History of Obando Folk Dance
The Obando folk dance is an ancient Filipino dance ritual to ask for fertility. The dance is performed every year in May as part of the Obando Town Feista and Fertility Festival. Participants in the dance ritual are men, women and children from Obando and other towns throughout the Philippines.
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Ancient Beginnings
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Before Spanish influence in the region, ancient Filipinos held a ritual called Kasilonawan, which was led by a high priestess known as a katalonan. The nine-day ritual of revels included dancing, drinking and singing and normally was held at the home of the barangay chief or a datu. This ancient fertility ritual was important to the early Filipinos because a woman's worth rested in her fertility. To be barren was a source of shame and stigma for women, and those afflicted by infertility were considered members of the lowest class in their society.
Franciscan
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Whether the ancient Filipino traditions have Catholic influences or their Catholicism has pagan tendencies would be a subject for debate, but the fact that they are integrated with each other is clear. When the Franciscans arrived to start missionaries in the Philippines, they built churches, began to teach Christianity and introduced the idea of Catholic saints. In Obando, they taught about a trio of saints named St. Clare (Santa Clara de Assisi), St. Pascual (San Pascual Baylon) and Our Lady of Salambao (Virgen de Salamboa) in hopes that they would replace the native pagan gods.
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Requests
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Ritual dances to the saints emerged from the ancient fertility festival to the original pagan gods. Dancing in these rituals has three purposes: to gain fertility or to gain a good husband or wife for yourself or your child. To gain a wife, they dance to San Pascual Baylon on May 17. In hopes of a husband, the saint to dance to is Santa Clara de Assisi on May 18. If it is hopes for a child that are served, then dancing to the Virgen de Salamboa on May 19 is suggested.
Details
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The dance rituals are much like a parade that leads the participants through town to the steps of the church. Participants dress in traditional costumes, dance to music played on bamboo instruments and sing the song "Santa Clara'ng Pinung-Pino." Behind the dancers, people carry images of the saints.
Folklore
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One popular bit of folklore about the saints in Obando tells of the discovery of the figure of Nuestra Señora de Salambaw (the virgin Mary) by fishermen as they fished. As the tale goes, the fishermen caught plenty of fish. They decided to take the figure to Malabon, but the virgin would not have it, and the boat steadily drifted toward Obando. Arriving at the shore of Bantilan near the church of Obando, the fishermen decided to follow the figure's wishes and took her to Obando, where they found crowds of men, women and children singing and dancing with glee at their arrival.
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References
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