When Seeing Is Believing: The Changing Role of Visuality in a
Philippine DanceAuthor(s): Sally A. NessReviewed work(s):Source:
Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan., 1995), pp.
1-13Published by: The George Washington University Institute for
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subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsWHEN SEEING IS BELIEVING:THE
CHANGINGROLE OF VISUALITYIN A PHILIPPINE DANCE SALLY A. NESS
University of California,Riverside This article explores the
changingsubjective and objective visual significanceof the sinulog
dance of Cebu City, Philippines-a pre-Hispanichealing ritual
adapted to the folk Catho- lic worshipof the Santo Niho, and
recentlytransformed into a secular, "cultural" per- formance. In
the new context, the objectifying visual aspectsof the sinulog
developedpre- dominantand autonomous relationships to other sensory
experiencesof the dancing, in particular to kinesthetic experience.
The developmentof this purified "visuality" reveals both the
impactof changing historicalconditionson the construction of the
self-in-move- ment in the dancing, as well as the creative
effortsof its practitioners to continueto find meaning in the
practice in the midst of changing socioculturalcircumstances.
[dance, Phil- ippines, visual, self, perception] What makes adance
"worth looking at?" Values relating tothe bodily experiences
ofdance tradi- tions-including theirvisual impact andinflu-
ence-vary from cultureto cultureand from soci- ety to society.1
This article explores,mainly from the standpoint ofthose engaged
inthechoreo- graphicprocessitself, the subjective and objective
visual values acquired by tworelated Philippine dance practices, as
performed in the mid-1980s in Cebu City, Philippines.2 The visual
characteristicsof these two dance forms, both called sinulog
dances, differeddramat- ically from one another, even though one
practice was consideredto be in large part a derivationand
depictiverepresentation ofthe other. In addition, the relationship
between the visually-oriented as- pects ofthe dancing andother
sensory as- pects-particularly those orientedaroundthe sense of
self-in-movement, or "kinesthetic"sense"-was construed differently
foreach practice, creating quite distinctive sensoryprofiles(and
thus different constructionsofthe embodied self) for each per-
formance process. What was valuableas a "sight" for others (the
performer'sbody becoming an ob- jectified cultural site) and what
was valuableas a subjective bodily experience, which coulditself
bring abouta certainkind of seeing, coincidedand conflictedin
different ways in each dance practice. Inboth cases the sinulog was
considered by those most immediately involvedin its creationand
practice to be a form of movementthat was worth doing primarily
because itwas worth being seen. By whom it was seen and for what
purpose, how- ever, differed markedly between thetwoforms.
Understanding the differing "visuality" ofthese two closely
relatedCentral Philippine dance prac- tices, and their very
different relationships tothe changing socioculturalcontextof Cebu
City, sheds light on the differentkindsof selves and bodiessi-
multaneously available for performance inthis Philippinecommunity,
and the differentkinds of meaning embodiedvisual experiences
cancreate and communicatein a contemporary urbantrans- cultural
setting. The Ritual Tradition CollectivePractices The Visayan
language term sinulog translates roughly as "moving like a
current"and refersto a numberofritual practicesperformedthroughout
theCentral Philippines.4 The Cebu City sinulog was generally
believed by its practitioners in 1984 and1985 tohave originated in
the pre-Hispanic era asan animisticchildren's healing ritual that
was adapted in the sixteenth century to the worship of the
SantoNiflo image, the city's patronimage of Jesus the Child King."
Until sometimeafter the turnofthetwentieth century, sinulog dancing
servedas a climacticeventfor the fiestacelebration for the Santo
Nifio, held annuallyduring the third week in January. The practice
took place insidethe Augustinian church where theSanto Nifto was
kept, whichin 1965 was elevatedto the statusof a Basilica
andrenamed theBasilica Minore del Santo Nifio. Nodetailed
descriptions oftheCebu City sinulog ritual have been recoveredthat
date back more than severaldecades.One of the earlierde- 1 This
content downloadedon Tue, 8 Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and Conditions2ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY tailed
descriptions,however, written by an Ameri- can visitorto the city
sometimein the early 1920s, gives some idea of the sensory natureof
the collec- tive ritual practice fromwhichthe sinulogpractices of
the 1980s were in part derived: On one side of the huge empty hall
was a small altar upon whichhad been placed the black image ofthe
ChristChild.... The priest at the altar gave a signal andthe
hugeportalsswung inwardswitha mighty crash. Immediately the great
naveof theancientchurchwasfil- ledwitha massof
howling,gesticulatinghumanitywhich rushedheadlonginto the
chapelgivingventto piercing shrieksandunnaturalcries.. .. Menand
women,many with infantsin their arms,began to danceand caper,
holdingup the bewilderedbabiestowardsthe impassive little figure,
andnever ceasing fora momentto utterun- earthly howls. Many
ofthewomen wore white handkerchiefs upon their heads which, while
hopping about grotesquely,they snatched off, waved wildly in the
air, andtorethemto shreds.... Thevividhuesof the native
costumes,minglingand interminglingas the wor- shippersspunaboutin a
dizzywhirl,becamea veritable kaleidoscope. At length the ecstacy or
frenzy . ..woreoff through sheer fatigue. Theturbulent gathering .
