Pangalay (also known as Daling-Daling or Mengalai in

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

) is the traditional "

fingernail A nail is a protective plate characteristically found at the tip of the digits (fingers and toes) of all primates, corresponding to the claws in other tetrapod animals. Fingernails and toenails are made of a tough rigid protein called alpha-k ...

" dance of the

Tausūg people The Tausug (also spelled Tausog; natively , Jawi: ) are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Sulu Archipelago and northeastern coastal areas of Borneo, which spans present-day Philippines and Malaysia. Large Tausug populations are also ...

of the

Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...

and eastern coast

Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

of Sabah. The dance has a similarity to classical

Balinese Balinese may refer to: *Bali, an Indonesian island *Balinese art *Balinese dance *Balinese people *Balinese language *Nusa Penida Balinese * Bali Aga Balinese **Balinese script **Balinese (Unicode block) *Balinese mythology *Balinese cat, a cat bre ...

and Thai dances, and involves the movements of the shoulders, elbows, and wrists The ''Pangalay'' is predominantly performed during weddings or other festive events. The male equivalent of the ''Pangalay'' is the ''Pangasik'' and features more martial movements, while a pangalay that features both a male and female dancer is called ''Pangiluk''. The original concept of the ''Pangalay'' is based on the pre-Islamic and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

concept of male and female celestial angels (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

: '' Vidhyadhari'', Tausug: ''Biddadari'') common as characters in other Southeast Asian dances. Neighbouring

Sama-Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

peoples in the Philippines call this type of dance, ''Umaral'' or ''Igal'', and they sometimes use bamboo castanets as substitutes for long fingernails.

Pakiring

A variant of the dance called ''Pakiring'' is practiced by the people of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

, Sulu and Sabah. The dance emphasizes the sideways swaying movement of the hips (''kiring-kiring''). A traditional song called ''Kiriring Pakiriring'' often accompanied the pakiring dance. The lyrics of the song are in the

Sama language Sama or SAMA may refer to: Places * Sama, Burkina Faso, a town in the Kouka Department, Banwa Province, Burkina Faso * Sama, China (Sanya), a city in Hainan, China * Sama, Chalus, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Sama, Nowshahr, a vi ...

and are thought to have originated from

Simunul Simunul, officially the Municipality of Simunul (), is a municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,245 people. The majority of the people living here are Muslims. Geography T ...

, where the language is spoken. A song based on the dance became widely popular nationwide in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

when it was released in 1998 by Filipino

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. N ...

Gaya Band under the title ''Dayang Dayang'' (literally " princess of the first degree") after the song's chorus. The track first appeared on their album ''Best Of Tunog Hataw (Mega Dance Hits in Tagalog Version)'' and then as part of the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

titled ''Sayaw Pinoy'' released in 2000 through

Dyna Records Dyna Music Entertainment Corporation is a Filipino record label. It is one of the major record companies in the Philippines; in the 1960s, it was the country's largest licensee of foreign labels. The first independent record label in the Philip ...

. Before this, the identity of the singer, its authenticity as the original and the language it was sung in remained a matter of debate for almost two decades, with speculations claiming that the singer was Malaysian or Tausug, and that the lyrics were seemingly gibberish. But in 2024, the

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

of the original version was finally identified as Nur-Ainun Pangilan, known by her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Hainun and is a

Sama Dilaut The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian people, Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are ...

singer from the island municipality of

Sitangkai Sitangkai, officially the Municipality of Sitangkai (), is a municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 37,319 people. It is the southernmost place in the Philippines and is ver ...

Tawi-Tawi Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capit ...

. She first recorded the song in 1996 for a Malaysian recording company in

. The lyrics are in her native Sama Dilaut language and were apparently made up on the spot. In her song, she describes the dance moves of her husband Al who was with her during the recording session, mentioned in the line "'' Lahawla ngigal ngigal si Al''" ("Lahawla, Al is dancing"). The actual title of the song on the original

cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

was ''Dumba Dumba'', and is apparently a Malaysian translation of Sama ''kiring-kiring''.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Video of Tausug ''Pangalay'' performed by the Tambuli Cultural Dance Troupe of Tawi-Tawi

Video of Bajau ''Igal'' performed in Semporna, Sabah

Video of modern ''Pakiring'' (pangalay variant) performed by Hainun of Tawi-Tawi
Dances of the Philippines Culture of Sulu Dances of Malaysia

Pakiring

See also

References

External links