Itik Itik: Renowned Philippine Folk Dance
To the folks of Surigao del Norte, Itik-itik is the popular dance for them. Various dancers have different steps of the dance. Hinted from its name, the dance steps are likened to the way a duck walks. A duck or itik in Filipino walks in a choppy and short step manner. Water is also splashed on its back while walking. The dance is to attract mates.
It is from Sibay where Itik-itk originated according to beliefs. Sibay is a dance which is performed using the Dejado music. The Sibay, which originated from the neighboring islands in the Visayas, is also a bird dance. It is from Samar where Sibay came from as identified by Reynaldo Gamboa Alejandro, one of the authority in Philippine dances.
His identification is consistent with the book Fr. Ignacio Alzina wrote. Alzina is a Jesuit missionary who was assigned to Samar. In his book, he described a popular dance in Samar called Sabay as a dance that imitates the movements of flying birds. In his book, one of his designs has a subtitle that reads, “su danza para hombre y mujer.” When interpreted, the subtitle means dance intended for man and woman. The caption is fitting to the Waray amenudo dances’ characteristic.
It is from the towns of Carrascal, Cantillan, Lanuza, and Carmen where Itik-itik’s present from came from. The alleged towns are situated in the province of Surigao del Norte that are found in the Caraga Region.
The popular version of the dance was introduced by a lady named Kanang. This is according to a particular tale. The tale narrates that Kanang was fascinated by the ducks she saw from a pond nearby. Shen then tried to imitate the movements of the birds. This happened when she was attending and dancing at a baptismal party. The other attendees got interested in her imitation of the birds so they also dance following her steps. From then on, the steps or the dance was passed on to the next generations.
There are many versions of the dance but the most popular version is the Itik-itik Surigaonon. Most of the versions of the dance are found in Visayas. Tibiao, Antique and Sibonga, Cebu has its versions of Itik-itik.
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