. . gradually re- solveditself intoa longline whereit
waitedpatiently and quietly. .... As eachindividualpassedbeforethe
Santo Nifio, he or she bentand reverentlyplaced a kiss upon the
diminutivefoot. ..(Leonard ca. 1922: 3-4). This account, despite
itsethnocentric biases, clearly indicates thatthe early collective
ritual sinulog, as a sensoryexperience,appears tohave had
significantaural, tactile, and kinestheticas- pects, atleast as
significant asits visual aspects. The repeated referencestothe
"piercing shrieks and unnaturalcries" and the participants' "un-
earthlyhowls," indicatethat the ritual involvedin acentral way
sensationsof sound."The report of the snatching off of
handkerchiefs, the holding of babies, and, most notably, the
prominence ofthe act of kissing the Santo Niflo image indicatesthat
tactile sensationswere also of central significance as well.
Finally, the referencesto "frenzied" "gro- tesque" and"wild" bodily
actions indicate that heightened sensations of bodily movement were
also key elementsin the practice. Less prominent are
observationsofactions that have a predomi- nantly visual
orientation.The aiming of gestures towardthe Santo Niflo image, the
sight of "vivid hues" ofnative costumes "spun about in a dizzy
whirl,"and the formationofa long line near the end of the event
indicatesome attentionto specifi- cally visual aspects ofthe
sinulog ritual. In sum, however,this collective sinulogtradition
appears to have been amovement experiencethat wasnot predominantly
about seeing or beingseen, but ratherone involving all the sensesof
the selvesen- gaged in it in an integrated,heightened, and collec-
tive expression of devotion. The TinderaPractice Overthe courseof
the twentieth century the ritual practice of the sinulog in Cebu
City becameassoci- ated with alack of education,poverty, and rural
living.7 By the 1980s it had been bannedfrom the interiorof the
Basilica.In 1984 and 1985 pilgrims coming to worship the image were
occasionally seen dancing an abbreviatedsolo versionof the rit- ual
on or nearthe Basilica grounds.(See Figure1.) However, the
performance ofthe ritual as ithad devolvedover the century in Cebu
City had come to be associated mainly with middle-aged and eld-
erly women candle sellers, called tinderas, who workednear and on
the grounds ofthe Basilica. These tinderas, a fluctuating and
largely unstruc- tured group of semi-transient mothers,grandmoth-
ers, and widows, would perform a ritual sinulog in themanner ofthe
pilgrim/devotee tradition for customers buying candles who
requested it. Their dancing, farfrom anyconvulsive,acrobatic, or
frenzied performanceprocess, involved mainly a se- ries of
vaguelydirected,limp hand gestures used to wave devotee-purchased
candlesin the directionof the Santo Niflo image for an
unspecifiedperiod of time, and an accompanying foot step pattern
once described by alocal journalist as a "queerquaint sway
balance." The tinderas,many of whomtraveledinto the city on a
weekly or semi-weekly basisfrom outlying districts,slept on the
sidewalksaroundthe Basilica for several nights a week in orderto
help augment theincome ofextended family households. They were
workers engaged in a trade, and that trade was the primary reason
they foundthemselves reg- ular performers of their relatively
minimalversion of the sinulog ritual. However, the tinderaswereas
well devoteesof the Santo Niflo. Several had life historiesthat
included manyyears of leading com- munity prayer servicesand other
religious activi- ties. Faith in the efficacy of the sinulog and
respect for its sacredcharacterstill ran quite high among these
performers in the mid 1980s.As one tindera put it, she had two
kargos or areas of potentially burdensome responsibilityresulting
fromher work. One was to please her customers,giving them the
religiousservices they desired. The other was to please the Santo
Nifio, who would punish her if she This content downloadedon Tue, 8
Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsWHENSEEINGISBELIEVING3 ,g';? . :. .:p~ik :g-,jyn ?? U?l~
..? . .. , ? .,.. :. ..,..-....:.::: - . -.:.... .. . ...... ~~~~~
??? ....- .. .....:...:-.?. :: ':a" " ' "". .i.'- Figure 1.A
TinderaDancesthe Sinulog Facing the Main Entranceto the
BasilicaMinoredel Santo Niflo. failedto perform sinulogs sincerely.
Others re- counted stories ofmiraclesthe Niflo had recently
performed and of his most recent apparitions, and ofthe punishments
hehad inflicted oninsincere and impious devotees.8 The
sensoryexperience of the tindera sinulog, while itwas believedtobe
an expression ofreli- gious devotionsimilarto that of the
formercollec- tive practice, was differentin many respects. In
ccntrast tothe magnification ofaudible stimuli characteristicofthe
collective ritual, the tinderas placed a value on diminishing the
audible aspects of their dancing, and many madeno soundwhatso- ever
when they danced.As one tindera put it, "if you shout (siyagit),
God might become deaf (bungol). Even if you whisper (hunghung) God
can hear it." Anothertinderadescribedthe audibleas- pect ofher
sinulog as. a "murmuring" (yamyam)-a termalsousedtodescribe the
trance-likeutterancesoflocalshamansor mananambal.While the
pedestrian contextof these performances andthefactthat they took
place somewhat surreptitiously onthechurch grounds withoutthe
support of the churchauthorities prob- This content downloadedon
Tue, 8 Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
Conditions4ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY ably contributedtothis
evaluationofthe audible aspects ofthe sinulog, from the
performers'per- spective, thelackofsound accompaniment en-
hancedthe sacred,prayerful characterof the sinu- log performance.9
Visually-orientedaspects played amore note- worthy role in this
sinulogpractice than in the pre- vious collective practice. The
eyes could sometimes function inthetindera ritual asa passageway
through which spirits, good and evil alike might pass inside the
body.10 The tinderasconceivedof the sinulog literally
asan"inter-view"between themselvesand the Santo Niflo. They
describedthe ritual experience as atime when they "faced"or were"in
frontof God" (atubangan sa Dios). Virtu- ally every feature of the
ritual movement style as the tinderas performed it was
associatedwith this face toface performance context:aslow (hinay)
tempo for performing the sinulog gestures and steps, a "softened"
(piano) or gentle dynamicqual- ityemployed toform the hand waves,
and are- strained,small-range(gamay) mannerof moving all the limbs.
