The ''cariñosa'' (, meaning loving or affectionate) is a Philippine dance of colonial-era origin from the Maria Clara suite of Philippine folk dances, where the fan or

handkerchief A handkerchief (; also called a hankie or, historically, a handkercher or a ) is a form of a kerchief or bandanna, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric which can be carried in the pocket or handbag for personal hygiene purposes such as w ...

plays an instrumental role as it places the couple in a romance scenario.

History

The ''cariñosa'' originated in Panay Island and was introduced by the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

during their colonization of 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 ...

. It is related to some of the Spanish dances, like the

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

and the Mexican dance, '' jarabe tapatio,'' or the Mexican hat dance.

Bicolano ''cariñosa''

According to the book of Francisca Reyes-Aquino, '' Philippine Folk Dances'', Volume 2, there is a different version of the ''cariñosa'' in the region of Bicol. Reyes-Aquino is a Filipino folk dancer and cultural researcher who discovered and documented Philippine traditional dances, one of which is the ''Cariñosa''. In the Bicol Region ''cariñosa'', hide and seek movement in different ways. In the original version, the dancers used the fan and handkerchief as the way to do the hide and seek movement, in Bicol they used two handkerchiefs holding the two corners of the handkerchief and doing the hide and seek movement as they point their foot forward and their hands go upward together with their handkerchiefs following the movement. It is a complicated step however it is still used in the Bicol Region during

festivals A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

and social gatherings.

Costume

Originally, the ''cariñosa'' was danced with María Clara gown and barong tagalog for it is a Spanish dance. In addition, Filipino wore the ''patadyong kimona'' and ''camisa de chino'' to reveal nationalism. (a native dress of the Tagalog regions), camisa (a white sleeve) or patadyong kimona (a dress of the Visayan people) and for boys, a barong Tagalog and colored pants.

Status as a Philippine national dance

The ''cariñosa'' is considered to be an official national dance of the Philippines, as no law has designated them as such. In 2014, House Representative Rene Relampagos introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to grant the ''cariñosa'' such a status, which did not become law.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cariñosa National symbols of the Philippines Dances of the Philippines