Sua Ku Sua.docx i5u3

SUA KU SUA

Background/ context: The Tausug of Sulu, Southern Philippines, though known as fearsome warriors are also better known as sturdy seafarers and hardy farmers. Extensive orchads are planted with coconuts and pomelos and fields with with staples like rice and root crops. At harvest time, pomelo fruits are gathered in big baskets before they are sent away. The tausugs depend strongly on the income the pomelo bring them and this relationship is romanticized by comparing the sua’s gentle leaves, slender branches, attractive fruit and fragrant flowers to the virtue of a lady. Put to music. It is this song that is sang by couples while flapping two white fans each resembling leaves rustling in the wind in the sua-ku-sua dance. Suaku-sua performers, some men but especially women come to the festatives with face thickly covered with finely ground rice powder and their eyebrows and sideburns enhanced with soot- all for beauty’s sake.

MOVements/steps particular to dance: FORMATION: This is danced by one couple but any number may take part. The dancers hold the open fans with the second and third fingers on one side towards the top, and the thumb, fourth, and little fingers are under on the other side. Partners stand opposite each other about eight feet apart, the girl at the right side of her partner when facing the audience. SUA-SUA STEP. Point R (or L) in fourth in front (ct. 1), slide forward with the toes of the same foot and put the weight on the whole sole of the other foot. This step is used throughout the dance. ARM MOVEMENTS. With an open fan held in each hand hold arms in second position or at shoulder level turn the hands (from the wrists only) in a horizontal figure eight motion. It takes two counts to complete a figure eight motion.

Dance properties: COSTUME: FEMALE:  Female Top (Barawasi): Traditional loose blouse, long sleeves with deep, plunging key hole neckline; extra s attached to the right and left chest

decorated with many tiny brass buttons.  Material: Printed or plain Chinese silk or cotton.  Pants (Sawal or Kantiu): Loose Chinese pants with a 10 inch soft white band (coco curdo) attached to a

wide waist. To tuck the pants in, the white band is overlapped in front , one side on top of the other and rolled out to form a tight belt.  Material: Chinese silk or any silky material preferably in navy blue, sunshine yellow, grass green, red, or orange colors.  Shoulder Band (Siyag): A separate wraparound malong of rich material strung over the right shoulder crossing the chest and hanging on the left side.  Headpiece: There are three choices: 1. Gold or brass filigree called tusuk 2. Paper bills pasted on slender sticks; 3. Pasteboard cut-outs in the front tip 810 inches high , similar to Chinese crowns covered with gold foil.  Accessories: Gold or imitation gold earrings, necklace, bracelets, and brooches.

 Suggested Footwear : Dancers are barefoot.

MALE:

 Male Top (Bajo): Short waist collarless shirt; open front with the right overlapping the left, studded with many tiny brass buttons and is not intended to close the front but used as an additional shirt decoration. The shirt is allowed to drop on the right side Material: Printed or plain Chinese silk or cotton.  Pants (Sawal or Kantiu): Similar to the pants of females but in darker colors and bolder design.  Accessories: Money belt, Sarok hat, Pis siyabit (rectangular hand-woven scarf tied on the head or hung loosely over one shoulder) , Kris (wavy knife) or barong (leaf- knife)  Suggested Footwear: Dancers are barefoot  Music • 2/4 and 4/4; composed of three parts- A, B, . Gabbang bamboo xylophone are shaped- like a small boat. Bamboo slats are thinned and cut to graduated sizes to produce three octaves of pentatonic scale.  Count: One, two to a measure in 2/4 time signature; 1, 2, 3, 4 to a measure in 4/4 time signature.

Group iv Benavidez, Azhley Kaye D. Picarzos, Rafael Rey Bantaran, Kobe A. Deduque, John Edward Ragudo, Francis C. Alandra, Cristy Higuit, Claire Nicole Cerbito, Farry Jean

Lyrics: Dancers sing as they perform the dance. The natives often repeat the dance as many times as they like or until they are made to stop. The song goes this way. Sua-ko; Sua-ko, yampa tia num Sua-ko; Sua-ko, yampa tia num Ah-Mag dahon pa unom unom Ah-Mag dahon pa unom unom Bang ma-ka tum-tum panon Bang ma-ka tum-tum panon Ah atay ko mag ka gomon Ah atay ko mag ka gomon Kan ka pilaran, cambia sara-ran Di ka dua han, di ka imanan Ah mag pe-pin-tas, ha-la-man Ah mag pe-pin-tas, da koman Kan kapilaran-iman

Muslim Dance:

Sua ko Sua

Meaning: Dance Culture: Place of Origin: Ethnolinguistic Group: Classification: Performers:

My pomelo tree Lowland Muslim (Coastal) Jolo, Sulu Tausog Mimetic, Courtship Male, Female

The dependence of the Tausog on the pomelo tree and its fruits have created a bond between the two which prompted the Tausog of Jolo, Sulu to make a dance honoring the latter. The Sua-Ku-Sua or “my pomelo tree” is a dance that likens the sua’s gentle leaves, attractive fruits, its fragrance and slender body to that of a lady. Performed by couples, the Sua-KuSua dancers make use of two white fans that are swayed, as if to signify the swaying of the leaves of the sua tree while singing along with the music in their rice powder-covered faces.