As one tindera elaborated, the sinu- log that they performed was
differentfrom the one doneinthe parade onfiesta day because the
tinderasdid not go into the streetsto dance-they stayed on the
church grounds and danced facing the Santo Niflo. Remaining in the
Nifo's direct sight line was criticalto the successful performance
of the ritual. A face to face connectionwas believedto be essen-
tial to establishing the verbal one communicating the specific
requests ofthe devotee. The tinderas were, in fact, strikingly
consistentin constructing and maintaining a gaze pathway into the
interior oftheBasilica during their individual sinulogs. Throughout
the pre-danceopeningprayers, as well as in the dancingphase itself,
and the post-dancing final prayerphases ofthe ritual, the gaze
ofthe tinderasdid not waveror leave this specific focus. Itis
impossible to say why or how this gaze element, and the value
placed on "facing God," had either emerged or devolvedfrom
theearlier sinulog ritual practice. Thetinderas themselves made no
mentionof the gaze aspect of their danc- ing as something new or
differentfrom the sinulog practices of the past, although it
clearly precluded any of the "dizzy whirling" that evidently
charac- terized the older sinulog form. Itis possible that the
frontal orientationand gaze pathway was in- tensifiedas a kindof
compensatory actionwhenthe dancing wasexpelled fromtheinterior
ofthe church, as a way of remaining "in touch"with the now less
accessible Nifio image. The notionof be- ing atubangan sa Dios may
have emerged as a par- ticularly salient conceptual frame for the
ritual at this time as well, although it might just aswell have had
much older roots, and been an influence on the movement style and
visual practices of the earlierformsof the ritual. In any case, the
tindera sinulog of the mid-1980s was a ritualin whichsee- ing
played an importantsubjectiverole, far more important than hearing
or expressingsound, and also one inwhich being seen by the Santo
Niflo was criticallyimportant. The self-in-movementwas both an
agent of seeing and an object of sight. Visual aspects,however,
werenot the only sen- sory channel employed intheritual. What the
Santo Niifo was in fact meantto see was not a con- crete object,
not a "body" in the most literalsense of the term. Fromthe dancers'
perspective, the de- sired object of the Santo Niflo's gaze was
nothing other than a feeling, aninternal emotionalstate made
animatein the dancer's body, but one which was,
paradoxically,largely invisible.Most vital to the ritual was the
experience-as opposed tothe expression-ofkinasingkasing or
"sincerity." Kinasingkasing insured the efficacy oftheritual
process. "Kasingkasing" translatesas "heart."As one tindera put it,
"my heart must be truly seriousfor the offering I make only so that
my prayers will be heard."' The general consensus among tinderas
wasthattheSanto Niiiowould listen totheir prayers tothe extent that
they were heartfelt.It wasthis "heart-feeling"expression thatwas
presented beforethe Santo Niflo's gaze. The specificfeeling of the
heartas it dancedin the sinulog was describedin different ways by
dif- ferent tinderas.Most often, when describing this feeling,
ideas ofboth intensity and depth were mentioned.One tindera, for
example, usedthe term,"mindulut," which translates literally as
"deep" to describeher feelingsduring the dancing. The deepness of
her prayers resultedin her feeling "light"(ga-an sa lawas) after
the performance of the ritual. Severalother tinderasassociateda
slow tempo of movementwith the experience of kinas-
ingkasing,saying it allowedthem to concentrateon praying.
Anothertindera reported that in orderfor her to act in good faith
for her customerher prayer had to be "intense"or "tight"(hugot) so
that the SantoNiflo wouldlisten.Whenshe achievedthis, a feeling
ofloosenessor openness (kaluog) inher This content downloadedon
Tue, 8 Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
ConditionsWHENSEEINGISBELIEVING5 heartfollowed.This feeling of
tenseness deep in the heartwas one that many tinderas experienced.
