preserve the cultural heritages we have in Bataan and to teach it to my students and this includes the disappearing indigenous dances of the Ayta Magbukon tribe.
By: MRS. MARIA CRISTINA Z. REYES | TEACHER III | BATAAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL – JHS | BALANGA CITY, BATAAN
