Asia Pacific Journal of Education, Arts and Sciences, Vol. 2 No. 4, October 2015(Part II) ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 51 P-ISSN 2362-8022 | E-ISSN 2362-8030 | www.apjeas.apjmr.com Palawan Indigenous Dances: Bases for Integration of Teaching Materials for K to 12 Curriculum David R. Perez (Ph.D) 1 , Leonita D. Dela Rosa (Ph.D) 2 1 Western Philippines University, Puerto Princesa Campus, Puerto Princesa City, Philippines 2 Department Of Education, Division of Palawan, District of Aborlan, Philippines 1 daveperez2004@yahoo.com Date Received: April 7, 2015; Date Revised: November 3, 2015 Abstract - The study dealt with the ritual dances of the Tagbanuas in Palawan as bases for the development of teaching materials. Likewise, this query tried to document the ritual dances of the Tabanuas. Descriptive, descriptive comparative and ethnographic methods of research, the writer gathered data from fifty Tagbanuas whose ages were 60 and above and 150 young tagbanuas. Researcher made questionnaire and interview guide were used as data gathering instruments. This was supplemented by observation and participation techniques. The findings revealed that there were seven rituals that required dances. These were the pagluluma or pa’dong, tindeg, kabaraan or pagdidiwata, wedding rites like the Soriano, sungrod, compleano, taming and runsay. The ritual dances were associated to healing, thanksgiving and entertainment. They depicted the lives of the Tagbanuas. The ritual dances were used to these was to communicate to their dead relatives to help them cure the sick. Also this was used to communicate to their tiladmanen to bless and protect them. Some of the ritual dances were used for entertainment and the Tagbanuas closeness to nature. The Tagbanuas used local materials in their dances; movements were mostly hand gestures and footwork. These were performed with no specific time to end. The young generation of Tagbanuas were not so familiar with most of their ritual dances, they had favorable attitude towards their preservation. on this aspect, it is recommended that efforts should be undertaken by the Tagbanuas themselves to preserve Teaching materials that were developed should be reproduced to use by the teachers in the locality and perhaps by those whose interest focus on the culture, customs and traditions of the indigenous people particularly the Tagbanuas. Keywords: Ritual, Ritual Dance, Tagbanuas, Teaching Materials INTRODUCTION The Philippines has several cultural communities. These communities are composed of Indigenous Peoples who profess their own culture. Zulueta [1] recorded that all over the country, there are five distinct different cultural communities. According to him, Luzon has 498,040, Visayas, Mindanao and Palawan has 305,859 while Mindanao has 620,027 cultural communities. In Palawan Philippines, the major cultural communities are the Cuyunon, Tagbanua, Batak and Kalamian. These indigenous people have their own culture, beliefs and traditions. One among this is their dances that are associated to rituals. Some writers term this as ritual dances or dance rituals. The researchers, Palawan found out that rituals are generally associated to the healing and hilot practices in order to appease the spirits so that they will not cause sickness to them and other indigenous people. They believed that rituals are associated for good life, good harvest of palay, and healthy physical and mental condition. The cultural minorities otherwise termed by some writers and researchers as ethnic or indigenous people, this is being performed before and after treating a sick person. Often, the rituals done by the cultural minorities are performed with dances. Dances as elucidated in the Britannica: Macropedia[2], Knowledge in Depth, play a number of important social roles in all cultures. Notably, dances can be observed in matters of celebration, courtship, recreation and entertainment. There are dances in which the performers and even the spectators work themselves into a trance in order to transcend their ordinary selves and receive the powers of the gods or, as in the case of Indian temple dancers, in which the performers enact the stories of the gods as a way of worshipping them. Further, Britannica Macropedia [3], Knowledge in Depth classified that formalized ritual and ceremonial