Sev- eral noted that the intensity was such that they
oftenfeltclosetotears when dancing. Asone tindera put it, the
sinulog was "sentimental kaayo" ("verysentimental"). In sum, while
thetindera sinulog was defi- nitely a ritual concernedwith seeing
and with be- ing seen by the Santo Niflo, these aspects ofthe
ritual process were connectedwith action that had kinestheticand
imaginedverbal, non-visualorien- tations.While morevisible
expressions of emotion, such as crying, or variousfacial
expressions were mentionedas frequentoccurrences,they were not
reported as essentialmanifestations.Sensationsof movementand
tensionin various parts of the body, particularly atense holding of
the upper torso or heart region, were instead consideredvital toa
credible performance of the sinulog. These internal experiencesgave
the ritual meaning as something believedto be acceptable of the
Santo Niflo's sight. An integratedmulti-sensoryexperience was thus,
from the standpoint of those creating the perform- ance, still
fundamentalto this versionof the sinu- log practice,although it was
in all likelihooda very different experience fromthoseof devoteesof
years gone by. The Parade Sinulog In 1980, through the effortsof
the regional officeof the national Ministry of Youth and Sports
Devel- opment(MYSD), working in cooperation with the
Augustinianreligious order of Cebu, adifferent context for, and
version of, the sinulog traditionde- veloped. The new practice was
developed for col- lege students, who were trained to performsteps
modelledin part after the tinderas' sinulog. A spe- cial sinulog
procession was staged atthe Basilica during the fiesta week. In1981
and the years fol- lowing, this student-oriented"culturalrevival"of
the sinulog(as the directorof the MYSD officeat the time described
it) was taken over by the Cebu Citygovernment andvarious private
corporate sponsors.Under thenew leadership, the develop- ment was
expanded into a secularcelebrationmod- elled on the more general
theme of a towncarnival and designedspecifically to attract
visitorsto the city for the fiesta week.'2 In orderto
encouragecommunityparticipation inthis new promotionalfestival,
organizers insti- tuteda sinulog parade contest, inwhich cont-
ingents fromvarious organizations withinand around the city could
compete for large cash prizes. In 1985
severalthousandindividualsdanced in this sinulogparade,representing
over one hun- dred, schools,clubs, businesses,governmentagen- cies
and local neighborhoods. The parade was created by people motivated
primarilyby a "spirit of cooperation"(as one vet- eran parade
contest judge put it) with government agencies and private
organizations. The leading choreographers were establishedmiddle
class pro- fessionals, many ofthem dance instructorsem- ployed in
physical education departments oflocal colleges and high schools,
some of whomhad long- time scholarly and artistic interests
inthefolk dancetraditionsof the Philippines. The performers,
by1985, includedmales and females ofall ages and many different
backgrounds.They were not necessarily devoteesof the Santo Niflo,
or Roman Catholics.The largest and most successfulcont- ingents,
however, were still composedmainly of young men and womenof college
age, who came from all overthe region to attendlocal institutesof
higher education. The paradesinulogquicklygained anational
reputation,drawing acrowd of spectators esti- mated tobeover
onemillion strong in1985. Parade contest winners travelled toManila
and other cities in the Philippines to participate in pa- rades and
competitions of variouskinds. Needless to say, with this
dramaticshift in participants,motivation, performancecontext, and
interpretation, the sensoryprofile,particularly the visual
character, of the dancingchanged dramati- cally as well. In the new
context, the sinulog be- came a meansof representing the ideal
self-image of the city and its region to the worldat large. A new
style of sinulog resultedthat represented the interrelated
processes of internationalization, secu- larization, and
commercializationin which itwas now involved.This was a
sinulogstyle meantto be lookedat by a variety of audiences
simultaneously: contest judges, local friendsand family of the par-
ticipants, TV camerasfrom Manila, devoteesof the Santo Niflo from
allover the archipelago, and tourists being flown infrom Japan, the
U.S. and other overseas locations. The performances now sought to
speak auniversalvisual language, to transcendor translatea variety
of cultural systems of interpretation, and to representanumber of
largely unrelatedthemes: thenatural beauty of Cebu and the
Philippines, the graciousnessand This content downloadedon Tue, 8
Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
Conditions6ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY hospitality ofthelocal
culture, the history ofthe archipelago, thetraditional material
culture ofthe region, and, of course, the local experience of devo-
tiontotheSantoNiflo. Groups rehearsed forweeksormonths before the
parade toachieve adrill-team-like accuracy in their sinulog
demonstrations.The sinulog dances evolvedinto performances
whereabstract spatial forms-circlesand diamonds, linesand spi-
rals-would appear through theunison movements ofa largecorps, as
large as150dancers ormore. Ina typicalperformance, dancers might
construct a grid-like form, composed oftwohundred hands, aligned
into eight columnsand twenty-five rows. Thehands would riseasone
unit, until they were hanging suspended inthe space above and
infront ofonehundred smiling faces.Allat once, the handswould begin
towavefromsideto side, as 200feet began to step inafour-four rhythm
first straight forward, then in place, then straight back- ward,
thenin place. Justas suddenly asthisform would appear,
itwouldbemadetovanish.Hands would drop, the stepping would change
toafor- ward march, andthecolumnswould merge into two long linesof
bodies, soontotraveldowna roadway toan appointedstoppingplace where
parade contest judges would be waiting to examine them.Suchwas a
typical sequence ofaction inthe new parade sinulog.(SeeFigure2.)
Thisradicaltransformationofthe sinulog dancing, of course,
didnotoccurwithoutcontro- versy.The value placed on
abstract,visually-ori- ented choreography thatcould give immediate
gratification to the eyes of pleasure-seeking tourists did not
reign supreme. It was set against an equally powerful intentionof
paradeorganizers, contest judges, and manyleadingchoreographers
tore- present the style or flavor, ifnot theactual subjec- tive
experience, of spirituality manifest in the older rituals.
