PASIGUIN: Philippine Folk Dance

 


“Pasigin” or “sabot” is a fishnet used by the Capiznon similar to the scoop net but not quite like the scissors and cast nets. All these nets are handy for shallow and quiet parts of the river. The pasigin’s ring shape makes it a special net for catching only specific fishes and crustaceans. In the hands of skilled fishermen a pasigin assures food for the family.

A Filipino’s playful imagination, created the pasigin dance. Using the movements of excited fishermen scooping after schools of fish, intricate footwork and dexterous swishing, swashing, scooping, and sifting gave the pasigin dance that “chase and run” character. The pasigin would have been an ordinary and playful dance had it not been for a comic relief where at the end, the ring-net reveals a hole big enough for the fish to escape.

How two people were able to collaborate to make fish and net become one of the country’s favorite dances is why we are extremely thankful to the late Petronila Suarez and the late Crisostomo Barrera.

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