Unravel from the Influences: Establishing the Identity of the Pinukpúk Festival Dance

The identity of a town can be manifested in its festival dance as it emanates socio-cultural practices, customs, traditions, and even industries that are commonly peculiar to it. However, some festival dances exist out of varying influences from different milieus that may not necessarily be reflective of its place of origin. In this study, the researchers aimed to explore factors that influenced the development of the Pinukpúk Festival dance in the town of Floridablanca, Pampanga, Philippines and proposed for the establishment of its identity. The study employed an ethnographic design. The key informants included purposively selected choreographers and founders of the festival (N = 5) who responded during structured interviews and participated in a focus group discussion. Data were transcribed and analyzed through content analysis. It was found out that the festival has no official music, therefore, the music of Pampanga’s Sinukwan Festival was mostly used for the music element; no definite steps, that is why dance figures are a product of imitation and choreographers’ personal concept. There is also no definite costume pattern which resulted to the use of silver aluminum wares, the white flower and religious articles as influences. The procedures and development of the three elements were included in the study and verified by a festival dance expert. This is a significant input in the teaching of physical education, music, visual arts and cultural education in the town of Floridablanca and to the Philippines at large, through contextualization and localization. The proposed establishment can also be adopted by the town during the annual staging of the festival.

Keywords –basic steps, costume festival dance, Floridablanca, music, Pinukpúk.