In1980and1981the originalparade or- ganizers had worked out
guidelines for judging the contingents,
andmadedecisionsaboutwhatwas essential and what was negotiable in
avalid repre- sentationoftheritualtradition.Inthisdecision
makingprocess, theorganizers didnotselectthe maintainedgazepathway
ofthetinderasinulog style asakey elementnecessary forauthenticre-
productions of the dance-adecision that made ob- vioussensegiven
thestreetcontextoftheparade and the impossibility ofamaintained
spatial focus ontheBasilicaandtheSanto Niflo image. Like- wise, the
organizers did not select postural features connectedwiththe
experience of kinasingkas- ing-featureslargely related
tokinesthetic percep- tionsofthe upper torso and difficult to judge
from avisualorientation. Instead,organizers identified through
aseries of spatially-defined pathways and coordinates"basic steps
and gestures," a phrase thatlater judges and choreographers
frequently used todiscuss the body movement features ofthe
traditional sinulogpresented intheirroutines. By
visuallyobjectifying an array of stepping patterns andarm actions,
the organizers delimitedcertain aspects of the ritual that could be
used to represent the sinulogpractice asa whole,and, inso doing,
lefttherest ofthe performance design-costumes, collective
forms,facingorientations, gazepattern- ing andkinesthetic
perceptions--open to interpretation.'3 Giventhat
choreographedrelationships be- tween seeing, heart feeling, and
being seenwere central totheconstruction ofthesacred devotional
selfintheritual sinulogpractice, the controversy overthe parade
choreography not surprisingly re- volved around the consequences of
presenting per- former'sbodiesin objectified, collectivevisual
formsthatwereoutsidetheboundsoftheritual tradition.Couldthe dancing
selvesofthe parade sinulog be both pleasing to the eyes oftourists
and alsobefaithful representatives oftheritual prac-
tices?Ordidtheeffectsoftheformer cancelout
theintentionsofthelatter?Commentsfromthe parade sinulog
choreographers illustrate the range of interpretation applied to
the new, more problem- aticallyobjective and abstract visual
orientation of the paradesinulogs, andthe dissentingopinions about
theideal relationship ofthe parade sinulog's subjective kinesthetic
experiences tothoseofthe ritual sinulog practices. The
choreographer who wonthe parade com- petition inthe top division of
contingents in1985 believed, not surprisingly, thatthesecular
andsa- cred effects ofthe parade sinulog could operate si-
multaneously in performers' bodieswithoutcom- promising
oneanother.Inhisview,theembodied spirit ofhissinulog dance was
stillone of praising and sacrificing. The notion of "dance" itself,
played akey role in this choreographer'sconceptualization This
content downloadedon Tue, 8 Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll use subject to
JSTOR Terms and ConditionsWHEN SEEING ISBELIEVING 7
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':'"''~.~:?"~#~~~:::13:~EiSIi4xc;z~x:::::::::E::::i14:~iS~iiS~~i~~:
erls%-R-?:-:?:?:?:-:-:r?.?:?::?.?:?::?:?.?'?''???????????.?.?.?..
??.?: "?'::;x??::::-:-:::::?::::::?" ::I::::::::::::::"':i:::::i::
~"' ~;xr?,~xi '''''' r?~l~:?, 3B~fW~?~:~X, ~~ ~~ ''' :i I:? :?
i~j~iI~8~1~1~~~8~~i~Bs~ .I~f~S~B~BB~sBtY~88~ri~aBBI~BI~''PBB"~RI x
:;-~~s~e~.~-~:~:~ :?: E',i~F-~-%:.??'-~;P..?'~B~a. r 1..j ?P Figure
2.Parade Sinulog Dancers Gesturing in Unison. This content
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Terms and Conditions8ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY of the sinulog's
transformationand the objectifica- tion of the dancer's body it
entailed.The tinderas, he argued, although they embodiedananimated
devotional spirit in their rituals, didn't really do a "dance"when
they practiced their versionofthe sinulog.They performed randomarm
gestures that did not fully qualify as dance from his perspective.
Inthis respect, the parade sinulog performances, which were meant
tobe"dance"and not ritual, had to become more acreationof the
choreogra- pher's inventionthan they were a reconstructionof the
ritual tradition.The visual appeal of the per- formancewas this
choreographer'sprimary concern in modifying the sinulog ritual. He
had revisedthe tindera sinulog for his120 dancersin the parade
competition becauseit was, in his words, "not nice to look
at"-theself-in-movementnot being fully objectified in a visually
desirable way. In orderto improve the appearance of the ritual
sinulog, this choreographer hadchosen tohavethedancers carry and
manipulatelarge fans and bamboo poles and tocreate complex group
formationsthat di- vided the corps into multiple distinct figures,
such assetsofconcentric circles formed onvarious levels.
Thisrevision had not, inthis choreogra- pher's view, compromised
the religiousaspects of the performance. The internal experiences
ofthe performers were not seen as having been altered by these
external transformations.Heartfelt feelings were left
unmodifiedwhile another layer of exter- nally-oriented behaviorhad
been imposedupon the bodiesof the dancer'son top of the now
underlying spiritual condition.The selves-in-performance, in this
choreographer'sview, were conceived ofas splitfigures, whose
subjective kinesthetic exper- iences could operate independently
oftheir audi- ence-orientedactions. Other choreographers,
eventhosewhoex- pressed anabhorrenceofthecommercialization and
competitive contextof the new parade and who felta strong
commitmentto preserving accurate representations of the ritual
movementin their re- constructed performances, also describedthe
sinu- log dancing of the tinderasas "simple,""boring for the
ordinaryonlooker," or "monotonous," and saw these conditionsas
non-essential, modifiable aspects of the sinulogbody movement
process.Perhaps the most articulatestatementof this perspective on
the relationship betweenthe abstractvisual and inter- nal
spiritualcharactersof the sinulog came from a senior choreographer
who had workedon the festi- val promotion from itsstart, and had
repeatedly won the top prize in the parade.Impressedby the
tinderas' dancing, which he describedas a process of "feelingstrong
insidein the heart," whichcould "lift them up and make them float,"
this choreog- rapher claimed that his choreography created for his
paradegroups the same kindof experience dur- ing the festival
parades. In 1985, he said, his group of 150 dancers (secondplace
winnersin the top di- vision) had carriedabannerin the paradesaying
"Naghalad Kami" ("We Make An Offering") to emphasize that their
performance had a religious inspiration. The group, which the
choreographer statedwas composed of studentsas well as teachers and
other professionals, went through the entire, day-longparade
barefoot,dancing on hot asphalt much ofthetime. But, he noted,
nobody com- plained and the day after there were no reports of
injury. This choreographer, likethosementioned above, also
describedthe ritual sinulogdancing as "boring" and inneed
ofmodificationfor parade purposes. His modificationshad included
resetting the step sequencesjudges had identifiedwith the ritual
tradition sothat they were performed in paired group formationsand
incorporating other spatially-definedgestures and groupfigures into
his parade renditionsas well. His rationalefor taking thecreative
initiative to change thearm move- ments, costumes, and group
characterof the per- formancewas in part that thereal spirit ofthe
dance, as he put it, "came from the inside," and this spiritual
core wouldremainunaffected by rela- tively superficial
modifications. In sum, many of the leadingparadechoreog- raphers
interpreted the parade sinulog as being comprised of"dance" aspects
that were observer- orientedor "nice to look at" and
religiousaspects thatwere significant but internal, invisible, and
largely unaffected by the choreographers' innova- tions. A
dissociating of objectified visual and sub- jective kinesthetic
perceptions allowedfor this rela- tively harmoniouscoexistenceof
the "dance"and "ritual" aspects of the sinulog in the view of these
key participants. Other choreographers,however, were not so
convincedof the superficialautonomy of the more eye-catching
elementsof the paradechoreography. One choreographer, for example,
had opted not to complicate the choreographythroughcolorfulcos-
tume and elaborateprops becauseshe believedthat it would compromise
in an essentialway the repre- sentation oftheritual tradition.This
choreogra- This content downloadedon Tue, 8 Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll
use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsWHENSEEINGISBELIEVING9
pher was critical ofwhat she termed the "mardi gras" spirit of the
parade, which she believedwas inappropriate for an
authenticreconstructionof the Cebu City sinulog practice. Although
her groups had placedamong the firstthreewinnersin the top
divisionin previousyears, they had ranked21st in 1985, aloss
ofstatus she believed largely due to her unwillingness to modify
the performance and transformit into a desirablevisual object.
