Project Impact Report
- Title: Dance Pinoy
- Operating Entity: OBRA Incorporated
- Managing Editor: Nash Ang
- Institutional Partner: National Commission for Culture and the Arts
- Archival Steward: PinoySeoul Media Enterprise
- Active Period: 2009 - 2012
- Original URL: http://www.dancepinoy.com
- Archival Site: https://dance.pinoyseoul.com
- License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
The Documentation Gap in Philippine Dance
In the late 2000s, dancers in the Philippines were divided into separate circles. University folk troupes kept traditional dance research inside campus archives, while competitive urban street dance crews coordinated through text messages, personal blogs, and temporary forums. Dancers had no central website to find auditions, schedule rehearsals, or share videos of their routines.
At the same time, public school teachers in provincial towns struggled to find clear, accessible guides to teach traditional Philippine dances in their physical education classes.
The Dance Directory
To bring these different dance communities together, OBRA Incorporated launched Dance Pinoy in 2009 at the web domain dancepinoy.com. Started after the 2008 Buhawian dance contest, the website served as a free public directory and meeting place for urban crews, school groups, and traditional folk troupes.
The website tracked eighty-six registered dance groups across three main areas:
- School and University Troupes: Student performing groups including the UP Filipiniana Dance Group, Bayanihan National Folk Dance Company, UST Salinggawi, and PUP Maharlika.
- Independent Street Dance Crews: Competitive urban crews including the Philippine All Stars, Flipendemic Kru, The Addlib, Urban Crew, and Pinoy Hiphop.
- Regional Folk Companies: Community groups including the Leyte Dance Theater, Barangay Folk Dance Troupe, and Ramon Obusan alumni networks.
Traditional Dance Guide
Between 2009 and 2012, Dance Pinoy created a free online educational guide covering traditional and indigenous Philippine dances. Each entry explained the dance's home province, cultural background, costume details, and musical accompaniment:
- Bird and Animal Mimicry Dances: Dances imitating nature and wildlife, including Tinikling from Leyte, Itik-Itik from Surigao del Norte, and Tarektek from the Cordillera mountains.
- Highland Community Dances: Celebratory and harvest dances from northern Luzon, including Bendian from Benguet, Tachok from Kalinga, and Idudu from Abra.
- Mindanao and Sulu Traditions: Royal court routines and agricultural dances, including Singkil from Lanao, Pangalay from Sulu, and the Bagobo Rice Cycle from Davao del Sur.
- Spanish-Influenced Folk Dances: Dances combining regional steps with European rhythms, including Polkabal from Batangas, La Jota Manileña, and Habanera Botoleña from Zambales.
This free collection became a widely used reference for elementary and high school teachers instructing dance modules under the Department of Education physical education curriculum.
Tournament Coverage
Dance Pinoy also brought media coverage directly to performance venues. Through its production group Dance Pinoy Team, the website filmed and published videos of competitive street dance tournaments, including the March 2009 championship of Step-Off: The Stomp Challenge at the SM Mall of Asia.
In late 2009, Dance Pinoy partnered with the National Committee on Dance under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The team built the official website, event schedule, and nationwide online registration system for the first Dance Xchange: Philippine International Dance Festival.
Media and Scholarly Recognition
The records and articles published by Dance Pinoy have been cited by teachers, cultural writers, and researchers:
- Regional Culture Studies: Cited in 2021 by Osmeña M. Kasim in the International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research for research on Maguindanaon dance traditions.
- Traditional Dance Research: Cited in 2024 by researchers at Central Philippine University for studies on mimetic folk dances, and in 2023 by the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines for documentation on bird-inspired movements.
- Cultural Education: Cited in 2009 by Dr. Bernice Cariño in cultural education research presented through the Deutsches Institut für Erwachsenenbildung and ASEM Lifelong Learning.
- Street Dance History: Referenced in 2021 by the St. Vincent School of Theology for urban street dance history documenting choreographer Jungee Marcelo.
Archival Preservation
By 2012, dancers and community members moved their discussions to major social media platforms. While many independent Philippine websites from that era disappeared after closing, the records of Dance Pinoy were kept safe.
In 2017, PinoySeoul Media Enterprise re-hosted the database as a public digital archive at dance.pinoyseoul.com. The interactive forums were turned into a read-only archive, keeping thousands of educational links active for school teachers and students.
Open Science Access
To ensure the history of this early dance network remains available, the platform documentation, dance directory, and event records are being surveyed and prepared for open-access preservation under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
This dataset provides historical reference material for dance teachers, cultural workers, and community researchers studying early online performing arts groups and cultural preservation in the Philippines.
