Laji and Palo-palo

From the time the Palo-Palo dance was conceived and first performed in Basco, it has been adapted and patterned by most of the municipalities in the province in their programs during celebration of their town feasts. It has then become a tradition of performing the said dance as the opening number and the highlight in the feast’s afternoon show.

A distinct Ivatan traditional feature and considered by now as part of the Ivatan culture, the said dance is usually called for on several occasions especially when there are visitors and guests in the province – an initial step in promoting tourism in the province.

From being a part on feast and other occasions, the dance has fully become one of the means for a continuous promotion of tourism in the province when it was showcased for three consecutive years in Pagayaya festival of Region II from 2003-2005 during its participation in the WOW! Philippines at Intramuros. This was a program of the Department of Tourism in promoting the Visit Philippines project started in 2003. Batanes being part of Region II, was invited to showcase its culture in the Region’s Pagayaya festival on August 2003 and on the following years 2004 and 2005.

After the three consecutive years performing in WOW! Philippines, the Ivatan group was chosen to perform and represent the Philippines in the Austronesian Festival held on July 15-30, 2006 at Kao Shung, Taiwan. Thirteen Ivatan contingents composed the group including four pairs of Palo-Palo dancers, their musician, and four other Ivatan ladies who sang the laji, and kalusan, and danced the fundango Ivatan. The group exhibited the Ivatan culture in several places in Taiwan including elementary and secondary schools as well as in the outskirrt communities of Taiwan. Two other austronesian countries, Figi and Palao joined the festival of which the main objective is to reinforce and achieve closer ties among autronesian countries.

This series of palo-palo performance did not end there, as the steps were also shown as part of a street dancing competition performance in another festival in Iloilo City last January 27, 2008 during the Dinagyang festival, one of the prestigious festivals and tourist attractions in the country. The group called “Tribu Ivatan” who participated in the said festival composed 120 participants divided into three groups - the warriors, the lady dancers and drummers. Though clad in a different costume, the male dancers were able to choreograph and incorporate the palo-palo steps with slight modification to suit their overall steps; their lady counterparts on the other hand, wore the typical Ivatan vakul and yuvok as part of their props in one segment of their dance to depict also the culture of the Ivatans. Despite being first timers in the said competition, the Tribu Ivatan captured the 6th place out of the 20 competitors, proving their way in demonstrating the Ivatans’ talents and creativity through their culture. The group’s participation was made possible through the help and coordination of Congressman Carlo Diasnes of Batanes.

By way of all these performances, this traditional palo-palo dance of the Ivatans is really one of the ways in promoting tourism in the province of Batanes.