Several other choreographersreported that theyrecently hadwithdrawn
contingents under their supervision from the parade sinulog in part
becausethe parade's"spirit of competition," which they now judged
to be the predominant motivation for paradeparticipants, had had an
adverse impact on the development of the paradeexperience. The
"more religious"atmosphere of the originalpromo- tional efforts
of1980 and 1981 had given way to one that was considered by these
choreographers to betoocommercialandtolack anything buta vaguely
defined recreationalaudience appeal. As one choreographerput it,
the new groups of danc- ers did not manifestthe same "spirit of
sacrifice" that the originalparade dancershad. Other choreographers
located themselves at the opposite end of the evaluative spectrum.
These participants deniedthat there was in fact any sub- jective
spiritual dimensionto the new choreography atall. They castthe
parade dancing asbe- ing--quite appropriately-nothing other than
the embodiment ofobservational pleasures.Onetop choreographer, for
example, stated that he viewed the paradesinulogsimply as an
educationaland a recreational experience for his students. Although
he felt compelled to make sure that all of his stu- dents
understoodthe history ofthe sinulog ritual tradition, he also
supported the desire on the part of the studentsto make the dancing
into a visually competitive event. "I hope you win," hetold his
dancers, on the eve of the parade. There were no religiousstrings
attached to his conception ofthe parade context. The
observationally-oriented as- pects ofthis choreographer'ssinulog
reflectedhis secular interpretation of the dance experience. He had
experimented with differentkindsof movement that wouldincreasethe
visual appeal of his chore- ography.Among the sourceshe
drewfromwereac- tions and gestures resemblingthose used inthe
dancesof the southernislandsof the Philippines, a dance vocabulary
that was generally referredto by paradeparticipants as being of the
"Muslim style," since the culturalcommunities practicingthe origi-
nal forms were predominantly Islamic.The incor- poration of
"Muslim"dancemovementswas a pop- ular strategy among
paradechoreographers.(See Figure3.) Employing this style of body
movement was believedto give the paradegroups a more so-
phisticated look. Choreographers described"Mus- lim" actionsas
having a "sharp" and "spectacular" appearance that had an exotic
flavor.Such move- ments contrasted starkly with the Cebuanosinu-
log's "flowing,""light," and "bouncy"appearance, which was not
consideredto carry the same visual appeal. However, this "Muslim
style," because it originated inthesouthern regions ofthe Philip-
pines, was also considered inappropriateby many parade
authoritiesfor use in the Cebu City cele- bration.Its employment
was problematic, not only becauseit compromised the
religiousexperience of the dancing, but also becauseit compromised
the claims of regionalauthenticity for the sinulogper- formance
process. The leading choreographers ofthe parade sinulog thus
expressed a range of attitudestoward the objectification of the
self-in-movementand its effect on spirituality of the
sinulogpractice. Some choseto recognize that a valid representation
of the ritual practice could only be "exhibited" by a con- tinued
adherenceto the diminished bodily expres- sionof spatially
ambiguous movement patterns characteristicof the tinderaritual.
These choreog- raphers insisted that the observabledimensionof the
performance, such as it was, was closely linked tothe ritual
experience.However, for others the subjective devotional
experience, ifitwas consid- ered necessary at all, was not
believedto be com- promisedby the additionofabstract visually-ori-
ented movements, since the aspect of the self that was involvedin
the devotional experience was re- garded as largely
invisible,inaccessible, and inter- nally secure. In anycase,
theself-in-movement constructedfor the paradesinulog was not a
figure boundto the Santo Nifio by a two-way visualchan- nel, and
not a figure whose heart was expressed through its eyes. This
parade self was a layeredfig- ure with separable external and
internal aspects, whose limbs exhibiteda capacity for finely tuned,
carefully directed behavior, and whose heart was left largely to
its own pursuits. Conclusion Thesensesofanembodied self-in-movement
playeddifferentroles,constructeddifferenthuman This content
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Terms and Conditions10ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY .... ...... ...
