Singkíl is a famous dance of the Maranao people

Maranao

Maranao is the term used for the people of Lanao, a predominantly Muslim region in the Philippines island of Mindanao. They are famous for their artwork, sophisticated weaving, wood and metal craft, and their epic literature...

 of Lake Lanao

Lake Lanao

Lake Lanao is a large lake in the Philippines, located in Lanao del Sur province in the country's southern island of Mindanao. With a surface area of 340 km²...

, which was popularised by the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company

Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company

The Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company is the oldest dance company in the Philippines. A multi-awarded company, both nationally and internationally, Guillermo Gomez Rivera has called it the "depository of almost all Filipino dances, dress and songs."The company was founded in 1957 by...

.

Description

The Singkíl originated from the Maranao people who inhabit the shores of Lake Lanao

Lake Lanao

Lake Lanao is a large lake in the Philippines, located in Lanao del Sur province in the country's southern island of Mindanao. With a surface area of 340 km²...

. It is derived from a story in the Darangen, the Maranao interpretation of the ancient Indian epic

Indian epic poetry

Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called Kavya . The Ramayana and Mahabharata, originally composed in Sanskrit and translated thereafter into many other Indian languages, are some of the oldest surviving epic poems on earth and form part of...

, the Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

. The name of the dance itself means "to entangle the feet with disturbing objects such as vines or anything in your path". It is a popular dance performed during celebrations and other festive entertainment. Originally only women, particularly royalty, danced the Singkíl, which serves as either a conscious or unconscious advertisement to potential suitors.

The lead dancer, in the role of Putri Gandingan (the Darangen name for Sita

SITA

SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...

), graciously step in and out of closing bamboos poles arranged in either a parallel, rectangular, or criss-cross fashion while manipulating either apir (fans), mosala (scarves), or even just their bare hands. A kulintang

Kulintang

Kulintang is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally-laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums...

 and agung ensemble always accompanies the dance.

While often erroneously referred to by non-Maranaos as a "Muslim dance", the Singkíl is in fact secular in nature, performed by the Ummah communities of the Maranao and Maguindanao. Initially, the dance was performed with just one pair of bamboo poles, eventually adopting the use of two criss-crossing pairs.

Bayanihan

When the Bayanihan Dance Company began performing the Singkíl, the traditional dance was adapted to convey Western aesthetics. The Bayanihan portrayal, branded as the Princess Dance or the Royal Maranao Fan Dance, became so popular that it is often mistaken for the authentic version of the dance.

A notable variation from the original is its inclusion of male dancers, as pole clappers and in the role of the Prince, Rajah Bantugan (the Darangen adaptation of Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

). Additional sets of criss-crossing bamboo poles were also added.

Further adaptation divided the dance into 4 movements:

• First movement- Asik, where the slave with umbrella is introduced.
• Second movement- entrance of Putri Gandingan, the entourage of female fan (sometimes scarves) dancers, and the Prince.
• Third movement- Patay, which is a slow section, and is a structural dance convention often found in Western performances.
• Fourth movement- the climax in which all dancers dance to the crescendo of music.

Storytelling

The Bayanihan version attempts to blatantly exposit the story as per Western conventions, and re-tells the Darangen. The dance itself narrates a scene in which Putri Gandingan escapes her abductor, the demon king Ravana

Ravana

' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...

, and is lost in the forests of Alangka

Lanka

Sri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...

, thereupon being found by her husband Rajah Bantugan. Of note is that while in the original Rama selects the Hindu monkey-god Hanuman

Hanuman

Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...

 to find Sita on his behalf, in the Singkíl it is Rajah Bantugan himself who finds her. This possibly suggests a modification of the original Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 narrative in order for it to be compatible with the predominant Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic monotheistic ideology

Ideology

An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...

.

Performers would therefore gracefully step in and out of bamboo poles, arranged in a criss-cross fashion while manipulating either fans or simply their bare hands.

The dance is said to have been named after either the leg bracelets or anklets of silver, nickel or brass with chiming bells of the same name or the act of voluntarily or accidentally entangling one’s feet in either vines or tall grass.

Other versions

PCN (Pilipino Cultural Night) festivities held by foreign-based student groups and other theatrical dance companies have modernised interpretations of the dance, resulting in unorthodox portrayals of the 'Singkíl by even the most esteemed Philippine folk dance choreographers.

Some dance companies have even fuse the Singkíl with ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

, or make use of multiple layers of overlapping bamboos.

Films

The Singkíl was performed in the film "The Debut", released in 2001. The film was directed by Filipino American film-maker Gene Cajayon and starred Dante Basco

Dante Basco

Danté Basco is an American actor, voice actor, poet, and dancer. He is best known for playing Rufio in the 1991 live-action Peter Pan film Hook...

. The film captured the essence of Filipino traditions and the blending of these with modern American culture.