Reaction Paper- International FOLK Dance PDF

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International Folk Dance, Japanese Folk Dance, La Cacuracha Dance, Reaction Paper...

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La Cucaracha Dance Reaction by: Rhona Grace M. Macahilas La Cucaracha means “The Little Cockroach” is a popular Spanish folk song for Mexicans. The origin of this dance is unknown but it was said that it was widely performed during the Mexican Revolution. It is very familiar even nowadays that there are songs composed aimed to target politicians so it is not new to me to hear that the original version of this song has political meaning hiding behind the lyrics describing a cockroach who cannot walk without a marijuana to smoke. When it comes to the music when I listened to it, in my view it was somehow similar to the song of Willie Revillame’s Giling Giling. It was very lively so especially the beat so people around hearing this song would unlikely refuse to join and dance. I observed it was popularly danced by elders. I watched examples of this dance and base from that, I saw that it was just easy to do this dance because the choreography is usually stepping and the movements are just little such as passing sideward with partners and turning around or chasing each other like what you see when you chase a cockroach. It is easy to memorize this dance because when performers turned around and changed partners, the music is repeated as so as the steps from the start. In performing this dance, what you need is only your outfit and nothing else except for males that can use hats as a prop. Their costume really caught my attention especially the female’s skirt; it is very colourful and flowing smoothly. Aside from that is of course the embroidered puffed short sleeve blouse and then paired with a bow tied in their hair. For men, they wear loose shirt, a vest covered with a jacket, long fitted pants and shoes with heels. The performers have smiles on their faces and sometimes it seems like teasing the other who is chasing her or him and daring to catch them.

Japanese Parasol Dance Reaction by: Rhona Grace M. Macahilas First of all, I chose this dance because it was from the country wherein my favourite hobby also came from, the Japanese anime. Aside from anime, one of the rich cultures of Japan is its dance- the Parasol also known as “Higasa Odori”. It originated from Okinawa in Japan but said that it actually derived from Kabuki or a dance-drama in Japan. So the purpose of the umbrella is not only as a shield from the sun and rain but also as a prop for dance which is made actually and suited for girls. According to my research, this umbrella dance was once practiced by geishas or escort in the modern word but it was not supposed to be erotic or to use the girls to show off to their rich clientele but instead is to entertain their foreign visitors by performing this dance only during spring festival s. Mikado is the music that is used for this dance, it was actually pleasant for your ear, it was very soothing due to its soft melody that is why I agree that it is suited to play during spring season. I sometimes hear the music when I watch anime and the scene is sad or dramatic.

Unlike La Cucaracha, this dance is not easy because it was all about just shuffling umbrella in a case that it involves a lot of techniques and you need to undergo in a training first. When performed in groups, if the objective is to create a beautiful pattern of umbrellas, dancers should be grouped first. The dancer should hold the parasol at the chest level. I think you also need to master first the iming of opening and closing the parasol for this dance. What really caught my attention in this dance is the effect of the umbrella’s design when danced in groups especially when they start to rotate the umbrellas and there are some kind of patterns that would really make the audience feel amaze. As for the costumer, women wear bright colored kimonos and carry a parasol and Japanese wooden shoes. I saw that these shoes have block heals to given women extra height but so I think it is already hard to walk in that shoes so what more to dance. If this dance is used to entertain visitors or client, then the performers should wear an expression suited to the situation or theme of the festival. For me, dancers should wear a smile and dance sophisticatedly to show elegance....