Dance Ragragsakan
Meaning To celebrate; merrymaking
Dance Culture Highland Cordillera
Place of Origin Lubuangan Kalinga
Ethnolinguistic Group Kalinga
Classification Social
Background Content The Kalinga borrowed the
beautiful word ragragsakan
from the Ilocano, which means
merriment. The biggest
occasions for a ragragsakan in
a Kalinga village are two, the
homecomings of successful
head takers and the
culmination of a peace-pact
between warring tribes Both
these celebrations and other
smaller ones are moments for
all the village to come out in a
display of oneness.
Food and wine mix with
victory cries, songs, music and
dance, no one hardly ignores
ganza music and the Kalinga
perform what they are best
known to do – dance. Bodies
are tattooed, expensive beads,
head taker’s feather crowns,
festive e costumes and
emblem blankets are brought
out on display. Since it is the
men who are mostly involved
in the machismic activities of
kayaw (headhunt) or budong
(peace-pact), the women
confine themselves to food
preparation and other chores
related to servicing the men at
council. If not busy cooking
they are moving kitchen items,
utensils, water to wherever
they are needed. A carry-all
basket called labba serves as
container for anything to be
transferred
Taking inspiration from the
sight of Kalinga maidens
balancing labba baskets on
their headssnaking through
the dikes of terraces and
skipping through breaks in the
path, the ragragsakandance
came to be. Tribal blankets
came as additions to the dance
as well as short saldumay song
RAGRAGSAKAN SONG MEDLEY (from 1974 Kayaw)
1. Intako Mansasado – Let us fetch water – Banga Dance2. Ya Yana Ya – Bontoc Song
Intako Mansasado – Let us fetch water – Banga Dance
2. Ya Yana Ya – Bontoc Song
RAGRAGSAKAN SONG LYRICS
LYRICS
Intaku MansasakduIntaku MansasakduDong-dong ay sidong-ilayinsina-lidumaay
Intaku ManguumosIntaku ManguumosDong-dong ay sidong-ilayinsina-lidumaay
Intaku Manru-rug-rugIntaku Manru-rug-rugDong-dong ay sidong-ilayinsina-lidumaay
Yang angnas cha ang anenChae-e maros nang tawengA-di-kay waloy weng-wengSomikas waloy
tawengSomikas waloy taweng
Ya ya ya yan-naYa ya ya yan-naya-a ya-a ya ay-ayya-a ya-a ya ay-ay
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Let’s fetch water––––Let’s take a bath––––Let’s wash our dishes––––––
Let’s celebrate this occasion after 8 years of absence
RAGRAGSAKAN DANCE NOTATION
(From Ramon Obusan Folkloric Dances – Mico Records)
First Appearance – Kayaw 1974
(Headhunt). 1974. Folk dance choreography in two acts.
Choreography – Ramon Obusan
Music – Kalinga Performers
Set design – Dennis Tan
Costume design – Ramon Obusan
and the ICM Sisters headed by Aurora Zembrano ICM
Lighting design – Teodoro Hilado
Premiered by Larawan Dancing Group on 16
Feb 1974 at Cultural Center of the Philippines. Kayaw is a two-act staging of the dances of the
Cordilleras, set against a giant stairway to simulate the rice terraces.
Act I revolves around the headhunting of the Kalinga, and a courtship-into-wedding scene. Called
the Peacocks of the Mountains, the Kalinga men are decked out in plumed headdresses.
Everyone listens for the sound and flight of the ominous idaw bird-telling of victory or defeat in a
kayaw. The ma- ngayaw enacts the swift attack to decapitate the enemies and to gain honor in
one’s own tribe, especially for those who aspire for leadership and the title pangat. In the clash of
spears and shields, two of their own are left dead, one headless. Lamentation of the women and
children pierce the silence, as though to bestir the dead to avenge themselves. A mandadawak
(priestess) does the same with a ceremonial china bowl into which she seems to catch hair from
the air, believed to be of their ancestors. Hair is planted on the heads of grieving relatives.
Donning red (the color for mourn- ing), the women light a fire, as though to burn away the spirits
of the dead so they will not bother the living. To the victorious warriors called minger, the
maidens give the dangas (headbaskets) while singing the balugay. The warriors themselves are
absolved of their bloody act by eating binurbur (rice), and are annointed by the man- dadawak
with the blood of a black rooster. In the ulawi, the mingers do the victory dance called takiling
where they are crowned with lawi (feathered head- dresses) reserved only for successful
headhunters. A warrior chooses a girl, bestowing her a gift as he dances the la-ay. Ngilin is the
wedding proper where the bride accepts firewood as proof of matrimonial agreement. Tupaya
sounds the gongs for the wed- ding, to which the groom dances like a rooster in a love-play with
his bride who balances pots of oil on her head, symbol of a smooth married life. In the tuktuk-
yod, they enact a contest on who is to bathe after the wedding. The rest of the maidens balance
pots on their heads as they skip and sing on their way to a waterfall, dancing the banga.
Act II enacts the budong where the tribes forge a peace pact; otherwise a kayaw could be
renewed. To the solitary tune of a nose flute, later joined by mouth flutes, gongs, guitars, violins
and voices, a pangat leads a conference among various tribal chieftains. Pakupak is invocation for
the meeting of elders. Palpa- liwat boasts of the triumphant exploits of warriors. Tariktik imitates
the woodpecker in a dance whose participants are armed with a gong and a blanket. Bendean is
an Ibaloy victory dance with the hands and feet directed downwards to the earth. An Isneg duet
depicts the character of the most bashful of the north.
