PHILIPPINE BALLROOM

Filipinos have always been copious followers of the American  colonizers, since the turn of the century. So much so that whatever dances were in vogue in the United States were always copied and made popular in the Philippines, almost immediately. 
       For centuries before then, our folks  danced for every occasion depicting, celebrating, commemorating life’s special moments: a birth, a christening,  introduction to adulthood, a wedding, the winning of a war, festivals of nature. 
       With the coming of the Spanish to our shores, the dancing did not stop; it only took a different form. From Europe were introduced the Court dances such as the Waltz, the Mazurka, the Polka, and various forms of quadrilles which became standard dances in all social occasions of the privileged class. 
       The same dances worked their way into the mainstream  of society, adapted and adjusted to by our own people. Ms. Francisca Reyes-Tolentino, National Artist for 1973 records these dances  in her book Philippine National Dances, which includes old-time Philippine  ballroom dances as the Los Bailes de Ayer, Chotis, Inkoy-Inkoy, Lubi-Lubi, Pasakat, Polka Sala, Redoba and the Rigodon. 
       Upon the entry of the Americans before the end of the 19th century, the differences in the dances of the folk and the upper classes almost ceased to exist. Education was so widespread that almost everyone was exposed to the new music and dances, Western culture. Children learned, sang and danced American rhymes and tunes. 
       Not surprisingly, the younger generation had also acquired the taste for the newer ballroom dances -- the Tango, the Foxtrot, the Charleston, the Quickstep. 
       Centuries of subjugation by Western colonizers had taken its toll. Filipinos had tended to simply follow instead of lead. The nation’s independent spirit was almost squelched. Dances were merely copied, instead of developed. 
       Much later, practically every one in the growing towns and cities were jitterbugging and dancing just like the Americans were on the continent. 
       The end of the second world war brought along new hope. New attitudes for a better future were reflected in the dances.  Many local music bands rose to popularity as they played the modern  Western music. 
       Dancers gained prominence through their suave style and complicated footwork. One of   these groups was The  Big 4, composed of Chito Feliciano, Tito Garcia, Louie Ysmael, and Archie Lacson. All of them, except for the late Chito Feliciano, continue to lay claim to being one of  the best dancers in the country. 
       During the past decade, ballroom dancing has seen a strong almost unexplainable following among Filipinos. Practically everyone dances  ballroom, or has at least tried it out. 
       In the mid-80s, a fine dining restaurant  - Tito’s - opened its doors to diners who wanted to dance after a good dinner. It was soon followed by Pare and Ebiza, all in Makati.  By the late 80s, the  rich matronas had made the ballroom their regular hangout. Many  of them were chaperoned by fine  young men who also shared with them the finer pleasures of dancing. 
       At the end of 1992, the ballroom dancing scene started to change dramatically. Mt. Pinatubo had spewed its guts in June of that year. As people in Central Luzon started to pick up their lives again, hordes of young men and women (many barely out of high school) streamed to the cities to look for jobs.  Quite a number  were attracted to the glitzy  world of ballroom dancing as dance instructors. 
       A few more restaurants opened ballroom dancing nights, probably to cater to the growing number of dance enthusiasts in the cities. The overhead expenses were not much, since guests normally brought their own partners. 
       Then the outlets started employing the attractive  young men from Central Luzon as dancing partners for the restaurant guests. Only allowances were given. The guests provided the tips. Thus, the roving DI was born. 
       The  spirit for innovation and change was still alive, which could be discerned  from the changes Filipinos made in their dance. 
       The restless spirit to break the chains  of bondage gave rise to an almost frenzied dancing. 
       One can clearly see it even to this day. Dances like the Jive and the  Swing, for instance, are danced to a  much faster music tempo than they are in the US. 
       The  independent spirit reasserted it self through the new variations and syncopations of better dancers  which were popularized as other dancers copied them. 
       However, the main difference was Filipinos ‘felt’ their way through dance, not consciously developing and inventing new dances as the Western dancers were for a time. Filipinos developed the dances as they were introduced, and innovating as they felt it. 
       Today, the ballroom dance scene is replete with new variations only one would see here. Visiting Westerners sometimes cannot even recognize the dances that  their own people developed. 
       But  then that’s the beauty of dance. It is not constant and static. Dance  is alive, as long as it is being danced and innovated upon. 
       Filipinos may not have invented the popular ballroom dances, but  we surely are contributing our major share in the development of these same dances, by injecting our own spirit and soul into each one of them. 
       By continuously doing so, we are contributing to the world’s dance history.