Also known as the dance of the Sama people, Igal is a traditional dance that originated from the islands of the maritime Southeast Asia. This form of ethnic dance is presented in different variations in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Cambodia. In the Philippines, it is recognized as one of today’s most important cultural performance due to its distinct movements and postures.
■National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) of the Philippines
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Script
With the flick of the finger, the sweep of the arm, the sway of the body, the bend of the knee, the lifting of the foot, the flight of eagles, the roll of the waves, the rocking of trees are mimicked and something beautiful is conjured, as if recreating the world with motion and rhythm. Manifesting in movements, the dancer also becomes one with nature and comes closer to the divine.
For diverse reasons and occasions and with many variations, the Sama people of Tawi-Tawi and maritime Southeast Asia perform their traditional dance, the igal.
It is shared heritage among the Sama and other peoples in the western Mindanao area.
It is called pangalay in Tausug and pamansak in Yakan. All the names simply mean “dance.”
According to master igal dancer Sakinur Ain Delasas, igal is “a dance of instinct. There are no studied movements, no repetition of gestures, no anticipation. It begins. It ends. The dance itself is an expression of spontaneity like the surge of the waves, the flight of birds, the caress of the winds. It is a dance of the moment for the moment.”
At the southernmost part of the Philippines, Tawi-Tawi emerges like a string of broken and rough gems strewn over the vast aquamarine sea. This province, the surrounding areas and the nurturing sea, traversing geopolitical boundaries, comprise the traditional home range of the Sama people.
This is the southernmost province or island in the Philippines.
Next to Sulu, ito na ‘yung Tawi-Tawi. And this near or border to Malaysia and Indonesia.
Tawi-Tawi, if I’m not mistaken, in the entire Philippines, this is the only province that is predominantly Sama. But we have Tausug people here … if we have notice, if we can roam around the province, we have harmonious relationship between the Muslim and Christians.
Our old people tell us that our ancestors were sea faring people and they moved in a fleet of boats .We are indeed dispersed people and yet the sea unify us.
Anthropologists by convenience classify the Sama by their toponym, the places or the islands where they come from. So, like for me, I come from Laminusa Island in Siasi in Sulu, I am a Sama-Laminusa.
We are identified by the place or the island where we come from. Another way of classifying us is by our habitat. So the Sama are generally classified into four, I think four. They are the Sama Talun from the hinterlands, the upland sa mga ya mga ma wod atomga talon, wilderness. They are the Sama Talon.
The Sama Dileya are the Sama of the plains. They are agricultural. They can be agricultural and they tend to occupy the arable lands that are not in the steeps or in the mountains but in the plains, and then the Sama-Biheng, the coastal Sama who occupy the coral reefs and the Sama Dilaut who are the sea-based Sama and are currently Sama Dilaut is the only remaining sea inhabiting indigenous people in Southeast Asia.
I am Hadja Sakinur Ain Delasas. I am 64 years old. I was born in Tampakan, Simunul, but I’ve lived 75 percent of my life here in Bongao and presently residing ma Bongao.
First of all, ya Igal tu si keya Muslim dance, sa banban iya Muslim dance. It is not a Muslim dance.
It is an ethnic, traditional, tribal dance of the Sama. Mang Sama, bangkol Sama igal, bangkol Tausug pangalay. Pero Sali du’, it’s a dance. Dance siya so although nia usab ya diki-diki ya differences. Pagbingda-an na. Minsan nga igal Sama, the Sama of Tabawan, Sama of Simunul, the Sama of Sapa-Sapa, of Sibutu niya’ slight differences na movements. So slight differences but any way but it is igal.
So basic ma igal tu, kamanis na igal, song paalis tu ya instruments na music, song na smooth movements ng kamay, of the hands, song pa i-smooth.
Compared to modern dances, in modern dances you go with the music.
Sa iya igal, you can say, yani babya sa, you could say against the music because the fastest is the music, the slower is the movement.
And maha niya koreograp, it is not choreographed movements.
So no repeated style, no repeated movements. It is parang random, at random siya. Parang it comes out from your heart, from your mind. Menjalom. First of all, pasuron ni jaram no’ and then paluwas niyo niya patalan mo, in your hands.
The art forms were all originated as a form of performative devotion, so we perform…religion was performative.