TABUK CITY, Philippines – The streets of Bulanao recently came alive with color, music, and movement as hundreds gathered for the much-anticipated Bodong Street Dance Competition.
Part of the 30th Kalinga Founding Anniversary and 6th Bodong Festival, this competition showcased not just talent but the very essence of Kalinga’s cultural pride.
With the theme “Rooted in Culture, United in Progress: LUMIN-AWA KALINGA,” the event celebrated the province’s indigenous traditions while embracing its evolving identity.
Schools and communities from across Kalinga poured their hearts into grand performances, each telling a story of heritage, unity, and resilience.
Street dancing is more than just entertainment in Kalinga. It has turned into a living tradition, a way to pass down history, customs, and values through movement and music. The performers, dressed in elaborate woven garments, moved in perfect rhythm with the steady beat of gongs, reenacting legends, rituals, and daily life in the highlands.
This year’s competition featured six performances, each a unique representation of the culture and identity of its respective municipality.
Lubuagan: The Art of Weaving Through Dance
Lubuagan’s performance, “Bibyun Lubuagen,” was a tribute to its rich weaving heritage. The dancers mimicked the motions of loom weavers, their movements symbolizing the careful pulling, twisting, and binding of threads. A metaphor for how culture and progress are woven together.
With each beat of the gongs, Lubuagan reminded the audience that tradition is not just preserved. It is continuously woven into the fabric of the future.
Tabuk City: The Melting Pot of Kalinga
Representing the “City of Life” or “Matagoan,” Tabuk City’s performance reflected its diverse cultural roots. Once called the “Valley of the Ganongans,” Tabuk has grown into a melting pot of various Kalinga tribes, Ilocanos, Bontocs, and other settlers.
Their performance highlighted the Matagoan Festival, a grand tribute to Tabuk’s agricultural prosperity and its role in Kalinga’s peace pact system. Through dynamic movements, the dancers depicted the city’s transformation from a once-hostile land to a thriving, peaceful hub of cultural convergence.
Tanudan: A Toast to Coffee and Community
Known for its high-quality heirloom coffee, the town’s dancers portrayed the life cycle of coffee farming, from planting and harvesting to roasting and sharing a warm cup.
With breathtaking backdrops of rice terraces, waterfalls, and mountains, Tanudan’s performance celebrated the hard work, unity, and resilience of its farmers. Their message was clear: coffee is more than just a crop, it is a bond that connects people, land, and heritage.
Pasil: Where Culture and Agriculture Unite
Pasil’s dancers moved with purpose, telling a story of peace, love, and kindness, values deeply embedded in the Bodong Festival. They highlighted Pasil’s agricultural wealth, particularly heirloom rice, coffee, and pottery, while emphasizing the role of slow food: clean, fair, and sustainable farming.
Under the leadership of Mayor Chao Ig Malannag, Pasil’s performance reminded everyone that preserving culture is not just about remembering the past, but about making sustainable choices for the future.
Tinglayan: A Dance of Rice and Rituals
Tinglayan, famous for its Unoy rice, dedicated its performance to the Unoy Festival, showcasing the entire agricultural cycle, from planting to harvesting.
The dancers reenacted traditional bayanihan practices like ab-abfujog (community labor), ullalim (epic chants), and salip (courtship dances), illustrating how farming, family, and culture are deeply intertwined.
One of the most striking moments was the portrayal of newlyweds working together in the rice fields, symbolizing how marriage and agriculture share the same foundation of unity, cooperation, and sustainability.
Balbalan: Honoring the Farmer-Warriors
Closing the competition, Balbalan’s performance was a powerful tribute to the farmers, the unsung heroes of the land. Known as “kaanusan un gimpong,” or a community of good-hearted people, Balbalan highlighted the strength of its agricultural workers, comparing them to warriors who protect and nurture the land.
From towering rice terraces to the majestic Saltan River, Balbalan’s performance reflected the town’s natural beauty, hardworking people, and commitment to preserving its traditions.
More than just a competition
In his message, Representative Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang underscored the importance of education in preserving these traditions.
“Today more than ever, our time-honored traditions are being challenged by the advent of digitalization and globalization,” he said.
“But through the integration of Indigenous Peoples’ Education in our academic curriculum, we ensure that our students understand and appreciate their roots.”
Lubuagan emerged as champion, taking home the P100,000 grand prize, while Balbalan secured first runner-up with P90,000.
Pasil claimed second runner-up, earning P80,000, while Tanudan, Tabuk City, and Tinglayan were awarded consolation prizes of P50,000 each.
Each municipality brought a unique piece of Kalinga’s identity to life, reminding everyone that culture is not just something to be remembered. It is something to be lived, celebrated, and passed on.
And as the festival continues, one thing is certain: Lumin-awa, Kalinga! Kalinga is alive, thriving, and forever united in progress.– Rappler.com