......... .......... AV 499, .-:::::.:::: ....... .... .. -7y 1
.?-.i . ,.. . .. ,:. ? .i? 3..?.???? lr?% ????i.?i?r ;;.? ??: : :
.. ..? i ? ? ? ?? ..; ,?? ..;'i? ?.. ..... . :.-..: ..: . .. ..
.o.. . :.::. .. ... .. .... .. . . .: , . ... :. . Figure 3.Parade
Sinulog Dancers Gesturing in the "Muslim" Style. This content
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Terms and ConditionsWHEN SEEINGISBELIEVING11 figures, and
represented a variety of interestsand influencesin the ritualand
secularCebu City sinu- log practices of the mid-1980s.In the
tinderasinu- log, feeling and seeing were intrinsically linked in
the dancingsubject.Ideally, the dancer's process of seeing produced
a sort of synesthesia, and acted as a catalyst for kinestheticand
tactile experience. To see the face of the Nifto in the dancewas to
believe in His miraculous powers, and to be seen dancing facing Him
was to be believedasincere devotee. The movementsof the ritual
sinulog were perceived to create amiraculous space in which the
eyes of the devoteeand those of the Nifto could touch and feel
inside the being ofeach other, merging both subjective and
objective as well as visualand kines- thetic realities.The
participants-be they custom- ers or tinderas--expectednothing more
and noth- ing lessfrom the dancing thanthis self/other synthesis of
perceptualprocesses. In the paradesinulog,multisensoryintegrative
constructions gave way to an interestin visual ex- perience. This
experience was construedfor selves composed of sensory channelsthat
were more au- tonomous,allowing for the recognition of beings that
might now be considered simply as "the ob- servers"and "the
observed."In the transformation from sinulog "ritual"to sinulog
"dance"a percep- tual distention occurred, in whichsenseswere sepa-
ratedout fromone anotherfor select symbolicpur- poses. Parade
sinulogs approached to differing extents (depending onthe
particularchoreogra- pher'sperspective) a purely visualorientation
where "seeing for seeing's sake" guided the choreo- graphicdesign.
Freedfrom the key contextualele- ment of "facingGod," visual
aspects of the danc- ing were cut adrift from the conventionsof
piety that had formerlykept them mooredto bodily ex-
perience.Kinasingkasing,likewise, was allowedto sink into an
invisible subjective realm. The story of the sinulogeasily couldbe
cast as a sort of sensory downward spiral, a twistedmove- ment away
from deep feelings toward emptyforms, and, forthe dancers, from the
performance of whole to splitpersonhood. The emergence ofa
predominantlyobservational,objectifying orienta- tioninthe parade
sinulog ofCebu City corre- spondedclosely to increasing economic
pressures stemming from the city's neocolonial dependence on global
capital flows, pressureswhich were un- derlinedand intensifiedin
the early 1980s by the propaganda effortsof the Marcos
regimestruggling to maintainits crumblingpowerbase. The parade
ideal of the sinulog as being first and foremostan attractivevisual
experience for audiencemembers and, so, another-orienteduse ofthe
performers' bodies testifiedto the need of the city's leadership to
demonstrateits controlover the movementsof the
parade'sparticipants, as well as the desire to corner some share
ofdomesticand international tourist markets.The evolutionofthe
sinulog can thusbeviewed asa fairly classic example of Barthes'
"myth on the right"(1972: 151), and dis- missedas the too often
told story of how the eyes of global otherscame to dominateand
controlthe kinesthetic experiences of local selves,Evenwhilea theme
of spirituality remained persistent and popu- lar
amongparadechoreographers and participants, whether ornotthe
dancing actually served, or might possiblyserve, oreven whether
itinfact ought to have served, as a religiousexperience that was
subjectivelyfulfilling remained decidedlyopen to question. Whilethe
experience ofdevotion wasnot abandonedor destroyed in the
paradesinulogs, the metaphoricexperience of seeing as believing, so
centralto the tindera practice, was no longer a pos- sibility for
the selvescreatedin the parade context. The visualand kinesthetic
aspects of these dancing bodieswerenowconceivedas
necessarilyseparable. The self-in-movementwas meant, not to see,
but to be seen, and to be seen, not to be believed (felt as
sincere), but to inspire adesire simply to be seen some more and
more. This resultedin part from the fact that the
paradechoreography was directed toward inspiring anaudience who, if
they had nothing else incommonwith the performers, all had human
eyes, eyes sensitiveto color,spatial de- sign, synchrony of
movement, and visual sugges- tions of"The Exotic." What thenature
ofthe hearts of this new audience might be was allowed toremain an
open question. Thehuman figures constructedon both sides ofthe
performer-audi- ence frame were thus conceivedas "split"percep-
tual figures. However, the history of the sinulog is not sim- ply a
history of a perceptual battle betweenselves and others.The visual
natureofeach sinulog did not representonly the power relations
operating in the socioculturalcontextof the performance. To fo- cus
exclusively on this interpretation, or to give it the final word in
this account,reduces dispropor- tionately the creativeeffortsof the
participants in each practice torender meaningfulthevarious sinulog
movements according to their own life ex- This content downloadedon
Tue, 8 Jan 2013 19:36:46 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and
Conditions12ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY periences. It silences the
voices of performers and choreographers heard in the previouspages,
or at least damages their claimto "speak themove-
ment"-tobeitsfirst authority and interpretive agent
inthediscourseofits "making"(Barthes 1972: 145-148). None of the
tinderas interviewed, for their part, viewedthe paradesinulog as a
vehi- cle of visual oppression, and only one of the many
interviewedevaluatedit as a degenerate versionof her own practice.
