Paunjalay Dance

24 October 2020

The Paunjalay is a Yakan pre-nuptial Basilan dance. The bride and groom perform this before the wedding ceremony /Pangsat (or wedding).

The Yakan people are native to the island of Basilan. They have a very distinct culture that set them apart from their neighbors, the Tausugs and Jama Mapuns. A Yakan wedding (pigkawin) is a festive occasion for a community. Food, music and dancing is lavish in such weddings. One of the highlight is the dance for the bride and groom called pindulas (also papindulas), similar to the Tausug pangalay. The newly wed dance the pindulas in their wedding finery which include a rice flour make-up consisting of geometric dots and dashes around their faces believed to hide their true identities from bad spirits who might malign their marriage.

Creator: Supling Filipino Playgroup

Area: West / Riccarton

Reference ID: CCL-DW-132571

Uploaded by: Supling Filipino Playgroup

Copyright status: In copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License