The Semiotics of movement and motion of Capiz festival dances

Abstract

This qualitative study utilized the semiotic of movements and motion of five (5) Capiz Municipality Festival Dances to analyze the connotative and denotative meanings. The informants of the study were the 4 purposively selected members of the five (5) Capiz Festival Dances. They were composed of the tourism officer, local historian, choreographer, and dancer of their own municipality. They have direct and firsthand knowledge of their respective festivals. A validated interview guide was used to gather data which were transcribed, summarized, and interpreted. Written documents from books, archival literature, video recordings, and actual observations were used to collect relevant data, and to interpret the results, the ideas of semiotic analysis were used. Findings revealed that the five (5) Capiz Festival Dances were rooted in the religious belief, the way of life, expression of unity, and hard work, and even animal movements, inspired from the particular occupation of the respective community, it is community driven with sufficient government support. It also demonstrates Capizeños' solid Filipino cultural foundation with the spirit of 'Bayanihan and resilience. It also shows the ancestral traditions and present beliefs. It gives Capizeños a sense of identity and pride. It also encourages the growth of the economy. The five (5) festivals have their distinctions in purpose and basic movements and steps. These festival dances have unique and inherent qualities in terms of iconic, indexical, and symbolic signs and meanings; each festival demonstrates its denotative and connotative meaning in their dances that emphasizes their innate culture, tradition, and practices which are distinct 7 from other festivals. As acknowledged by the government, Its development, made it a true representation of Capiz culture. It has also been graced with awards during competitions. This shows that Capiz festival dances are emblems of Capiznons' love of their culture, and values of religiosity, unity, hard work, optimism, and respect.