For the most part, the parade was welcomedasa change for the
better: ithad increased candle sales, itwasconsidered lively
("allegre") and beautiful ("nindot") to watch, and itwas admiredfor
what was consideredits more skillful display of the sinulog
ritualof bygone eras. Likewise, the choreographers, whowere by no
means blind tothe larger forces atwork inthe paradedevelopment,
neverthelessclaimedthe visu- ality oftheir paradedesigns as
symbolic oftheir own subjectivecreativity and individual talent,
and were inmost cases enthusiasticallysupported in their
innovativework by their dancers, who volun- tarily embodiedthe new
style of sinulog and en- joyed the attentionand acclaimit
offeredthem as representatives of Cebuanoethnic identity. In sum,
the dancing selvesof all of the sinulog practicesacquired sense and
value in a variety of ways. The differentconstructionsof sensory
rela- tionshipsoperating in the different choreographies ofthe
sinulog servedin part to define differences betweensacredand
secularformsof performance, as well as betweenlocal and global
strategies for devotional,aesthetic, and recreational experience.
Asthe role of seeing and of being seen changed from one sinulog
performance to another, devo- tional selves and secular dancing
bodies became visibleas well that differed markedly fromone an-
other, yet allowed their culture bearers tomove amongstthem, to
assumeand discardthem as vari- ous performance contextswould
require. NOTES Acknowledgments The fieldwork on which this article
is based was supported in part by aPredoctoral Fellowship from the
National Science Foundation.The authorwas assisted greatly during
research by the staff and faculty ofthe University of San
Carlos,particularly Dr. Resil B. Mojares and the Cebuano Studies
Center personnel. The photographsappearing in this article were
taken by Marc A. Ness. 1See, for example, the essays in Hanna 1983
that explore the diversity of audience responsesrelating to
amulticultural dance series sponsoredby the SmithsonianInstitution.
'Cebu City isthe largest and the oldest regionalport in theCentral
Philippines. Research onthe sinulog forms was
conductedbetweenOctoberof1984 until June of1985 funded by aNational
Science Foundation FellowshipAward, with a follow-up visit in June
and July of 1992. Three formsof sinulog were practiced in Cebu City
during this time. Space will not permit a discussionof the third
form, which featured dancing derivedin part from Hispanic
traditions.Estimated population ofCebu City in1984 was 490,201.
Archaeological evidence (Scott 1968: 41-42) indicatesa trade
history with South China and SoutheastAsia dating to ca.1000 A.D.
Cebu was Magel- lan's port of call and the center of the Spanish
colonialeffort from 1565 until 1569 (see Mojares 1983: 10).
3"Kinesthetic sense" is used in this article to refer to the
complexfaculty of the neuro-musculo-skeletal system to moni- tor,
organize, and make availableto cognitiveprocesses sensa- tions of
bodily movement,weight pressure and balance, and relative position
of the body's members.See Todd 1937: 28, 35- 36,188;
Bartenieff1980; and Sweigard 1974: 153-170. "Fordescriptions of
sinulog practices in other areas of the Philippines, see Fajardo
1979: 100-102, Aquino 1983: 94-95, Mendoza 1976: 79-81, and
Fernandez1983. 6Broughtby Magellan, the image-aBoy Jesus figure of
Flemish design-ispopularlyregarded as the most miraculous object
inthe Philippines. For a history ofthe devotion, see Tenazas 1965.
It shouldbe noted that sinulogdancing in Cebu City was performed
for other saints and their images. The Santo Nifio of Cebu,
however,being the city's most venerated image, maintainedthe
strongest link to the practice. As regards origins, no mentionof a
sinulog ritualis made in early accounts of ritualon Cebu
Island,althoughearly chroniclersdo mention that establisheddance
practices did exist. See Blair and Rob- ertson
1903-1909,specifically translationsof Pigafetta, Vol. 33, and
Colin, Vol. 40. See also Alcina's 1668 history(1960, Part 4Book 1:
133-139). See also Ness1992: 58-85. "One specific vocalization,
"Pit Senor!" ("Hail Senor"), associatedwith the devotee sinulog did
becomea key symbol in the 1980 fiesta promotions.Drumming was also
typicallypro- vided for the fiesta sinulogdancing.Expressions of
soundwere probably more formalizedthan Leonard'saccountindicates.
7JournalistRafael Bautista (1955[1935]: 254), for exam- ple, noted
that the sinulog dancersof Cebu City were "usually among the more
ignorant or fanatical." Tenazas, likewise, re- ported
thatthetinderas derived their business from those "ashamedor
unable" (1965: 87) to perform the dance,arguing that such practices
reflected "primitive attitudes"of "simple people"(1965: 91).
Asimilar descriptionappears in Mercado (1965: 30) and is typical
oftourist literature regarding the sinulog. 8See Ness 1985, 1987,
and 1992 for moreextensivediscus- sions ofthe tinderas working at
Cebu City's Basilica Minore del Santo Nifio. 9See Ness1992: 98-116
for more extensive accounts of performers'experiences. 1OSee
Ness1992: 118. "In Visayan, "Ang akong kasingkasingmatuud gayud
nganaghalad basin na langdunggan angatong mga pag- ampo."
1"SeeNess1992: 177-198. 13See Ness1986 for a detailed description
and analysis of the festival organizers'reinterpretation of the
ritual sinulog. It shouldbe notedthat a four-quarter time drum
rhythm was also drawn from the troupe sinulog practice not
discussedin this article to represent the sinulog in the
parade.However, the in- This content downloadedon Tue, 8 Jan 2013
19:36:46 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and ConditionsWHENSEEING
ISBELIEVING13 terpretation of this musical symbol remained
relatively uniformand uncontroversial, unlikevisual aspects of the
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